Description of the attraction
The Church of All Saints is one of the most valuable examples of reckless baroque churches belonging to the Roman Catholic concession. It is part of the ensemble of the novitiate (places for novices) and the Carmelite monastery in the old town.
The church was built together with the monastery for 11 years from 1620 to 1631 near the Rudnitsky gate. During the hostilities with Moscow, the temple burned and was significantly rebuilt during reconstruction in 1655. Later, in 1743, near the northeastern corner, on the site of the turret, a complex bell tower was built in the late Baroque style. In 1812, the temple was damaged by Napoleonic soldiers who burned confessionals and pews. The French set up a hospital in the church. The church was renovated and renovated in 1823.
The Russian authorities abolished the monastery, and since 1885, nice apartments have been arranged in the monastery premises, and since 1948 the church has been closed, setting up a grocery store in it.
From 1967 to 1975, restoration work was carried out in the church under the direction of the architect Aldona Shvabauskienė. After the restoration, the temple functioned as the Museum of Lithuanian Folk Art. The restoration of the temple was carried out immediately after the change of the state system, in 1990 the temple was returned to the believers and is still in effect today.
The plan of the building of the church is in the form of a Latin cross, in the form of the temple - a three-nave basilica type. The peculiarity of the space inside the church is that the side naves are formed by the side chapels of the church. The side aisles are 3 times narrower and 2 times lower than the central aisle, separated from it by two pairs of pylons on each side. The vaults of the naves are cylindrical with lunettes.
The main façade is of early Baroque architecture, the façade is divided into two tiers by a cornice, pilasters highlight its vertical axis. The facade is crowned with a triangular pediment with obelisks towering on the sides. The Renaissance portal emphasizes the central axis of the building. Statues of the founders of Carmelite monasticism - St. Elijah and St. Elisha, made of wood, were previously installed in the niches.
A monumental four-tiered bell tower, widening downward, ends with a helmet and an openwork cross. The rusticated pilasters of the lower tier provide a striking contrast to the columns embedded in the corners. Corinthian pilasters of the second tier are decorated with a stucco motif. In the third tier, obliquely positioned side pilasters frame the columns. In the last, fourth tier, pilasters seem to grow out of volutes.
The bell tower niche windows have various arched shapes and are decorated with stucco moldings, and in the fourth tier the niche is still fenced with a decorative lattice of the balcony. It is assumed that the bell tower was built by the same architect who built the towers of the Carmelite church in Belarus.
The walls and vaults of the naves of the church, the domes of the side chapels are decorated with frescoes and ornaments, the frescoes depict scenes from the lives of saints and from the history of Lithuania. The decorative stucco molding that adorns the interior of the temple was made at the end of the 18th century. The church has 18 altars, decorated with sculptures of saints, frescoes and depicting scenes from their lives. The main altar was built presumably in the late 1780s, according to the project of Martin Kanfus.
During the restoration work carried out in 1902 at the initiative of the priest of Chudovsky, the frescoes were painted over; today only a small part of them have been opened.
