Šnipiškės, Vilnius: The Borough of Wood and Glass Buildings | True Lithuania
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Šnipiškės Borough in Vilnius

Sometimes Šnipiškės is regarded as a "Village inside a city" and its central districts still live up to this title. They are almost entirely dominated by wooden private homes. Most of them are heated by burning wood in stoves and many even lack tap water and sewerage (public water outlets are used). Some of the streets are not yet paved. This central Šnipiškės is an indirect heritage of Soviet urban planning when new districts would be built in some places while some others would be left completely untouched. Šnipiškės was among the later and so you can still witness how a 19th-century wooden suburb of Vilnius looked like. Streets like Giedraičių or unpaved Šilutės are the best to see this.

Central Šnipiškės is no Žvėrynas. Despite being in a walking distance to the city center, this district somehow fails to attract the rich and remains dominated by its old inhabitants.

19th and early 20th century wooden houses in Giedraičių street, Šnipiškės. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The southern Šnipiškės is a different story, however. Designated to be the "new center of Vilnius" in the 1980s, it saw its old homes replaced by 22 story Hotel Lietuva, planetarium and the largest department store in Soviet Vilnius. In the 2000s, the independent Lithuania continued this trend, with the first skyscraper district in Lithuania hugging the modern Konstitucijos (Constitution) Avenue and the new Europos (Europe) Square. Several mid-sized shopping malls and many offices are located here next to Neris river as is the National Gallery of (20th Century) Art. On the area's western edge the Baltic Way memorial commemorates the world's original (and largest) human chain (2 million people, 650 km for the Baltic States independence in 1989). The tricolor wall itself is unique for being crowd-funded, every brick bearing a name of a benefactor.

The pro-development stance that regards the wooden Šnipiškės as a total anachronism frequently clashed with a stance that sees it as an important heritage that must be saved. There was a time when the owners of some old wooden houses would burn them down in order to get a construction permit for a modern building. However, as of now, it is still possible to see a remarkable contrast between a 19th-century suburb and 21st-century city center within meters from each other in Šnipiškės. They are nearby but not intermingled as there is a very fine invisible line that divides the glass-and-concrete skyscrapers on the one side, and the World War 1 era buildings on the other.

A view south from Central Šnipiškės (Giedraičių Street) with the new city center visible. The circular skyscraper to the right is the 33 floor Europa Tower. With 148 meters height, it is the tallest building in the Baltic States. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The main thoroughfare of Šnipiškės is the north-south Kalvarijų street. You see all the faces of Šnipiškės by traveling it and you may always turn westwards into the side-streets. Kalvarijų Street begins in the south with graceful Saint Raphael church and monastery (1709) on one side and a nice Gothic revival palace on the other, sadly half-destroyed by the Soviets. These elaborate buildings could as well be in the New Town which is just beyond the Žaliasis bridge.

Going the Kalvarijų street northwards you pass the recent developments and then wooden buildings start appearing. One of the largest marketplaces in Vilnius (Kalvarijų turgus) and a Russian Orthodox church of Archangel Michael are located alongside.

Kalvarijų street serves as a trunk road linking city center to its northern boroughs. Therefore many buildings here have been converted to commercial use. If you want a more authentic experience, you may choose to stroll in some of the parallel streets such as Giedraičių and Šilutės.

There is a third and the least interesting face of Šnipiškės: the north of the district (to the north of Žalgirio street). It is dominated by Soviet functionalist apartment blocks that are not different from similar buildings elsewhere in Vilnius (except that there is an occasional wooden house left standing between the new apartment blocks).

Map of central and southern Šnipiškės. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Article written by Augustinas Žemaitis

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  1. Just one week ago we were in Lithuania for a brief visit and I had the fortune to see Snipiskes, the new and the old parts too. I really was impressed and I thougt, yes, this must be preserved – or let it live its own life – let us see it some more time, how it was just one hundred or so, years ago, and were can it go, if it is not artificially (from outside) developed. There surely must be several wievpoints about this situation, I only wanted to share my positive impression about it.

    • Thanks for your comment. Right now there are no ongoing developments to replace these wooden buildings in Central Šnipiškės. It was economic downturn of 2009 that stopped the New City Center expansion rather than conservation efforts however. But as the economy is picking up again it is likely that the issue of Central Šnipiškės will be raised again at one time or another. There are plans for new construction but they are restricted to Southern Šnipiškės so far near the Konstitucijos avenue (where there are no old wooden buildings).

  2. New City Center (Southern Snipiskes), Vilnius

    There is a Chiune Sugihara Sakura Park, Vilnius, Lithuania.
    Location: Between Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva and National Art Gallery on Upes gatve
    Flowering cherry trees time: second half of April every year.

    The Chiune Sugihara Sakura Park, Vilnius was created on September 3nd, 2001, to mark the 100 anniversary of Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara. 200 cherry (sakura) trees were planted.

    Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara (January 1, 1900 – July 31, 1986) was a Japanese diplomat. With Netherlands Consul Jan Zwartendijk and other people’s contribution, Sugihara issued transit visas to jews and saved more than 6,000 jews from the Holocaust.

  3. You should definetly visit the wooden Snipiskes (Šnipiškės) these days. Though the neighbourhood still suffers from the chaotic redevelopment, after three years cooperation with local residents, it became active neighbourhood that develops various forms of learning about the history and everyday culture of the neighbourhood. Now we seek to reconsider the exhisting special plan for this area and we need a lot of help from cultural organisations and foundations. The aim is to give a second chance to the area with a rich history, which has been treated for the last decade as a place for the office skyscrapers.

    • Thanks for the information. Wooden Šnipiškės is indeen a unique part of Vilnius, especially for those seeking out-of-the-beaten-path locations.

  4. Hi everyone,
    Is Šnipiškės safe in vilnius? I booked an apt with airBnB around Kareiviyi & Kalvarijy street… As I understand, I will have to take the bus every day to go/come back to the center (20 min).
    Any advice are welcome
    Thx

    • There are no “unsafe districts” or “unsafe areas” in Lithuania in the American sense (i.e. ghettos). So while somebody may tell you that Šnipiškės is unsafe, in reality, the safety in Vilnius districts is nearly uniform. In fact, it is the most prestigious area (the downtown) that is somewhat less safe due to the high number of bars and, therefore, drunk people.

  5. Is there an organised movement to work for the preservation of Šnipiškės? I have lived in Vilnius for many years, and I love the wooden architecture here, but I have seen many wooden houses lost to development, such as in Antakalnis, and I would not like to see Šnipiškės disappear. I think it has great potential to become a popular residential area, like a garden suburb such as Žverynas. It needs to be protected from aggressive modern development. I would be willing to join a group that seeks to protect the area.

    • You may wish to contact http://www.snipiskiubendruomene.lt/ , although, given that it is composed of people living there, I am not entirely sure their main interest is preservation as sometimes that may go against the principle of comfortable life (given tthat, for example, many homes in Šnipiškės still lack indoor plumbing, which is very authentic but very inconvenient). In any case, aggressive development is something these people are not in favor of, I believe (I think I was to a Šnipiškės tour organized by them and that is the impression I got).

      • Augustinas, your website really does an amazing job of covering all sorts of topics regarding Lithuania. I have been following your restoration of Lithuanian citizenship thread for years, as well as being in touch with you and Aistė by email from time to time, and gotten great insight into that complicated subject.

        Now as a resident of Šnipiškes (not an old wooden house) I was researching more about this wonderful old-fashioned neighborhood which I now call home, and of course your website has a post on it. I am glad to see there are other people interested in preventing wanton development from ruining such an interesting place. Thank you very much for your amazing website and all the work you do, and know that it is appreciated!

  6. Thank you for this information. I believe my great-grandparents lived in this village before immigrating to the U.S. in the late 1800s. I see you offer citizenship services, and I may be back in touch after doing some preliminary research on my own.

  7. Hello Augustinas, I have learned that my grandmother was born in 1880 in Snipiskes and emigrated to the US around 1900. I would love to have more information about the city from that time. Is that possible? Thank you

    • You may read the article about the History of Vilnius. Šnipiškės is a district of Vilnius. In 1880 it would have been a suburb. Parts of Šnipiškės still retain old buildings and the feel of 19th century suburb that would have been familiar to your grandmother (e.g. Giedraičių street). Other parts (southern Šnipiškės) have been greatly rebuilt in a “New center of Vilnius” and feels entirely different.


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