The Church of St Nicholas

Pompey Batyushkov, ‘Old Russian Monuments in the Western Provinces’, 1874.

It was intended as a reply to the ‘Album of Vilnius’ by Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński, presenting the city and the country as a Russian land of Orthodox believers. The Church of St Nicholas on Didžioji St is one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Vilnius. It was built in brick around 1350, at the initiative of Juliana, the wife of Algirdas, the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; and in 1514 it was rebuilt through the efforts of Grand Hetman Konstanty Ostrogsky. Between 1609 and 1827 it belonged to the Uniate Church, which united the Catholic and Orthodox faiths. In the middle of the 18th century, Vilnius was devastated by several fires, and the church burned down. Like many other sanctuaries in Vilnius, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style. After the 1863 uprising, the governor-general Mikhail Muravyov implemented the policy of the ‘recovery of Russian origins’, and the church, which until then had been built in a Western style, was rebuilt in the Neo-Byzantine style. The houses which separated the church from the street were pulled down, and the Chapel of St Michael the Archangel, Muravyov’s patron saint, was built to the left of the entrance.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA II (2015). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Laima Laučkaitė). ‘Vilnius Forever. A Dialogue of Artworks and Guides to the City’, 25 May 2022 – 30 April 2023 Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Laima Laučkaitė.

Pompey Batyushkov, ‘Old Russian Monuments in the Western Provinces’, 1874.

It was intended as a reply to the ‘Album of Vilnius’ by Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński, presenting the city and the country as a Russian land of Orthodox believers. The Church of St Nicholas on Didžioji St is one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Vilnius. It was built in brick around 1350, at the initiative of Juliana, the wife of Algirdas, the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; and in 1514 it was rebuilt through the efforts of Grand Hetman Konstanty Ostrogsky. Between 1609 and 1827 it belonged to the Uniate Church, which united the Catholic and Orthodox faiths. In the middle of the 18th century, Vilnius was devastated by several fires, and the church burned down. Like many other sanctuaries in Vilnius, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style. After the 1863 uprising, the governor-general Mikhail Muravyov implemented the policy of the ‘recovery of Russian origins’, and the church, which until then had been built in a Western style, was rebuilt in the Neo-Byzantine style. The houses which separated the church from the street were pulled down, and the Chapel of St Michael the Archangel, Muravyov’s patron saint, was built to the left of the entrance.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA II (2015). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Laima Laučkaitė). ‘Vilnius Forever. A Dialogue of Artworks and Guides to the City’, 25 May 2022 – 30 April 2023 Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Laima Laučkaitė.