Vilnius

Why Vilnius works

Vilnius' Old Town is the largest surviving Baroque old town in Northern and Eastern Europe, its skyline a dense cluster of church spires — some 40 churches within the historic centre alone, a legacy of Vilnius's role as a major centre of Counter-Reformation Catholicism. Gediminas' Tower, the surviving remnant of the upper castle, stands on a hill above the city and offers the best panoramic view over the red rooftops toward the modern skyline across the Neris River, best seen at sunset when the whole valley glows. The Gate of Dawn, the last surviving city gate of the old defensive walls, houses a revered icon of the Virgin Mary and remains an active pilgrimage site, with worshippers still kneeling on the street below the chapel window. Vilnius's quirkiest corner is Užupis, a bohemian riverside district that declared itself an independent republic in 1997, complete with its own constitution (posted in dozens of languages on a wall, including clauses like "everyone has the right to be happy" and "a dog has the right to be a dog"), its own flag, and an annual Easter Sunday independence celebration. St. Anne's Church, a Flamboyant Gothic red-brick masterpiece so admired that Napoleon reportedly wanted to carry it back to Paris, sits near the base of Gediminas' hill.

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