February 15th, 2010 
Sheila Simkin The Hotel Centre in Kaunas was not exactly what I would call the “center” of Kaunas but located up a slight hill in a not-so-great area. The hotel served breakfast only and our room was freezing. Fortunately, all the hotels up to now have nice warm blankets but I still went to sleep with socks and an extra t-shirt on. Since it was a one-nighter, no worries. A drive to Trakai Castle scheduled for the afternoon with the ultimate two-night destination, Vilnius.
Kaunas is located at the confluence of Lithuania’s two largest rivers, the Nemunas and Neris, and is often regarded as the most typical city in the country. I didn’t know that Kaunas became the capital of Poland from 1920-1939 and 20th of the inhabitants are still Polish. Did you? As a matter of fact, a trading post was established in 1398 controlled by merchants from Gdansk who imported salt and used the Pregel canal as a water route. This helped Kaunas become one of Gdansk’s important trade points. If you have the time, there were an inordinate amount of museums to suit every taste. There is a Devils’ Museum, several Art Museums, Children’s Literature Museum, Great War Museum, Folk Music Instruments Museum, Gemology Museum…you get the drift…
(Again, I’m just going to give you the short version of Kaunas with sights that had the most impact otherwise it gets B-O-R-I-N-G…) Local guide, Dahlia, began the morning walking us through Kaunas’ easily walkable Old Town (about 3km from one end to the other). The streets were extremely busy with the Kaunas locals heading to Sunday Mass. Either on foot or searching for parking spaces.
- Kaunas Castle was built in the 14th century and played a crucial defensive role in stopping the crusaders who were on their way to Palestine. Closed for restoration.
- The Perkunas (Thunder) House was built in late 15th century. The foundations were made of field stones and bricks while the walls are red extruded bricks. For decoration, black over-burnt bricks as well as 20 types of special shaped bricks were used and this is the only original building left in Kaunas. It was used for trade by Hanseatic (German) merchants and the wealthy merchant who owned it would sit by his balcony window on the second level (see photo below) to keep an eye out for customers. There is a story that a brass statuette of the pagan god, Perkunas (Thor) was found inside a wall in the 17th century and that is why it is names “Thunder House” now. (Favorite sight #1)
- The Kaunas Town Hall, Kauno Rotuse, built in 1542 but reconstructed many times. It is known as the White Swan because it was once a Soviet Wedding Palace. People still come in from the country on Saturdays to get married.
- A memorial to a protestor who immolated himself in the name of freedom. Another memorial with an eternal flame (watch video below) that commemorates the one-third of all Lithuanians that were deported to Siberia…View image.
- The Vytautas Church was originally erected by the Grand Duke Vytautas for Franciscan monks in 1400. The tall tower overlooked the Nemunas River and was the first to great merchant ships anchoring in Kaunas Harbor.
The tour ended at the opposite end of the Old Town from where St. George’s Church and Bernardine Monastery was located. With very little time left, ex-Marine and I hauled butt to get there and back without holding up the departure time. St. George’s Church was built in the late 15th century and has a Gothic facade. The Germans used the inside as a stable, stored hay in it and the walls are pockmarked with bullet holes…View image. The resulting mess…View image… is slowly being reconstructed thanks to help from the E.U. (Favorite Sight #2).
(I have a great affinity to relics before they are reconstructed.) Completely depressed by all the Memorials to mass murders, it was time to move on and visit a castle…
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