Vilnius

Church of St Anne, Vilnius, Lithuania. This 16th-century gothic-style church has many interesting features including decorative arches and ornate towers. Thirty-three types of red brick were used in its construction.

Capital of Lithuania, situated on the River Neris; population (2001) 542,300. Vilnius is an important railway crossroads and commercial centre. Its industries include electrical engineering, woodworking, and the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, and foodstuffs.

From a small 10th-century settlement, Vilnius became the Lithuanian capital in 1323. It came under Polish control from 1569 until Russian annexation in 1795, when it was the residence of the governor-general of the Lithuanian and Belorussian provinces. In the 17th–19th centuries, it was the principal centre of Jewish culture in Europe. Claimed by both Poland and Lithuania after World War I, it was occupied by the Soviets in 1918 and immediately transferred to independent Lithuania. However, Poland reoccupied it later that year, and it remained in Polish hands until annexation by the USSR in 1939. Nazi occupation forces (1941–44) exterminated the city's Jewish population. After recapture by the Red Army, it was made capital of the Lithuanian SSR. The city was the focal point of Lithuania's agitation for independence from the USSR (1989–91), and became the country's capital when independence was achieved in 1991.

Vilnius is the seat of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, and a university, which was founded in 1579 as a Jesuit institution. The city has many outstanding architectural monuments dating from the 14th–19th centuries.