This year I decided it was time to have a look at all the drafts I have kept. There seems to be a lot of posts that I have started writing and never finished. With a bit of work some of these are publishable, but most of them I have deleted. Those I kept and that I still want to publish I will finish and share with you. I decided that most of them will be good for Throwback Thursday. Here is a post I never finished from my trip to Vilnius August 2017.
The flag at the top of the tower was put up in 1988 during Lithuania’s independence movement
Even if it was quite warm in Vilnius when we visited it was still nice to have a little look around the town. There is a tower up on a hill that looked like it would be a good place to view the town from above and the tower itself also looked like it was worth a visit. The walk up the hill is a bit steep, but nothing too bad. There is a funicular cart going up, but it was not running the day we decided to go up and have a look. But with all the good food we had on the trip there was some movement required.
My knight in shiny armour
The tower is called Gedimina’s tower and it is what remains of the Upper Castle in Vilnius. The first brick castle was built here in 1409, but this three story tower is a rebuild from 1933. Some of the old structures can still be seen up there today as they have been restored by archaeologists.
The tower has a legend:
Long ago, the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas was hunting in the woods of Šventaragis valley. The hunting was a success, but very tiring. The duke stayed there and spent a night. Gediminas had a dream that on top of the hill, where he had hunted down a taurus that day: a large iron wolf was standing and howling hard and loud, like a hundred wolves.
The Duke asked the mage Lizdeika to explain the dream. He explained that this was an omen indicating that he should build a city in this place, which would later become known around the world and would become the magnificent capital city of Lithuania.
Gediminas, obeying the will of the gods, began to build the future capital city, and a castle in the center of it. The city was named Vilnius after the nearby river Vilnia. Gediminas’ Tower is one part of the castle, which was built by Gediminas.
Source: Wikipedia
A great view over the river and new part of the Vilnius where we stayed the first few days.
The view from the top turned out to be as good, or maybe even better, than we thought to begin with. from up there you got a really good view around both the new part of Vilnius and the old.
Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania is just at the base of the hill where Gediminas’ tower is. The palace was originally built in the 1500’s, destroyed around 1800 and they started rebuilding it in 2002.
View of the three crosses
We decided not to go up to the hill with the three crosses, when we visited as we had to prioritize. But we had a view of them from the city and from the tower. According to the legend seven Fransiscan friars we’re beheaded on top of this hill. Wooden crosses were built here in this location since the late 17th century. But the three crosses that are there now was put up in 1989.
Good post, I enjoyed it, you should get back and finish the others…
Thank you. I am working on them, but there seems to be too few hours in the days.
how interesting – glad your pulled this one from the ashes )
Great travel info. I see these suits of armour everywhere and they are always so small. Today we must be giants!
Hehe I don’t feel very giantly, but they must have been a bit snakker or had weak spots in armour if they where too tall.
Or maybe the little ones have survived because no one could get into them and they were never used!
Haha might be
Looks like an interesting trip.
It was 😊
Love your blog and this post. Great photos too. Thanks for sharing! -Robert
Thank you!
I can’t seem to find your blog. If you have one I would like to pay it a visit. Could I ask you to give me a link?
Thanks I appreciate that. I honestly thought my websites would pop up on my gravitar page. The url to my WordPress site is just like my user name here. http://www.thealvarezchronicles.com
Thank you for sharing
Glad you published this !!! Great post!
Thank you!
I like your knight. 🙂 What a nice trip you had that gave you material for more posts.
I liked it too. It was a very nice trip.
Lovely
As you my friend
I also have many drafts and am working through them..they are coming in handy for my new blog…Glad you resurrected this one nice post and photos 🙂
Thank you. Thought many of them were too good to just delete.
Yes, they were ..lucky we have drafts aren’t we?
We sure are!
Same story with me. I’ve piles of pending drafts and stories that I’ve not even started. Mine is just the procrastination.
Hehe that can get you sometimes.
no words – you are creative – this is such stunning post!!
Thank you very much!
Love Vilnius! Always been there in the winter, but would love to go in summer..
It was a lovely city!