Timeline of Vilnius

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Vilnius, Lithuania.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 17th century

• 1323
  • Gediminas relocates Lithuanian capital to Vilnius from Trakai. ^[1]
  • Castle on Gediminas Hill expanded.
• 1330 – Coat of arms of Vilnius granted.
• 1345 – Pyatnitzkaya Church built. ^[2]
• 1348 – Cathedral of the Theotokos built.
• 1387
  • Magdeburg rights granted.
  • St. Nicholas Church built.
• 1397 – Cathedral School active (approximate date).
• 1409 – Gediminas' Tower built.
• 1413 – City becomes capital of the newly formed Vilnius Voivodeship by the Union of Horodło.
• 1426 – Church of St. John built. ^[2]
• 1469 – Church of Saints Bernard and Francis founded. ^[2]
• 1500 – St. Anne's Church consecrated.
• 1501 – First mentions of Armenians in the city. ^[3]
• 1522
  • City walls and Gate of Dawn built.
  • Francysk Skaryna sets up printing press.
• 1555 – Lutheran Church built on Nyemetzkaya Street. ^[2]
• 1557 – Vilnius Cathedral rebuilt.
• 1560 – St. Paraskeva Church rebuilt.

Late-16th-century view of the city

• 1570 – Jesuit library established.
• 1572 – Synagogue built.
• 1579 – Alma Academia et Universitas Vilnensis Societatis Iesu founded.
• 1588 – Plague. ^[1]
• 1597 – Monastery of the Holy Ghost founded. ^[2]

17th-18th centuries

• 1610 – Fire. ^[1]
• 1626 – Church of St. Theresa founded. ^[2]
• 1630 – All Saints Church built.
• 1633 – Great Synagogue built.
• 1644 – Biblioteca Sapehana willed to Vilnia University. ^[4]
• 1653 – Radziwill Palace built.
• 1655 – July: Battle of Vilnius; Russians in power. ^[1]
• 1656 – Town becomes part of Russia. ^[1]
• 1658 – Battle of Werki.
• 1697 – Sapieha Palace built.
• 1701 – St. Peter and St. Paul's Church built.
• 1702 – Swedes in power. ^[1]
• 1710 – Plague.
• 1739 – Green Bridge constructed.
• 1749 – Divine Mercy Sanctuary built.
• 1778 – Lithuanian 5th Infantry Regiment relocated from Pińsk to Wilno. ^[5]
• 1779 – 5th Infantry Regiment relocated from Wilno to Mścibów. ^[5]
• 1781 – University Botanical Garden established.
• 1783 – 5th Infantry Regiment relocated from Mścibów back to Wilno. ^[5]
• 1787 – Lithuanian 4th Infantry Regiment stationed in Wilno. ^[5]
• 1788 – Russians in power. ^[1]
• 1790
  • 4th Infantry Regiment relocated from Wilno to Borysów. ^[5]
  • Lithuanian 3rd Infantry Regiment relocated from Kowno to Wilno. ^[5]
• 1791
  • Lithuanian 3rd Infantry Regiment relocated from Wilno back to Kowno. ^[5]
  • Lithuanian 7th Infantry Regiment stationed in Wilno. ^[6]
• 1794 – Vilnius Uprising.
• 1795
  • Town becomes part of Russia, and capital of Vilna Governorate.
  • St. Paraskeva Church rebuilt.
• 1799
  • Town Hall rebuilt.
  • Romm publishing house relocates to Vilnius.

19th century

• 1801
  • Rasos Cemetery consecrated.
  • Royal Palace demolished.
• 1809 – Antakalnis Cemetery established.
• 1810 – Bernardine Cemetery established.
• 1812
  • Napoleon uses the city as a military base. ^[7]
  • Vilnian National Guard formed.
  • 5 July: 3rd Light Cavalry Regiment of the Polish Guards founded in Wilno. ^[8]
  • 22 September: Polish 21st Mounted Rifles Regiment founded in Wilno. ^[9]
• 1823 – Population: 20,900. ^[10]
• 1825 – Tuskulenai Manor built.
• 1828 – Jewish cemetery established in Uzupis (approximate date).
• 1831 – Uprising. ^[1]
• 1832 – University closed. ^[1]
• 1834 – Presidential Palace renovated.
• 1836 – St. George Avenue laid out.
• 1845 – Theatre opens. ^[2]
• 1852 – Central Archive of Early Register Books established. ^[11]
• 1855 – Museum of Antiquities established.
• 1856 – Public library established. ^[12]
• 1861 – Demonstration against Russian Empire.
• 1863 – Uprising against Russian Empire.
• 1866 – St. Nicholas Orthodox Church reconsecrated.
• 1867 – Pretchistenski Cathedral rebuilt. ^[2]
• 1881 – Population: 89,560. ^[13]
• 1883 – Population: 93,760. ^[1]
• 1897 – Jewish Labor Bund founded in Vilnius. ^[14]
• 1898 – St. Alexander Nevsky Church and District Court built. ^[2]
• 1900 – Population: 162,633. ^[1]

20th century

• 1901 – Kaziukas Fair relocates to Place Lukiskim.
• 1903 – Power Plant, Choral Synagogue and Our Lady of the Sign Church built.
• 1904 – Lukiškės Prison built.
• 1905 – December: Great Seimas of Vilnius held.
• 1906
  • Society of Friends of Science organized.
  • Vileišis Palace built.
• 1907 – Lithuanian Art Society founded. ^[15]
• 1911 – St. Casimir Church, Naujoji Vilnia built.
• 1913
  • Orthodox Church of St. Michael and St. Constantine built.
  • Population: 204,290. ^[16]
• 1915
  • 19 September: Germans in power. ^[17]
  • City becomes capital of Lithuania District.
• 1916 – Vilna Troupe active.
• 1918
  • 16 February: Lithuania declares independence from German Empire.
  • Museum of History and Ethnography established.

Polish troops in Wilno following the capture of the city from the Soviets

• 1919
  • April: Vilna offensive by Polish army.
  • Central Library of Lithuania organized. ^[18]
  • Jabłkowski Brothers department store opens.
• 1920 – October: Żeligowski's Mutiny.
• 1925
  • Darius Stadium opens.
  • Elektrit Radiotechnical Society, Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius, and Yiddish Scientific Institute established.
  • 6 May: School massacre.
• 1926 – City becomes capital of Wilno Voivodeship.
• 1928 – Northern Trade Fair begins.
• 1931 – Population: 195,000.
• 1933
  • City Museum established.
  • Śmigły Wilno soccer team formed.
• 1939
  • 18–19 September: Battle of Wilno (1939) between the Poles and the invading Soviets at the start of World War II.
  • Soviets in power.
  • 28 October: Lithuanians in power.
  • Vilnius Pedagogical Institute established.
• 1940
  • City becomes capital of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
  • Vilnius State Theatre established.
• 1941
  • June: Germans in power.
  • July: Ponary massacre begins. ^[19]
  • 5 July: Dulag transit camp for prisoners of war deployed in the city. ^[20]
  • August: Dulag transit camp for prisoners of war relocated to Lida. ^[20]
  • August: Subcamp of the Stalag 336 POW camp established by the Germans. ^[21]
  • 9 September: Subcamp of Stalag 336 converted into the Stalag 344 POW camp. ^[21]
  • December: Wehrmacht military prison established. ^[22]
• 1942 – Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye formed in Vilna Jewish Ghetto.
• 1943 – HKP 562 forced labor camp set up by Germans.

Old Town in 1944

• 1944
  • Wehrmacht military prison relocated to Tarnów. ^[22]
  • 6–15 July: Operation Ostra Brama; Soviets in power.
  • Airport begins operating.
• 1945 – Music School founded.
• 1946 – Russian Drama Theatre re-established. ^[23]
• 1950 – Žalgiris Stadium opens.
• 1951 – Vilnius Heat Plant commissioned.
• 1955 – Šeškinė village becomes part of the city.
• 1956
  • Trolleybuses begin operating.
  • Vilnius Gediminas Technical University established.
• 1963
  • National Library of Lithuania relocates to Vilnius. ^[18]
  • Polish Theater founded.
• 1964 – Statyba basketball team formed.
• 1965
  • Žirmūnai Bridge constructed.
  • Vingis Park renovated.
  • Population: 293,000. ^[24]
• 1967 – Technika (publisher) established.
• 1968 – Ratilio ensemble formed.
• 1971 – Palace of Concerts and Sports opens.
• 1972 – Valakampiai Bridge constructed.
• 1974
  • Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre built.
  • Evangelical Cemetery demolished.
• 1979 – Population: 503,000. ^[25]
• 1980 – Seimas Palace and Vilnius TV Tower built.
• 1983 – Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant commissioned.
• 1985 – Population: 544,000. ^[26]
• 1987 – Vilnius Jazz Festival begins.
• 1989 – Jewish State Museum established.
• 1990
  • 11 March: Lithuania declares independence from USSR.
  • Vilnius Lyceum and Vilniaus lietuvių namai (school) established.
• 1991 – January: City besieged by Soviet forces.
• 1992
  • Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania ^[27] and Verkiai Regional Park established.
  • Museum of Genocide Victims opens.
• 1994 – Military Academy of Lithuania established.
• 1995 – Alis Vidūnas becomes mayor.
• 1997
  • 1 April: Užupis neighborhood declares itself an independent republic.
  • Rolandas Paksas becomes mayor.
  • Kalnai Park established.
• 1999
  • Vilnius Book Fair begins.^{[ citation needed ]}
  • Juozas Imbrasas becomes mayor.
• 2000
  • House of the Signatories museum opens.
  • Artūras Zuokas becomes mayor.

21st century

• 2001 – Sportima Arena opens.
• 2002
  • Vilnius Ice Palace opens.
  • Energy and Technology Museum established.
• 2003
  • Mindaugas Bridge opens.
  • 750th anniversary of the coronation of Mindaugas.
  • FK Vetra relocates to Vilnius.
• 2004
  • Siemens Arena and Vetra Stadium open.
  • European Humanities University relocates to Vilnius.
  • Europa Tower built.
  • Mykolas Romeris University and Vilnius Academy of Business Law established.
  • Vilnius Marathon begins.
• 2005 – Lietuvos rytas Arena opens.
• 2006 – May: City hosts regional democracy conference.
• 2007
  • Juozas Imbrasas becomes mayor again.
  • Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center opens.
• 2008
  • February: City hosts NATO meeting.
  • Vilnius Airport railway station opens.
  • Gariunai Market pavilion built.
• 2009
  • Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania rebuilt.
  • City designated a European Capital of Culture.
• 2011
  • Vilniaus viesasis transportas (bus company) established.
  • Population: 554,060.
  • Artūras Zuokas becomes mayor again. ^[28]
• 2015 – Remigijus Šimašius becomes mayor.
• 2023
  • July: City hosts NATO meeting.

See also

• History of Vilnius
• List of mayors of Vilnius
• Neighborhoods of Vilnius

References

1. Britannica 1910.
2. Baedeker 1910.
3. Stopka, Krzysztof (2000). Ormianie w Polsce dawnej i dzisiejszej (in Polish). Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka. p. 120. ISBN   83-7188-325-0.
4. Marcia J. Bates, ed. (2010), Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, ISBN   9780849397127
5. Gembarzewski, Bronisław (1925). Rodowody pułków polskich i oddziałów równorzędnych od r. 1717 do r. 1831 (in Polish). Warszawa: Towarzystwo Wiedzy Wojskowej. p. 34.
6. Gembarzewski, p. 35
7. E. J. Harrison (1922), "Topographical Outline", Lithuania, past and present, London: Unwin
8. Gembarzewski, p. 52
9. Gembarzewski, p. 64
10. Morse 1823.
11. Grimsted 1979.
12. "Leading Libraries of the World: Russia and Finland". American Library Annual. New York: R.R. Bowker Co. 1916. pp. 477–478. Vilna
13. "Russia". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1885. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081590469.
14. James C. Docherty; Peter Lamb (2006). "Chronology". Historical Dictionary of Socialism (2nd ed.). Scarecrow Press. ISBN   978-0-8108-6477-1.
15. Chris Michaelides, ed. (2007). "Chronology of the European Avant Garde, 1900─1937". Breaking the Rules: The Printed Face of the European Avant Garde 1900–1937. Online Exhibitions. British Library.
16. "Russia: Principal Towns: European Russia". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1921. hdl:2027/njp.32101072368440.
17. Stephen Pope; Elizabeth-Anne Wheal (1995). "Select Chronology". Dictionary of the First World War. Macmillan. p. 523+. ISBN   978-0-85052-979-1.
18. "History". Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
19. "Vilnius". Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe . New York: Yivo Institute for Jewish Research . Retrieved 30 April 2015.
20. Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 92. ISBN   978-0-253-06089-1.
21. Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 332. ISBN   978-0-253-06089-1.
22. Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 646–647. ISBN   978-0-253-06089-1.
23. "About Us". Old Theatre of Vilnius. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
24. "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1965. New York: Statistical Office of the United Nations. 1966.
25. Henry W. Morton and Robert C. Stuart, ed. (1984). The Contemporary Soviet City . New York: M.E. Sharpe. p.  4. ISBN   978-0-87332-248-5.
26. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office (1987). "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". 1985 Demographic Yearbook. New York. pp. 247–289.
27. "Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania" . Retrieved 3 December 2012.
28. "Mayor". Vilniu City. Retrieved 13 May 2013.

This article incorporates information from the Lithuanian Wikipedia, Polish Wikipedia, and Russian Wikipedia.

Bibliography

See also: History of Vilnius § Bibliography

• Jedidiah Morse; Richard C. Morse (1823), "Wilna", A New Universal Gazetteer (4th ed.), New Haven: S. Converse
• "Wilna", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 12, New York, 1907, hdl:2027/osu.32435029752839
• "Vilna (town)"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 28 (11th ed.). 1910. pp. 88–89.
• "Vilna", Russia with Teheran, Port Arthur, and Peking, Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1914, OCLC   1328163
• William Henry Beable (1919), "Vilna", Russian Gazetteer and Guide, London: Russian Outlook
• Patricia Kennedy Grimsted (1979). "The Archival Legacy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: The Fate of Early Historical Archives in Vilnius". Slavonic and East European Review. 57.
• Weeks, T. R. (2015). Vilnius between Nations, 1795–2000. Northern Illinois University Press.