title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: Later, Moore went on to work at the cable TV startup company ImaginAsianTV as a producer and writer for Jimbo Matison's "Uncle Morty's Dub Shack", a comedy show that involved comedians performing sketches and re-voicing and parodying old Asian movies.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: By 2002, in his last year of college, Moore was granted a personal internship to "Saturday Night Live". Initially, Moore was only going to be there for one semester, but the show ended up asking him to stay for the entire year. This got him into the coveted NBC Page Program, which receives about 50,000 applications and only admits 50 people a year. He credits "Saturday Night Live" creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels as part of his comedic education.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: In 2004, Moore's comedy troupe, the Whitest Kids U' Know, started a regular engagement at the Lower East Side bar, Pianos. The success of WKUK on the internet and in live shows led to an invitation to the 2006 HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. The troupe won the award for Best Sketch Group and attracted the attention of many Hollywood executives. Following their success at the festival, Sundance, MTV, and Comedy Central all approached the group to do a television pilot, but Fuse was already getting it started. It is now in syndication around the world.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: After the success of the Whitest Kids U' Know, Fox Searchlight approached Moore and Cregger with a script and offered them a movie project. After consideration, they accepted, rewrote the original script and adapted it to their comedy style, and after completing filming of the second season of "The Whitest Kids U' Know", they directed and starred in "Miss March". This was Moore's first feature film. It was released on March 13, 2009.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: During their college years, Moore and Sam Brown had the idea for a movie about the American Civil War. Finally, while shooting the fifth season for "The Whitest Kids U' Know", he and the troupe wrote and filmed his second feature film titled "The Civil War on Drugs" (2011), where they all played multiple roles. The movie was directed by Moore and Cregger. It had limited release in theaters and ultimately ran simultaneously with the fifth season of "WKUK". It is a historical drama that the WKUK made to document the journey to legalize marijuana during the Civil War.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: Moore was periodically featured on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in recurring segments showcasing pre-taped, man-on-the-street style comedy bits, featuring pranks on and encounters with an unsuspecting public. Moore also collaborated on various occasions with Funny or Die and Comedy Central.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: Since the foundation of the WKUK comedy troupe, Moore and the other members have constantly participated in on-stage presentations, either individually or as a group in different projects. He toured every year with the WKUK troupe, performing old and new sketches in live shows. From time to time, Moore performed in live shows called the "Whatev'r Show" alongside other comedians in New York City and Hollywood.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: On the first Tuesday of every month from November 6, 2012—when it opened with a special show on the night of the presidential election—through February 2013, Trevor Moore did a talk show and comedy show on stage with fellow comedian Josh Fadem in L.A. The show was called "The Show Where Trevor Moore Does a Talk Show Thing and Josh Fadem Does Some Other Stuff Too All in One... Plus More".


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: Moore released his debut album, "Drunk Texts to Myself", on Comedy Central Records in March 2013. He directed and starred in complementary musical videos for the album, also produced by Comedy Central. The album has 12 tracks, including "Drunk Texts to Myself (featuring Reggie Watts)", "What About Mouthwash?", and "Founding Fathers Rap". "Drunk Texts to Myself" represented contradiction in society using a variety of musical forms, going from rap and metal to country and pop. He performed the album along with some friends on a tour around the U.S.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: Moore released his second album, "High in Church", on Comedy Central on March 10, 2015. This album contained live and new songs. Unique songs included "Kitty History", a parable of conspiracy theories, "The Gays Got Married", a sardonic country song, and "The Ballad of Billy John", which explores the nature of malicious YouTube comments. He released his third album, "The Story of Our Times", on Comedy Central on April 20, 2018. Unlike the previous album, there are no live renditions of previously released songs. The subject matter is varied, including the inanity of YouTube celebrities, reality television and Internet trolls.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: Moore made a miniseries with Brown called "The Trevor Moore Show" that consisted of three episodes and started airing on Comedy Central in August 2019. Moore was also the creator of the Disney Channel show "Just Roll With It", which premiered in June 2019.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Moore hosted "The Trevor Moore Quarantine Show" on YouTube, which often involved a sketch with him and his dog, followed by a recorded live stream session with old WKUK cast members discussing random topics. He and the other members of The Whitest Kids U' Know created an animated film, "Mars", which was in post-production at the time of his death in 2021.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: Moore married Aimee Carlson in October 2010. The couple first met when Moore was 23; they had one son together.


title: Trevor Moore (comedian)

text: On August 7, 2021, at the age of 41, Moore died after being involved in an accident at his residence resulting in blunt force head trauma. "TMZ" reported that Moore fell from his upstairs balcony at his home and suffered fatal head trauma around 2:30 AM on August 7. Alcohol was later revealed to be a factor, and no other drugs were in his system at the time, according to toxicology reports. Approximately one month prior to the accident, Moore had posted on Twitter that, upon his death, he wished to be referred to as "local sexpot", which was referenced in his "Vulture" obituary.


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: Danielle Nicole Panabaker (born September 19, 1987) is an American actress. She began acting as a teenager and came to prominence for her roles in the Disney films "Stuck in the Suburbs" (2004), "Sky High" (2005) and "Read It and Weep" (2006), and in the HBO miniseries "Empire Falls" (2005). She won three Young Artist Awards: for guest-starring in an episode of the legal drama television series "The Guardian" (2004), for her lead role in the TV film "Searching for David's Heart" (2005) and for her ensemble performance in the family comedy film "Yours, Mine & Ours" (2005).


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: Panabaker came to wider attention as a cast member in the CBS legal drama series "Shark" (2006–2008) and is also noted as a scream queen, having starred in the psychological thriller "Mr. Brooks" (2007) and the horror films "Friday the 13th" (2009), "The Crazies" (2010), John Carpenter's "The Ward" (2010) and "Piranha 3DD" (2012).


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: After starring in recurring roles on "Necessary Roughness" (2011–2013), "Bones" (2012–2013) and "Justified" (2014), Panabaker guest-starred as Caitlin Snow on The CW television series "Arrow" in April 2014. The character was then spun off into the main cast of "The Flash" which premiered that October. Starting with the series' second season, Panabaker began playing the character's alter ego Killer Frost in different capacities, in conjunction with her role as Snow, leading to subsequent guest appearances on "Arrow", "Supergirl" and "Legends of Tomorrow". For her role on "The Flash" as Frost, Panabaker has been nominated for five Teen Choice Awards and won the 2021 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television.


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: Panabaker was born in Augusta, Georgia, to Donna (née Mayock) and Harold Panabaker. Her younger sister, Kay Panabaker, was also an actress and is currently working as a zoologist. As her father's sales job took them across the country, the family spent time in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and, for a short time around Panabaker's kindergarten year, in Orange, Texas. She took a theater class at a summer camp, discovered her love of acting, and started acting in community theaters at the age of 12, later auditioning for commercials.


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: After moving to Naperville, Illinois, in 2000, Panabaker went to Crone Middle School and then Neuqua Valley High School, participating in the speech team. She graduated from high school when she was 14 years old. Panabaker also took ballet and pointe classes up until she was fifteen. In 2003, feeling it was the only way to land acting roles regularly, Panabaker, her sister, and their mother relocated to Los Angeles, California, so she could pursue an acting career. She attended Glendale Community College, studying acting. In 2005, she earned her associate degree and appeared on the national Dean's List. In 2006, she began her senior year at the University of California, Los Angeles, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in June 2007, again appearing on the Dean's List.


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: Panabaker followed her initial appearances in commercials with roles in television, including a part in "The Guardian" (for which she won a Young Artist Award), as well as other television series including "Malcolm in the Middle", "", "Medium", and "Summerland", and the Disney Channel Original Movie "Stuck in the Suburbs". She also appeared in the Lifetime Television productions "Sex and the Single Mom" and "Mom at Sixteen", as well as the well-reviewed miniseries "Empire Falls". She considers "Empire Falls" to be her big break, as it gave her the confidence to pursue her career. In addition, Panabaker appeared in stage productions with roles in musical theater, including "West Side Story", "Pippin", "Once upon a Time", and "Beauty Lou and the Country Beast". In 2004, she starred in the ABC film "Searching for David's Heart". In 2005, Panabaker co-starred in two widely released theatrical films, "Sky High" and "Yours, Mine & Ours". Her next role was in the film "Home of the Giants" (2008). She also had a supporting role in the film "Mr. Brooks". In the Disney Channel original movie "Read It and Weep", she plays Is, an alternate version of Jamie, who was played by her real-life sister, Kay Panabaker.


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: From 2006 to 2008, Panabaker starred in the CBS television drama "Shark", playing Julie Stark, the daughter of the lead character. In 2009, Panabaker played Jenna, a main character in the "Friday the 13th" remake. Panabaker next starred in the films "The Crazies" and "The Ward".


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: In 2011, Panabaker starred as Katie Lapp, the lead character in the Hallmark Channel movie "The Shunning", based on the novel by Beverly Lewis. She was to reprise her role in the 2013 sequel "The Confession", but a scheduling conflict forced her to drop out, and the role was recast. In 2013, she starred in another Hallmark Channel movie, "Nearlyweds". On May 5, 2013, Panabaker joined actors including Philip Baker Hall, Bill Pullman, and Maggie Siff in performing at Cedering Fox's WordTheatre, where they read aloud contemporary short fiction. In 2014, Panabaker starred in Bradley D. King's award-winning science-fiction film "Time Lapse", for which she won the award for Best Actor/Actress at the 2014 London Independent Film Festival.


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: In April 2014, Panabaker guest starred as Caitlin Snow in a second-season episode of the CW series "Arrow"; since October 2014, she has starred as the same character in the spinoff series "The Flash". Panabaker made her directorial debut with the eighteenth episode of the series' fifth season, entitled "Godspeed".


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: Panabaker volunteers for multiple organizations including the Art of Elysium, Unicef, and Young Storytellers Foundation. In May and June 2019, Panabaker, DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee, writer Tom King, and fellow CW series actresses Nafessa Williams and Candice Patton toured five U.S. military bases in Kuwait with the United Service Organizations (USO), where they visited the approximately 12,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in that country as part of DC's 80th anniversary of Batman celebration.


title: Danielle Panabaker

text: In July 2016, Panabaker announced that she was engaged to her longtime boyfriend Hayes Robbins, and they married on June 24, 2017, They have two children, one born in 2020 and another born in 2022.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known mononymously as Hozier ( ), is an Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. His music primarily draws from folk, soul, and blues, often using religious and literary themes. He had his international breakthrough after releasing his debut single "Take Me to Church", which has been certified multi-platinum in several countries.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Born and raised in County Wicklow, Hozier released his debut EP in 2013, featuring "Take Me to Church", which became a rock radio hit in the U.S. and peaked at number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100. His debut studio album was released in March 2014 to critical acclaim. It has been certified 6× platinum in Ireland and multi-platinum in several countries. In September 2018, he released an EP titled "Nina Cried Power" and featured the title track as a single, reaching number one on the "Billboard" Adult Alternative Songs chart. He released his second album "Wasteland, Baby!" in March 2019, which debuted atop the Irish Albums Chart and the "Billboard" 200, and has since been certified gold in the U.S.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Andrew John Hozier-Byrne was born on 17 March 1990 in Bray, County Wicklow; the son of Raine Hozier-Byrne, an artist, and John Byrne, a local blues drummer who had a day job working at a bank. He grew up near Delgany, County Wicklow. As a child, Hozier self-identified as a "class clown" and an "unfocused student", calling school a "monotonous nightmare". He once worked a job scrubbing toilets at a golf course, which he described as a "good experience of hard work". He began writing songs at the age of 15. He taught himself guitar and sang in his school choir. He was educated at Delgany National School. His parents were raised Catholics, but converted to the Quaker faith. Despite this, he later attended the Catholic St. Gerard's School before studying music education at Trinity College Dublin. He was refused a year's deferral by the college after missing exams to record demos for a music label.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: While at Trinity, Hozier became involved with the Trinity Orchestra. He was a member of the choral ensemble Anúna from 2007 to 2012 and appears as a soloist on their 2014 release "Illuminations" singing "La Chanson de Mardi Gras". He toured and sang with the group internationally including performances in Norway and the Netherlands. Hozier played at Oxegen Festival in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, he opened up for a performance for Alex Winston in Dublin. In 2012, Hozier appeared as a backup singer for Billy Ocean.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Hozier wrote the song "Take Me to Church" in 2013 in between playing open mic nights in Dublin; the rough demo resulted in him signing with indie label Rubyworks Records. Hozier released his debut extended play, also called "Take Me to Church", on 3 July 2013. It appeared on the "Billboard" 200. He initially recorded track demos in his attic studio before working on the record with producer Rob Kirwan. The titular single was released in September 2013. The music video, alluding to themes of homophobia, was released that same month, having been created on a "shoestring budget" and filmed entirely in black-and-white. The video was shared by English actor Stephen Fry, which helped it reach the front page of Reddit and subsequently go viral. "Take Me to Church" saw Hozier's rise to prominence, with the song scoring top five positions around the world and gaining multi-platinum certifications; the song also garnered critical acclaim for its lyricism and messaging. The EP's concluding track, "Cherry Wine", appeared in Zach Braff's movie "Wish I Was Here", chosen for its "heartbreaking lyrics and poetry". It was later performed on the "Late Late Show". In 2014, Hozier released his second EP, "From Eden".


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Hozier released his eponymous album, "Hozier", on 19 September 2014, including tracks from his first two extended-play albums (EPs). The album drew inspiration from folk, R&B, and blues music. "Hozier" met critical success; Helen Brown of "The Telegraph" noted that it was "an intense, youthful lyrical tangling of religion and romantic obsession that regularly finds him poised 'between love and abuse'". "Hozier" peaked at number one in Ireland and finished second on the US "Billboard" 200. The album is certified 2× platinum in the UK and US. After the release of "Take Me to Church", the record released five singles released from 2014 to 2016: "From Eden", "Sedated", "Work Song", Someone New", "Jackie and Wilson", and "Cherry Wine", which all appeared on the Irish Singles Chart. The music videos for "From Eden" "Someone New" and "Cherry Wine" featured actresses Katie McGrath, Natalie Dormer and Saoirse Ronan, respectively. He embarked on an American and European tour to support the album.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: "Take Me to Church" was later nominated at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year in 2015. At the awards show, he performed the song with Annie Lennox, and later at the 2015 "Billboard" Music Awards. On 12 November 2015, he won the VH1 Artist of the Year, a fan-voted award. At the ceremony, he performed "Take Me to Church" and The Beatles' "Blackbird" with singer Tori Kelly. In June 2016, Hozier released the song "Better Love" as part of the "Legend of Tarzan" soundtrack. Hozier subsequently took a one-year hiatus from his work, moving back to Ireland to "reconnect" after touring his debut album.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: In September 2018, Hozier returned with the release of the extended-play album "Nina Cried Power". The record features a collaboration with Mavis Staples on the titular track. He released his second studio album's lead single, "Movement", on 14 November 2018, alongside a music video. Hozier's second album, "Wasteland, Baby!", was released on 1 March 2019, including tracks from his previous EP. The thematic elements of the album center around his interpretation of the apocalypse while looking for thematic elements of romance and redemption. Reviews were largely positive; Elisabeth Woronzoff of "PopMatters" stated it "light[s] the artist's skill and vision of his craft... [and] that it [..] delivers while edifying the artist as an impactful voice in the art and activism sphere." The album debuted atop the Irish Albums Chart and the Billboard 200, Hozier's first number-one US release. "Wasteland Baby!" has since been certified silver in the United Kingdom and gold in the United States.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: After "Wasteland, Baby!" release, Hozier embarked on a worldwide tour across North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe to promote the album. "Wasteland, Baby!" released two further singles released in 2019 that debuted on the Irish Singles Chart: "Almost (Sweet Music)" and "Dinner and Diatribes"; the music video for the latter track features an appearance from actress Anya Taylor-Joy. He was the closing headliner of the inaugural Railbird Festival held on the grounds of the Keeneland horse track in Lexington, Kentucky. Hozier was one of the headliners for the Electric Picnic 2019, a three-day festival held in Ireland on 30 August to 1 September. He performed at the Glastonbury Festival 2019, a five-day festival held in June in England. He also performed at the Lollapalooza 2019, a four-day music festival held in Chicago in August.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: In March and April 2020, Hozier did multiple live-streamed performances on social media platforms Instagram and Facebook to raise money and awareness for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 27 March, he performed on the "Late Late Show". On 14 April, he announced that he was releasing his cover of "The Parting Glass" for streaming on all platforms, with proceeds going to the ISPCC. On 26 June 2020, he participated in an RTÉ fundraising special, "RTÉ Does Comic Relief", with proceeds going towards victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the special, he performed a cover of "Bridge over Troubled Water" in Croke Park and performed a sketch with Irish comedian Aisling Bea.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: On 29 October 2021, Hozier released the single "Tell It to My Heart" in collaboration with Meduza, which debuted at number 13 on the Irish Singles Chart.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: On 31 December 2021, he announced his upcoming album, stating on Twitter "'Unreal Unearth' will start to find its way to your ears next year, come hell or high water". He has released snippets of lyrics from two upcoming songs on social media, "De Selby" and "Rob the Goddess". Hozier released the single "Swan Upon Leda" on 7 October 2022, with its inspiration coming from Egyptian feminist Mona Eltahawy, as well as the Dobbs decision in the United States and the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests in Iran. "Atwood Magazine" praised the song as "a haunting and heartbreakingly beautiful prayer, plea, and cry for reproductive rights and women’s empowerment." "Blood Upon the Snow" was released on 9 November 2022, as a collaboration with composer Bear McCreary for the video game "God of War Ragnarök".


title: Hozier (musician)

text: As a result of his countryside upbringing, many of Hozier's early music exposure came from his parents' blues, jazz, and soul record collections, incorporating artists like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Bukka White, and Tom Waits. His first musical memories were drawn from his father's career as a drummer playing music in Dublin. He has stated that his musical education was "grounded" in Chicago blues artists such as John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, and Nina Simone, to whom he pays tribute in the track "Nina Cried Power". As a child, he was a fan of the bands Stereophonics and Daft Punk. His draws inspiration primarily from Irish and African-American artistry; he has said that the "roots" of jazz, rock, soul, and R&B have been largely shaped by black culture and finds importance in "crediting the legacy you're crediting". His guitar work draws from Celtic folk inspiration, as well as musicians Ali Farka Toure and Tinariwen. Hozier has stated that "the best vocalists I can think of are female". Musically, Hozier has listed Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, Van Morrison, Ella Fitzgerald, St Vincent, Feist, Little Green Cars, Paul Simon, Willie Dixon, and Lisa Hannigan as musical and vocal influences.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Hozier states that his writing differs based on the starting point; varying from a couplet and lyrical idea, or a musical hook that he "flesh[es] out from a fairly embryonic point". Lyrics "by far take [him] the most time", describing a "slow process of repetition" while "not lean[ing] too much on verbose phrases" to maintain the integrity of the sentiment. His process is described as "slow, methodical work" and he is "meticulous" about wording; he has stated that he "can defend any idea by the time someone hears it, because [he has] put it through a strainer seven times". His lyrics often contain vivid literary references and draw imagery from nature and religion; they tend to focus on themes of romantic relationships, love, and politics. Hozier has dismissed comparisons of his work to poetry, stating that to consider it such "would be a disservice to poetry itself." The "subversion of social norms" plays a role in his music, which often discuss the defiance of organised religion and social convention. Hozier references the Irish concept of the craic, which he interprets as subverting social norms and self-respect, and has stated, "If the Irish are not taking the piss out of something, what's the point really?" His songwriting has been influenced by Irish music and folklore, as well as poets Seamus Heaney and W. B. Yeats. He has said that his first record contained a "fairytale aspect" influenced by Oscar Wilde.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Steve Baltin of "Forbes" has stated that briefly studying music theory in college has influenced Hozier's sound, and that he writes from a "socially conscious" perspective. Hozier has stated that he believes "the personal is the political"; much of his work holds direct references to topical events. The "Take Me to Church" music video features two men in a same-sex relationship, and highlights the injustices and violence perpetrated against members of the LGBT community. The video was inspired by videos of violent crimes against gay men in Russia. The music video for the song "Cherry Wine" was released to raise awareness of domestic violence. "Nina Cried Power" is a song that highlights artists such as Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and Mavis Staples whose work takes a political or social justice stance. The music video features Irish activists alongside protest footage. "Be" also contains many allusions to sea level rise and refugee crises, referencing President Donald Trump and "The Apprentice". In November 2019, Hozier released a song titled "Jackboot Jump", following live performances of it on tour. This song, besides being a direct reference to George Orwell's "1984", alludes to social demonstrations in Hong Kong, Russia and in America. In 2019, Hozier performed an unreleased song whilst on tour entitled "But the Wages" that refers to temperatures rising as well as riots all around the world, while wages remain the same.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Hozier is part of Home Sweet Home, an organisation led by Irish celebrities including actress Saoirse Ronan and musician Glen Hansard. In 2016, the organisation illegally took over an office building in Dublin to house 31 homeless families. Hozier, who had a Protestant upbringing in the Quaker faith but also attended a Catholic school, is an outspoken critic of the Catholic Church. He showed support for the Irish abortion referendum, and stated he felt "pride" in his generation and the democratic process following the vote. On 5 June 2020, he announced that all royalties from his song "Jackboot Jump" would go to the NAACP and Black Lives Matter movement following the George Floyd protests. On May 22, 2021, Hozier signed an open letter calling for Irish Americans in President Joe Biden's cabinet to stand with Palestinians.


title: Hozier (musician)

text: Hozier continues to reside in Ireland. He has the last words of Irish poet Seamus Heaney tattooed on his arm ("noli timere", Latin for "don't be afraid"). Hozier was raised in the Protestant Quaker faith, and now identifies as an agnostic. While he admitted in 2019 that he rarely attends church except for funerals and weddings, he admires the Quaker religion for its pacifism and its anti-war sentiment. He is especially interested in how people use religious institutions to claim "infallibility" in order to gain control and power over others. He had stated that one positive lesson he learned from his religious upbringing was to "look for the spark of the divine in every individual" and treat everybody as if "you are looking into the mind and face of God".


title: Hymen

text: The hymen is a thin piece of mucosal tissue that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening. It forms part of the vulva, or external genitalia, and is similar in structure to the vagina.


title: Hymen

text: In children, a common appearance of the hymen is crescent-shaped, although many shapes are possible. During puberty, estrogen causes the hymen to change in appearance and become very elastic. Normal variations of the post-pubertal hymen range from thin and stretchy to thick and somewhat rigid. Very rarely, it may be completely absent.


title: Hymen

text: The hymen can rip or tear during first penetrative intercourse, which usually results in pain and, sometimes, mild temporary bleeding or spotting. Sources differ on how common tearing or bleeding after first intercourse are. The state of the hymen is not a reliable indicator of virginity, though "virginity testing" remains a common practice in some cultures, sometimes accompanied by surgical restoration of hymen to give the appearance of virginity. Minor injuries to the hymen may heal on their own, and not require surgical intervention.


title: Hymen

text: The genital tract develops during embryogenesis, from the third week of gestation to the second trimester, and the hymen is formed following the vagina. At week seven, the urorectal septum forms and separates the rectum from the urogenital sinus. At week nine, the Müllerian ducts move downwards to reach the urogenital sinus, forming the uterovaginal canal and inserting into the urogenital sinus. At week twelve, the Müllerian ducts fuse to create a primitive uterovaginal canal called unaleria. At month five, the vaginal canalization is complete and the fetal hymen is formed from the proliferation of the sinovaginal bulbs (where Müllerian ducts meet the urogenital sinus), and normally becomes perforate before or shortly after birth.


title: Hymen

text: The hymen has dense innervation. In newborn babies, still under the influence of the mother's hormones, the hymen is thick, pale pink, and redundant (folds in on itself and may protrude). For the first two to four years of life, the infant produces hormones that continue this effect. Their hymenal opening tends to be annular (circumferential).


title: Hymen

text: Post neonatal stage, the diameter of the hymenal opening (measured within the hymenal ring) widens by approximately 1 mm for each year of age. During puberty, estrogen causes the hymen to become very elastic and fimbriated.The hymen can stretch or tear as a result of various behaviors, by the use of tampons or menstrual cups, pelvic examinations with a speculum, sexual intercourse, insertion of multiple fingers or items into the vagina, and activities such as gymnastics (doing 'the splits'), horseback riding or trauma caused by a "straddle injury". Remnants of the hymen are called carunculae myrtiformes.


title: Hymen

text: A glass or plastic rod of 6 mm diameter having a globe on one end with varying diameter from 10 to 25 mm, called a Glaister Keen rod, is used for close examination of the hymen or the degree of its rupture. In forensic medicine, it is recommended by health authorities that a physician who must swab near this area of a prepubescent girl avoid the hymen and swab the outer vulval vestibule instead. In cases of suspected rape or child sexual abuse, a detailed examination of the hymen may be performed, but the condition of the hymen alone is often inconclusive.


title: Hymen

text: Normal variations of the hymen range from thin and stretchy to thick and somewhat rigid. An imperforate hymen occurs in 1-2 out of 1,000 infants. The only variation that may require medical intervention is the imperforate hymen, which either completely prevents the passage of menstrual fluid or slows it significantly. In either case, surgical intervention may be needed to allow menstrual fluid to pass or intercourse to take place at all.


title: Hymen

text: Prepubescent hymenal openings come in many shapes, depending on hormonal and activity level, the most common being crescentic (posterior rim): no tissue at the 12 o'clock position; crescent-shaped band of tissue from 1–2 to 10–11 o'clock, at its widest around 6 o'clock. From puberty onwards, depending on estrogen and activity levels, the hymenal tissue may be thicker, and the opening is often fimbriated or erratically shaped. In younger children, a torn hymen will typically heal very quickly. In adolescents, the hymenal opening can naturally extend and variation in shape and appearance increases.


title: Hymen

text: Variations of the female reproductive tract can result from agenesis or hypoplasia, canalization defects, lateral fusion and failure of resorption, resulting in various complications.


title: Hymen

text: Historically, it was believed that first sexual intercourse was necessarily traumatic to the hymen and always resulted in the hymen being "broken" or torn, causing bleeding. However, research on women in Western populations has found that bleeding during first intercourse does not invariably occur. In one cross-cultural study, slightly more than half of all women self-reported bleeding during first intercourse, with significantly different levels of pain and bleeding reported depending on their region of origin. Not all women experience pain, and one study found a correlation between the experience of strong emotions – such as excitement, nervousness, or fear – with experiencing pain during first intercourse.


title: Hymen

text: In several studies of adolescent female rape victims, where patients were examined at a hospital following sexual assault, half or fewer of virgin victims had any injury to the hymen. Tears of the hymen occurred in less than a quarter of cases. However, virgins were significantly more likely to have injuries to the hymen than non-virgins.


title: Hymen

text: In a study of adolescents who had previously had consensual sex, approximately half showed evidence of trauma to the hymen. Trauma to the hymen may also occur in adult non-virgins following consensual sex, although it is rare. Trauma to the hymen may heal without any visible sign of injury. An observational study of adolescent sexual assault victims found that majority of wounds to the hymen healed without any visible sign of injury having occurred.


title: Hymen

text: Trauma to the hymen is hypothesized to occur as a result of various other behaviors, such as tampon or menstrual cup use, pelvic examinations with a speculum, masturbation, gymnastics, or horseback riding, although the true prevalence of trauma as a result of these activities is unclear.


title: Hymen

text: The hymen is often attributed important cultural significance in certain communities because of its association with a woman's virginity. In those cultures, an intact hymen is highly valued at marriage in the belief that this is a proof of virginity. Some women undergo hymenorrhaphy to restore their hymen for this reason.


title: Hymen

text: In October 2018, the UN Human Rights, UN Women and the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that virginity testing must end as "it is a painful, humiliating and traumatic practice, constituting violence against women".


title: Hymen

text: In the 16th and 17th centuries, medical researchers mistakenly saw the presence or absence of the hymen as founding evidence of physical diseases such as "womb-fury", i.e., (female) hysteria. If not cured, womb-fury would, according to doctors practicing at the time, result in death.


title: Hymen

text: Due to similar reproductive system development, many mammals have hymens, including chimpanzees, elephants, manatees, whales, horses and llamas.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urban area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 718,507 (as of 2020), while according to the Vilnius territorial health insurance fund, there were 753,875 permanent inhabitants as of November 2022 in Vilnius city and Vilnius district municipalities combined. Vilnius is situated in southeastern Lithuania and is the second-largest city in the Baltic states, but according to the Bank of Latvia is expected to become the largest before 2025. It is the seat of Lithuania's national government and the Vilnius District Municipality.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius is known for the architecture in its Old Town, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The city was noted for its multicultural population already in the time of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, with contemporary sources comparing it to Babylon. Before World War II and the Holocaust, Vilnius was one of the most important Jewish centres in Europe. Its Jewish influence has led to its nickname "the Jerusalem of Lithuania". Napoleon called it "the Jerusalem of the North" as he was passing through in 1812.


title: Vilnius

text: In 2009, Vilnius was the European Capital of Culture, together with Linz, Austria. In 2021, Vilnius was named among top-25 fDi's Global Cities of the Future – one of the most forward-thinking cities with the greatest potential in the world.


title: Vilnius

text: The name of the city originates from the Vilnia River, from the Lithuanian for "ripple". The city has also had many derivative spellings in various languages throughout its history: "Vilna" was once common in English. The most notable non-Lithuanian names for the city include , ("Vilnia"), , , ("Vilno"), ("Vilne"). A Russian name from the time of the Russian Empire was Вильна ("Vilna"), although Вильнюс ("Vilnyus") is now used. The names "Wilno", "Wilna" and "Vilna" were also used in older English-, German-, French- and Italian-language publications when the city was one of the capitals of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and an important city in the Second Polish Republic. The name "Vilna" is still used in Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, and . "Wilna" is still used in German, along with "Vilnius".


title: Vilnius

text: The neighborhoods of Vilnius also have names in other languages, which represent the languages spoken by various ethnic groups in the area.


title: Vilnius

text: According to legend, Grand Duke Gediminas (c. 1275–1341) was hunting in the sacred forest near the Valley of Šventaragis, near where the Vilnia River flows into the Neris River. Tired after the successful hunt of a wisent, the Grand Duke settled in for the night. He fell soundly asleep and dreamed of a huge Iron Wolf standing on top a hill and howling as strong and loud as a hundred wolves. Upon awakening, the Duke asked the "krivis" (pagan priest) Lizdeika to interpret the dream. The priest told him:


title: Vilnius

text: "What is destined for the ruler and the State of Lithuania, is thus: the Iron Wolf represents a castle and a city which will be established by you on this site. This city will be the capital of the Lithuanian lands and the dwelling of their rulers, and the glory of their deeds shall echo throughout the world."


title: Vilnius

text: Therefore, Gediminas, obeying the will of the gods, built the city, and gave it the name Vilnius, from the Vilnia River.


title: Vilnius

text: Historian Romas Batūra identifies the city with Voruta, one of the castles of Mindaugas, who was King of Lithuania after coronation in 1253. During the reign of Grand Dukes Butvydas and Vytenis, a city started emerging from a trading settlement and the first Franciscan Catholic church was built.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius is the historic and present-day capital of Lithuania. Archeological findings indicate that this city was the capital of the Kingdom of Lithuania and later that of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After Lithuania formed a dual confederation with the Kingdom of Poland, Vilnius still remained as Lithuania's capital.


title: Vilnius

text: The city was first mentioned in written sources in 1323 as "Vilna", when the Letters of Grand Duke Gediminas were sent to German cities inviting Germans (including German Jews) to settle in the capital city, as well as to Pope John XXII. These letters contain the first unambiguous reference to Vilnius as the capital; Old Trakai Castle had been the earlier seat of the court of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius's location offered practical advantages: it lay in the Lithuanian heartland at the confluence of two navigable rivers (Vilnia and Neris), surrounded by impenetrable forests and wetlands.


title: Vilnius

text: At the time of the 14th century, Lithuania was continuously invaded by the Teutonic Order. The future King of England Henry IV (then Henry Bolingbroke) spent a full year of 1390 supporting the unsuccessful siege of Vilnius by Teutonic Knights with his 300 fellow knights. During this campaign he bought captured Lithuanian women and children and took them back to Königsberg for their conversion to Christianity. King Henry's second expedition to Lithuania in 1392 illustrates the financial benefits of these guest crusaders to the Order. His small army consisted of over 100 men, including longbow archers and six minstrels, at a total cost to the Lancastrian purse of £4,360. Despite the efforts of Bolingbroke and his English crusaders, two years of attacks on Vilnius proved fruitless. Vilnius was the flourishing capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the residence of the Grand Duke. Gediminas expanded the Grand Duchy through warfare along with strategic alliances and marriages.


title: Vilnius

text: At its height it covered the territory of modern-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Transnistria, and portions of modern-day Poland and Russia. His grandchildren Vytautas the Great and Jogaila, however, fought civil wars. During the Lithuanian Civil War of 1389–1392, Vytautas besieged and razed the city in an attempt to wrest control from Jogaila. The two Gediminids cousins later settled their differences; after a series of treaties culminating in the 1569 Union of Lublin, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. The Commonwealth's rulers held two titles: Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. In 1387, Jogaila acting as a Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, granted Magdeburg rights to the city.


title: Vilnius

text: The city underwent a period of expansion in the 16th century. The Wall of Vilnius was built for protection between 1503 and 1522, comprising nine city gates and three towers, and in 1547 Sigismund II Augustus moved his court from Kraków to Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius's growth was due in part to the establishment of Alma Academia et Universitas Vilnensis Societatis Iesu by the Polish King and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Báthory in 1579. The university soon developed into one of the most important scientific and cultural centres in the region and the most notable scientific centre of the Commonwealth.


title: Vilnius

text: During its rapid development, the city was open to migrants from the territories of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Grand Duchy and further. Many languages were spoken: Polish, German, Yiddish, Ruthenian, Lithuanian, Russian, Old Church Slavonic, Latin, Hebrew, and Turkic languages; the city was compared to Babylon. Each group contributed uniquely to the city's life, and crafts, trade, and science prospered.


title: Vilnius

text: The 17th century brought a number of setbacks. The Commonwealth was involved in a series of wars, collectively known as The Deluge. During the Thirteen Years' War (1654–1667), Vilnius was occupied by Muscovite forces; it was pillaged and burned, and its population massacred. During the Great Northern War it was looted by the Swedish army. An outbreak of bubonic plague in 1710 killed about 35,000 residents; devastating fires occurred in 1715, 1737, 1741, 1748, and 1749.


title: Vilnius

text: The city's growth lost its momentum for many years, but even despite this fact, at the end of the 18th century and before the Napoleon wars, Vilnius, with 56,000 inhabitants, entered the Russian Empire as its third-largest city.


title: Vilnius

text: The fortunes of the Commonwealth declined during the 18th century. Three partitions took place, dividing its territory among the Russian Empire, the Habsburg Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia. Forces led by Jakub Jasiński expelled Russians from Vilnius during the uprising in 1794. However, after the third partition of April 1795, Vilnius was annexed by the Russian Empire and became the capital of the Vilna Governorate. During Russian rule, the city walls were destroyed, and by 1805 only the Gate of Dawn remained. In 1812, the city was taken by Napoleon on his push towards Moscow, and again during the disastrous retreat. The Grande Armée was welcomed in Vilnius. Thousands of soldiers died in the city during the eventual retreat; the mass graves were uncovered in 2002. Inhabitants expected Tsar Alexander I to grant them autonomy in response to Napoleon's promises to restore the Commonwealth, but Vilnius did not become autonomous, neither by itself nor as a part of Congress Poland.


title: Vilnius

text: Following the November Uprising in 1831, Vilnius University was closed and Russian repressions halted the further development of the city. Civil unrest in 1861 was suppressed by the Imperial Russian Army.


title: Vilnius

text: During the January Uprising in 1863, heavy fighting occurred within the city, but was brutally pacified by Mikhail Muravyov, nicknamed "The Hangman" by the population because of the many executions he organized. After the uprising, all civil liberties were withdrawn, and use of the Polish and Lithuanian languages was banned. Vilnius had a vibrant Jewish population: according to the Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 154,500, Jews constituted 64,000 (approximately 40%). During the early 20th century, the Lithuanian-speaking population of Vilnius constituted only a small minority, with Polish, Yiddish, and Russian speakers comprising the majority of the city's population. On 4–5 December 1905, the Great Seimas of Vilnius was held in the current Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society building with over 2000 participants. It was the first modern national congress in Lithuania. The assembly decided to demand wide political autonomy within the Russian Empire and achieve this by peaceful means. It is considered an important step towards the Act of Independence of Lithuania, adopted on 16 February 1918 by the Council of Lithuania, as the Seimas laid the groundwork for the establishment of an independent Lithuanian state.


title: Vilnius

text: During World War I, Vilnius and the rest of Lithuania was occupied by the German Army from 1915 until 1918. The Act of Independence of Lithuania, which declared Lithuanian independence without any affiliation to any other nation, was issued in the city on 16 February 1918 with Vilnius as its capital.


title: Vilnius

text: At the end of 1918 Soviet Russia invaded Lithuania with massive forces, and the Lithuanian Army withdrew from Vilnius to the center of the country in order to form a defense line. The German Army withdrew together with the Lithuanian government. The Self-Defence of Lithuania, which was affiliated with the Second Polish Republic, briefly controlled the city and unsuccessfully tried protecting it against the invading Soviet forces. Vilnius changed hands again during the Polish–Soviet War and the Lithuanian Wars of Independence: it was taken by the Polish Army, only to fall to Soviet forces again. Shortly after the Red Army's defeat at the 1920 Battle of Warsaw, in order to delay the Polish advance, the Soviet government ceded the city to Lithuania after the signing the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty on 12 July 1920.


title: Vilnius

text: The League of Nations became involved in the subsequent Lithuanian self defense from Poland after it attacked Lithuanian army positions in the south west of Lithuania. The League brokered the ceasefire called the Suwałki Agreement on 7 October 1920. Lithuanians believed that it stopped a Polish aggression. Although neither Vilnius or the surrounding region was explicitly addressed in the agreement, numerous historians have described the agreement as allotting Vilnius to Lithuania. On 9 October 1920, the Polish Army surreptitiously, under General Lucjan Żeligowski, seized Vilnius during an operation known as Żeligowski's Mutiny. The city and its surroundings were designated as a separate state, called the Republic of Central Lithuania.


title: Vilnius

text: On 20 February 1922, after the highly contested election in Central Lithuania, the entire area was annexed by Poland, with the city becoming the capital of the Wilno Voivodeship (Wilno being the name of Vilnius in Polish). Kaunas then became the temporary capital of Lithuania. Lithuania vigorously contested the Polish annexation of Vilnius, and refused diplomatic relations with Poland. The predominant languages of the city were still Polish and, to a lesser extent, Yiddish. The Lithuanian-speaking population at the time was a small minority, at about 6% of the city's population according even to contemporary Lithuanian sources. The Council of Ambassadors and the international community (with the exception of Lithuania) recognized Polish sovereignty over Vilnius Region in 1923.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius University was reopened in 1919 under the name of Stefan Batory University. By 1931, the city had 195,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in Poland with varied industries, such as Elektrit, a factory that produced radio receivers.


title: Vilnius

text: Nazi Germany had invited Lithuania to join the invasion of Poland and retake the historical capital Vilnius by force; however, President Antanas Smetona and most of the Lithuanian politicians declined this offer because they had doubts about Adolf Hitler's eventual victory and were outraged by the 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania. Instead, they supported the neutrality policy and after being encouraged by the French and British diplomats – Lithuania adopted the Neutrality Act, which was supported by all the political forces.


title: Vilnius

text: World War II began with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. The secret protocols of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact had partitioned Lithuania and Poland into German and Soviet spheres of interest. On 19 September 1939, Vilnius was seized by the Soviet Union (which invaded Poland on 17 September). The Soviets repressed the local population and devastated the city, moving assets and factories to the USSR territory, including the major Polish radio factory Elektrit, along with a part of its labor force, to Minsk in Belarus SSR. The Soviets and Lithuania concluded a mutual assistance treaty on 10 October 1939, with which the Lithuanian government accepted the presence of Soviet military bases in various parts of the country. On 28 October 1939, the Red Army withdrew from the city to its suburbs (to Naujoji Vilnia) and Vilnius was given over to Lithuania. A Lithuanian Army parade took place on 29 October 1939 through the city center. The Lithuanians immediately attempted to re-Lithuanize the city, for example by Lithuanizing Polish schools.


title: Vilnius

text: Following the normalisation of relation with Poland the Lithuanian Consulate was opened in Vilnius on 22 August 1939, but the consule started operating there only after the war already began, on 9 September 1939.


title: Vilnius

text: The whole of Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union on 3 August 1940 following a June ultimatum from the Soviets demanding, among other things, that unspecified numbers of Red Army soldiers be allowed to enter the country for the purpose of helping to form a more pro-Soviet government. After the ultimatum was issued and Lithuania further occupied, a Soviet government was installed with Vilnius as the capital of the newly created Lithuanian SSR. Between 20,000 and 30,000 of the city's inhabitants were subsequently arrested by the NKVD and sent to gulags in the far eastern areas of the Soviet Union.


title: Vilnius

text: On 22 June 1941, the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union, while at the same time Lithuanians began the anti-Soviet June Uprising, organized by the Lithuanian Activist Front. Lithuanians proclaimed independence and organized the Provisional Government of Lithuania. This government quickly self-disbanded. Nazis captured Vilnius on 24 June 1941. Lithuania became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland, German civil administration. Two ghettos were set up in the old town centre for the large Jewish population – the smaller one of which was "liquidated" by October. The larger ghetto lasted until 1943, though its population was regularly deported in roundups known as "Aktionen". A forced labour camp (Kailis) was also set up behind the Vilnius Town Hall as a factory to produce winter clothing for the Wehrmacht and another one later for vehicle repair (HKP 562) on 47 & 49 Subačiaus Street. A failed ghetto uprising on 1 September 1943 organized by the Fareinigte Partizaner Organizacje (the United Partisan Organization, the first Jewish partisan unit in German-occupied Europe), was followed by the final destruction of the ghetto. During the Holocaust, about 95% of the 265,000-strong Jewish population of Lithuania was murdered by the German units and Lithuanian Nazi collaborators, many of them in Paneriai, about west of the old town centre (see the Ponary massacre).


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius' situation in 1944 was tenuous. As the Eastern Front neared Lithuania, the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (LTDF) under general Plechavičius was founded in mid-February to fight the Red Army and Soviet partisans, both only within Lithuanian borders, but it was soon brutally disbanded in mid-April by the Germans due to German-Lithuanian friction. As Armia Krajowa (AK) operated within the borders of interwar Poland, which overlapped with the Lithuanian lands, this caused clashes between both organisations. In early July, Operation Ostra Brama was a failed attempt of the AK to take the city from the Wehrmacht before the approaching Red Army. As the Polish army did not take over the city, the speed of the Soviet Vilnius offensive led to a joint Polish-Soviet effort to seize Vilnius. After the battle, the Polish army was dispersed, some of it incorporated into the Soviet-loyal Polish People's Army, while the officers were arrested and imprisoned.


title: Vilnius

text: In July 1944, Vilnius was once more occupied by Soviet Army with the Vilnius offensive, during which it defeated the German garrison. The town was once more the Lithuanian SSR's capital. The NKVD began repressions against Lithuanians and Poles. Sovietization began in earnest.


title: Vilnius

text: The war had irreversibly altered the city – between 1939 and 1949, Vilnius lost almost 90% of its population, through murder, deportation or exile, many buildings were destroyed. The Jewish population had been exterminated in the Holocaust, while most of the remaining ones were compelled to move to Communist Poland by 1946. Some partisans and members of the intelligentsia hiding in the forest were now targeted and deported to Siberia after the war.


title: Vilnius

text: From the late 1940s on Vilnius began to grow again, following an influx of Lithuanians, Poles and Belarusians from neighbouring regions and throughout Lithuania as well as neighbouring region of Grodno and from other more remote areas of the Soviet Union (particularly Russia, Belarus and Ukraine). Most of these new residents moved to Vilnius, due to repressions or poor living conditions caused by, e.g. collectivisation, in areas, where they lived previously. On the previously rural outskirts as well as in the very vicinity of the Old Town (industrial zones in Paupys, Markučiai, Naujamiestis), industrial areas were (re)designed and large Soviet plants were built, following a program of industrialization.


title: Vilnius

text: In November 1980, the number of inhabitants of Vilnius exceeded 500,000. Because of shortage of housing for a growing population of the city, large scale Microdistricts (so-called "sleeping districts") were built in the elderates of Antakalnis, Žirmūnai, Lazdynai, Karoliniškės, Viršuliškės, Baltupiai, Šeškinė, Justiniškės, Pašilaičiai, Fabijoniškės and on a smaller scale in other parts of Vilnius. These were connected with the central part as well as with industrial areas via expressway-like streets (so-called "fast traffic streets") and by public transport, noticeably extensive network of trolleybuses (from 1956).


title: Vilnius

text: On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR announced its secession from the Soviet Union and intention to restore an independent Republic of Lithuania. As a result of these declarations, on 9 January 1991, the Soviet Union sent in troops. This culminated in the 13 January attack on the State Radio and Television Building and the Vilnius TV Tower, killing at least fourteen civilians and seriously injuring 700 more. The Soviet Union finally recognised Lithuanian independence in September 1991. The Constitution, as did the earlier Lithuanian Constitution of 1922, mentions that "the capital of the State of Lithuania shall be the city of Vilnius, the long-standing historical capital of Lithuania".


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius has been rapidly transforming, emerging as a modern European city. The majority of its historical buildings during the last 25 years had been renovated, and a business and commercial area is being developed into the "New City Centre", that is expected to become the city's main administrative and business district on the north side of the Neris river. This area includes modern residential and retail space, with the municipality building and the Europa Tower as its most prominent buildings. The construction of Swedbank's headquarters is symbolic of the importance of Scandinavian banks in Vilnius. The building complex Vilnius Business Harbour was built in 2008, and one of its towers is now the 6th tallest building in Lithuania. More buildings are scheduled for construction in the area.


title: Vilnius

text: More than 75,000 new flats were built between 1995 and 2018 (including almost 50,000 new flats between 2003 and 2018), making Vilnius an absolute leader in construction sector in the Baltics of the last two decades. On average, or 3,246 flats are built each year. In 2015, there were 225,871 units in multi-storey houses and 20,578 flats in single-family or duplex apartment houses, the share of such housing increasing from 6.9% in 2006 to 8.3% in 2015. The record numbers of flats were built in 2019 – 4,322 flats in multi-family residentials were built in Vilnius city municipality and 817 flats were built in Vilnius urban zone (the city and the closest surroundings) in single-family detached houses – the later being the highest number in history.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius was selected as a 2009 European Capital of Culture, along with Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. Its 2009 New Year's Eve celebration, marking the event, featured a light show said to be "visible from outer space". In preparation, the historical centre of the city was restored, and its main monuments were renovated.


title: Vilnius

text: The global economic crisis of 2007–2008 led to a drop in tourism which prevented many of the projects from reaching their planned extent, and allegations of corruption and incompetence were made against the organisers, while tax increases for cultural activity led to public protests and the general economic conditions sparked riots. In 2015 Remigijus Šimašius became the first directly elected mayor of the city.


title: Vilnius

text: On 28–29 November 2013, Vilnius hosted the Eastern Partnership Summit in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. Many European presidents, prime ministers and other high-ranking officials participated in the event. On 29 November 2013, Georgia and Moldova signed association and free trade agreements with the European Union. Previously, Ukraine and Armenia were also expected to sign the agreements but postponed the decision, sparking large protests in Ukraine.


title: Vilnius

text: Several countries claims that the geographical centre of Europe is located in their territories. Its location depends on which arbitrary definition of the extent of Europe is chosen; the Guinness Book of World Records recognises a point near Vilnius as the continent's centre. After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the continent in 1989, Jean-George Affholder, a scientist at the Institut Géographique National (French National Geographic Institute) determined that its geographic centre was located at . The method used for calculating this point was that of the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe. This point is located in Lithuania, near the village of Girija (26 kilometres from Vilnius). A monument, composed by the sculptor Gediminas Jokūbonis and consisting of a column of white granite surmounted by a crown of stars, was erected at the location in 2004.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius lies from the Baltic Sea and Klaipėda, the chief Lithuanian seaport. Vilnius is connected by highways to other major Lithuanian cities, such as Kaunas ( away), Šiauliai ( away) and Panevėžys ( away).


title: Vilnius

text: The area of Vilnius is . Buildings occupy 29.1% of the city; green spaces occupy 68.8%; and waters occupy 2.1%.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius has eight protected nature reserves: Vokės Senslėnio Slopes Geomorphological Reserve, Aukštagiris Geomorphological Reserve, Valakupių Klonio Geomorphological Reserve, Veržuva Hydrographic Reserve, Vokė Hydrographic Reserve, Cedronas Upstream Landscape Reserve, Tapeliai Landscape Reserve and Šeškinė Slopes Geomorphological Reserve.


title: Vilnius

text: The climate of Vilnius is humid continental (Köppen climate classification "Dfb"). Temperature records have been kept since 1777. The average annual temperature is ; in January the average temperature is , in July it is . The average precipitation is about per year. Average annual temperatures in the city have increased significantly during the last 30 years, a change which the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service attributes to global warming induced by human activities.


title: Vilnius

text: Summer days are warm and sometimes hot, especially in July and August, with temperatures above throughout the day during periodic heat waves. Outdoor bars, restaurants and cafés are widely frequented during the daytime.


title: Vilnius

text: Winters can be very cold, with temperatures rarely reaching above freezing – temperatures below may occur in January and February. Vilnius's rivers freeze over in particularly cold winters, and the lakes surrounding the city are almost always permanently frozen during this time of year. A popular pastime is ice-fishing.


title: Vilnius

text: The Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service is headquartered in Vilnius and monitors climate of Vilnius and Lithuania.


title: Vilnius

text: For centuries, Vilnius as a capital city was an art centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and has attracted artists from all across Europe. The oldest works of art which remained from the early Gothic period (14th century) are paintings dedicated to churches and liturgy (e.g. frescoes in the Crypts of Vilnius Cathedral, decorated hymns books). Walls paintings from the 16th centuries were also discovered in Vilnius (e.g. painting of the Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard vaults or in the Church of Saint Nicholas). Gothic wooden, mostly polychrome sculptures were used to decorate the altars of the churches of Vilnius. Some Gothic seals from the 14–15th centuries remained until the nowadays (Kęstutis, Vytautas the Great, Sigismund II Augustus).


title: Vilnius

text: In the early 16th century, the Renaissance sculptures appeared, which were mostly created by Italian sculptors: Bernardinus Zanobi da Gianotti, Giovani Cini, Giovanni Maria Padovano. In the Renaissance period, portrait tombstones and medals were highly valued (e.g. marle tomb of Albertas Goštautas, 1548, by B. Z. da Gianotti, tomb of Povilas Alšėniškis, 1555, by G. Cini, both located in the Vilnius Cathedral). The works of Italian sculptors are characterized by a naturalistic treatment of forms, precise proportions, tectonicity, a realistic representation of the deceased. The local sculptors took over only the iconographic scheme of the Renaissance tomb; their works (e.g. tomb of Lew Sapieha, ca. 1633, at Church of St. Michael) are characterized by conditionality of forms, stylization. During this period local and Western European painters created religious, mythologic compositions, portraits, which were intertwined with late Gothic and Baroque features. Illustrated prayer books illustrations and miniatures have survived.


title: Vilnius

text: The Baroque period which began in the late 16th century was exceptional for Vilnius as wall painting blossomed in the city. Most of the palaces and churches were decorated with frescoes characterized by bright colors, sophisticated angles and dramatism style. Also during this period the secular painting spread – representational, imaginative, epitaph portraits, scenes of battles, politically important events. It is characterized by detailed realistic style. This period sculptures dominated in the sacred architecture (tombstones with sculptural portraits, exterior and interior decorative sculptures), made of wood, marble and stucco. Italian sculptors (e.g. G. P. Perti, G. M. Galli, A. S. Capone) were exceptionally important in the 17th century Grand Duchy's sculptures development and were invited there by the Lithuanian nobility. Their works are characterized by the features of mature baroque: expressiveness of forms, sensuality, atectonic composition (e.g. sculptural decor of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul). The local sculptors emphasized the decorative features of the baroque, and the expressiveness and emotionality of the baroque was less characteristic in their works.


title: Vilnius

text: At the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Lithuanian painting was largely influenced by the which introduced manifestations of Classicism art and later of Romanticism art. The painters had internships abroad, mainly in Italy. Painting of allegorical, mythological compositions, landscapes, portraits of representatives of various circles of society was begun; historical themes prevailed. The most famous Classicism painters from this time are Franciszek Smaglewicz, Jan Rustem, Józef Oleszkiewicz, , Józef Peszka, Wincenty Smokowski. While the Romanticism art is characterized by Jan Rustem, Jan Krzysztof Damel, Wincenty Dmochowski and Kanuty Rusiecki works. After the closure of Vilnius University in 1832, the artistic direction formed by the representatives of the Vilnius Art School influenced the further development of Lithuanian art.


title: Vilnius

text: Development of art in the first half of the 20th century was promoted by activities and exhibitions of the , established in 1907 by Petras Rimša, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, Antanas Jaroševičius, and Vilnius Art Society, established in 1908. This period is characterized by Jonas Šileika, , , Vytautas Kairiūkštis, Vytautas Pranas Bičiūnas works. They continued the traditions of Western European styles (symbolism, realism, "art nouveau") and followed the modernism art directions. Although, after the World War II the method of socialist realism was introduced – propaganda paintings, compositions of historical, household genre, still lifes, landscapes, portraits and sculptures.


title: Vilnius

text: The most notable late 20th and 21st centuries Vilnian painters are Žygimantas Augustinas, Eglė Ridikaitė, Eglė Gineitytė, Patricija Jurkšaitytė, Jurga Barilaitė, Solomonas Teitelbaumas.


title: Vilnius

text: Many prominent art galleries are located in Vilnius. Lithuania's largest art collection is housed in the Lithuanian Art Museum. One branch of it, the Vilnius Picture Gallery in the Vilnius Old Town, houses a collection of Lithuanian art from the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century. On the other side of the Neris, the National Art Gallery holds a permanent exhibition on Lithuanian 20th-century art, as well as numerous exhibitions on modern art. The Contemporary Art Centre is the largest venue for contemporary art in the Baltic States, with an exhibition space of 2400 square meters. The centre is a non-collection based institution committed to developing a broad range of international and Lithuanian exhibition projects as well as presenting a wide range of public programmes including lectures, seminars, performances, film and video screenings, and live new music events. On 10 November 2007, the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center was opened by avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas with its premiere exhibition entitled "The Avant-Garde: From Futurism to Fluxus". In 2018, the MO Museum was opened and is a personal initiative of Lithuanian scientists and philanthropists Danguolė and Viktoras Butkus. Its collection of 5000 modern and contemporary pieces contains major Lithuanian artworks from the 1950s to this day.


title: Vilnius

text: The Užupis district near the Old Town, which used to be one of the more run-down districts of Vilnius during the Soviet era, is home to a movement of bohemian artists, who operate numerous art galleries and workshops. Užupis declared itself an independent republic on April Fool's Day in 1997. In the main square, the statue of an angel blowing a trumpet stands as a symbol of artistic freedom.


title: Vilnius

text: In 1995, the world's first bronze cast of Frank Zappa was installed in the Naujamiestis district with the permission of the government. The Frank Zappa sculpture confirmed the newly found freedom of expression and marked the beginning of a new era for Lithuanian society.


title: Vilnius

text: In 2015, the project of Vilnius Talking Statues was realized. Eighteen statues around Vilnius interact with visitors in multiple languages by a telephone call to a smartphone.


title: Vilnius

text: About 1520, Francysk Skaryna, who is the author of the first Ruthenian Bible, established a printing house in Vilnius – the first in Eastern Europe. In 1522, he prepared and published the first printed book of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, titled the "Little Traveller's Book" (Ruthenian language: "Малая подорожная книжка"). In 1525, he printed the "Acts and Epistles of the Apostles" (the "Apostle").


title: Vilnius

text: The was established in 1575 by the Lithuanian noble Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł as the printing house of the Vilnius Academy. He delegated the management of the printing house to the Jesuits. In May 1576, it published its first book "Pro Sacratissima Eucharistia contra haeresim Zwinglianam" by Piotr Skarga. The Vilnius Academy Press situation was exceptional because its activities were funded by the secular society, the Lithuanian nobility and the Church. In 1805, Józef Zawadzki bought the Vilnius Academy Press and founded the Józef Zawadzki printing shop which continuously worked until 1939 and published books in multiple languages. The first poetry book of Adam Mickiewicz was published there in 1822.


title: Vilnius

text: One of the creators of Lithuanian writing, Mikalojus Daukša, translated and published the "Catechism" by Spanish Jesuit theologist Jacobo Ledesma in 1595 – this was the first printed Lithuanian language book in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He also translated and published the Jakub Wujek's "Postilla Catholica" in 1599 (both in Vilnius).


title: Vilnius

text: Many famous writers were born, lived in Vilnius or are alumnus of the Vilnius University (e.g. Konstantinas Sirvydas, Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Antoni Gorecki, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Antoni Edward Odyniec, Michał Józef Römer, Adam Mickiewicz, Władysław Syrokomla, Józef Mackiewicz, Romain Gary, Juliusz Słowacki, Simonas Daukantas, Mykolas Biržiška, Petras Cvirka (who was killed in Vilnius by soviet secret police), Kazys Bradūnas, Nobel prize-winner Czesław Miłosz, Jurga Ivanauskaitė).


title: Vilnius

text: The first consideration of the First Statute of Lithuania took place in 1522 at the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Vilnius. The Statute of Lithuania has been drafted under the guidance of Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Albertas Goštautas and in accordance with the courts' jurisprudence formed by customary law, Heads of State legislation on certain matters and by the provisions of the canon law and Roman law regulations. It is the first official codification of this kind of secular law in Europe.


title: Vilnius

text: Lithuanian nationalist Albertas Goštautas actively supported the Lithuanian language usage in the Lithuanian literature and protected Lithuanian authors, including Abraomas Kulvietis and Michael the Lithuanian, who criticised the usage of Old Slavonic church language and called refugees Old Believers as the Muscovian spies in his book "De moribus tartarorum, lituanorum et moscorum".


title: Vilnius

text: Since the 16th century, the Lithuanian Metrica was kept at the Lower Castle and safeguarded by the State Chancellor. Due to the deterioration of the books, the State Grand Chancellor, Lew Sapieha, ordered the volumes of the Metrica to be recopied in 1594. The recopying process continued until 1607. The newly recopied books were inventoried, rechecked, and transferred to a separate building in Vilnius, with the older books remaining in the Castle of Vilnius. According to the 1983 data, 665 books have remained until the nowadays and their microfilms are preserved at the Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Over 200 tiles and commemorative plaques to writers, who have lived and worked in Vilnius, and foreign authors, who have shared a connection with Vilnius and Lithuania, adorn walls on Literatų Street () in the Old Town, presenting a broad overview of the history of Lithuanian literature.


title: Vilnius

text: The Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore and the Lithuanian Writers' Union are located in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: The biggest book fair in Baltic states is annually held in Vilnius at LITEXPO, the Baltic's biggest exhibition centre.


title: Vilnius

text: The very first public film session in Vilnius was held in the Botanical Garden (now Bernardinai Garden) in the summer of 1897. It is notable that such an event was held in Vilnius soon after the very first film sessions in the world by Auguste and Louis Lumière, who held it in Paris in 1895. Vilnius film session also showed the Lumière brothers documentary movies. Firstly shown movies were educational and were filmed in exotic locations (e.g. India, Africa) and introduced different cultures to Vilnians, who enjoyed the movies because very few were able to visit such far places. Georges Méliès's movie "A Trip to the Moon" was first shown in the non-stationary Lukiškės Square movie theater in 1902 and was the first feature film shown in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: The first stationary movie theater in Vilnius, named "Iliuzija" (), was opened in 1905 and was located in Didžioji Street 60. The first movie theaters were similar to theatre buildings and had boxes with more expensive tickets. Also, because there was no sound in the first movies, the sessions had a live orchestral or musicians performances. On stage, cinema screening was sometimes mixed with theatrical performances, illusion shows.


title: Vilnius

text: On 4 June 1924, Vilnius Magistrate established a popular 1,200-seat movie theater in the city hall, which in Polish was called "Miejski kinematograf" (). The purpose of this cinema was to provide cultural education for students and adults. The popularity of this cinema is evidenced by the numbers of viewers in 1926: 502,261 tickets were sold, 24,242 tickets were given free to boarding children, 778 to Vilnius guests and 8,385 to soldiers. In 1939, the Lithuanian authorities renamed it to "Milda". In 1940, the last city government handed over the premises to the People's Commissariat of Education, which established the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society there.


title: Vilnius

text: In 1965, the most modern movie theater in Lithuania called "" was opened in Vilnius, which annually had over 1.84 million visitors and profit of over 1 million Rbls. After the reconstruction, it had one of the largest screens in Europe (200 square metres). It was closed in 2002, demolished in 2017 and the MO Museum was built in its place.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Film Festival "Kino Pavasaris" is the biggest and most important cinema event in Lithuania with international guests and thousands of visitors.


title: Vilnius

text: Lithuanian Film Centre (Lithuanian: Lietuvos kino centras), whose main task is to promote the development and competitiveness of the Lithuanian film industry, has its headquarters in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Musicians were presented at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania as early as the 14th century as Grand Duke Gediminas daughter Aldona of Lithuania already was a large sympathizer of music and took court musicians, singers with her to Kraków after marrying King Casimir III the Great. In the 16th century Vilnius for some time in their lives was a hometown of composer Wacław of Szamotuły, lutenist virtuoso Bálint Bakfark, composer Jan Brant. The first textbook of music in Lithuania – "The Art and Practice of Music" () was issued in Vilnius by Žygimantas Liauksminas in 1667.


title: Vilnius

text: Italian artists organized the first opera in Lithuania on 4 September 1636 at the Palace of the Grand Dukes by the order of Grand Duke Władysław IV Vasa. Operas are staged at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre and also by independent troupe Vilnius City Opera.


title: Vilnius

text: The Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society is the largest and oldest state owned concert organization in Lithuania, whose main activity is to organise and coordinate live concerts, diverse classical/classical contemporary/jazz music events and tours throughout Lithuania and abroad. The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, founded by Gintaras Rinkevičius, every year builds up a wide-ranging repertoire, introduces exceptional programs, and invites young talent to perform along with recognized soloists.


title: Vilnius

text: In Lithuania, choral music is very important. Vilnius is the only city with three choirs laureates (Brevis, Jauna Muzika and Chamber Choir of the Conservatoire) at the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. There is a long-standing tradition of the "Dainų šventė" (Lithuanian Song and Dance Festival). Since 1990, the festival has been organised every four years and summons roughly 30,000 singers and folk dancers of various professional levels and age groups from across the country in Vingis Park. In 2008, Lithuanian Song and Dance Festival together with its Latvian and Estonian versions was inscribed as UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.


title: Vilnius

text: Jazz scene was active even during the years of Soviet occupation. The real breakthrough would occur in 1970–71 with the coming together of the Ganelin/Tarasov/Chekasin trio, the alleged instigators of the Vilnius Jazz School. Most known annual event of jazz in the city is the Vilnius Jazz Festival.


title: Vilnius

text: "Gatvės muzikos diena" (Street Music Day) gathers musicians of various genres annually in the streets of Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius is the birthplace of many prominent music personalities: singers (e.g. Mariana Korvelytė – Moravskienė, Paulina Rivoli, Danielius Dolskis, Vytautas Kernagis, Algirdas Kaušpėdas, Andrius Mamontovas, Nomeda Kazlaus, Asmik Grigorian), composers (e.g. César Cui, Felix Yaniewicz, Maximilian Steinberg, Vytautas Miškinis, Onutė Narbutaitė), conductors (e.g. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla), musicians (e.g. Antoni Radziwiłł, Jascha Heifetz, Clara Rockmore, Romas Lileikis).


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius was a hometown of such 18th century composers as Michał Kazimierz Ogiński, Johann David Holland (colleague of C. Bach), Maciej Radziwiłł, Michał Kleofas Ogiński. 19th century Vilnius was famous for such European scale performers as singer Kristina Gerhardi Frank – a close friend of Mozart and Haydn (performed the main part at the premiere of The Creation by the latter), guitarist-virtuoso Marek Konrad Sokołowski, recognized as the best guitarist in Europe in the mid-19th century, composer Stanisław Moniuszko – "the father of Polish national opera". The wealthiest woman in the early 19th century Vilnius was singer Maria de Neri. In the early 20th century, Vilnius was a hometown of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. Musicians of late 20th and early 21st centuries include Vyacheslav Ganelin, Petras Vyšniauskas, Petras Geniušas, Mūza Rubackytė, Alanas Chošnau, Marijonas Mikutavičius.


title: Vilnius

text: Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre is headquartered in Gediminas Avenue and also has its department at the Slushko Palace in Antakalnis. Many accomplished singers have lectured at the academy, including the internationally famous tenors Kipras Petrauskas and Virgilijus Noreika.


title: Vilnius

text: Lithuanian Grand Dukes' entertainment at the castle, ruler's visits abroad and the honorable guests' arrival meetings etiquette had theatrical elements already since the 14th century (e.g. musicians' chapels of Gediminas and Władysław II Jagiełło). During the period of Sigismund III Vasa's residence in Vilnius (first half of the 17th century), English professional drama actors' troupes played in the royal manor. In 1635, Władysław IV Vasa established a professional opera theatre in the Lower Castle, where "dramma per musica" genre productions were performed with operas' librettos being written by Italian Virgilio Puccitelli. The performances were characterized by fundamental, luxurious scenography.


title: Vilnius

text: Between the 16th and 18th centuries there was a Jesuit's School Theatre in Lithuania. In 1570, the first performance was shown in Vilnius (comedy "Hercules" by S. Tucci). Baroque aesthetics prevailed in the Jesuit's School Theatre, but it also had Middle Ages retrospectives, Renaissance elements, Rococo motifs, and served an educational function. The performances were played in Latin, however elements of the Lithuanian language were also included in intermediates and prologues, and some of the works were Lithuanian-themed (e.g. plays dedicated to Algirdas, Mindaugas, Vytautas and other rulers of Lithuania).


title: Vilnius

text: In 1785, Wojciech Bogusławski established the city's first public theatre Vilnius City Theatre. The theatre was initially located in the Oskierka Palace, but later moved to the Radziwiłł Palace and the Vilnius Town Hall. Until 1845 the plays were performed in Polish, from 1845 in Polish and Russian and from 1864 only in Russian. After the ban on the Lithuanian language was lifted, the plays were also performed in Lithuanian. The theatre ceased to exist in 1914.


title: Vilnius

text: During the interwar, then part of Poland, Vilnius was famous for the most modern in the region experimental Reduta troupe and institute, led by Juliusz Osterwa. In Vilnius and the Vilnius Region, the performances by the Vilnius Lithuanian Stage Amateur Company (), established in 1930 (later it was renamed to Vilnius's Lithuanian Theatre; professional theatre Vaidila), were shown. In 1945, it was merged to the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre.


title: Vilnius

text: After the USSR occupation of Lithuania in 1940, theatre became one of the means of disseminating the Soviet ideology and censorship of repertoires was introduced. The performances incorporated the principles of socialist realism and a number of revolutionary plays were staged by the Russian authors. A Repertory Commission was established under the Ministry of Culture to direct theatres, control their repertoires, grant permissions to perform or ban performances. Socialist realism was the only recognized direction.


title: Vilnius

text: After the restoration of independence of Lithuania, theatre changed cardinally and sought to recreate a broken dialogue with spectators. Vilnius City Opera, an independent opera theatre in Vilnius, blends classical with contemporary art. While the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, State Small Theatre of Vilnius, State Youth Theatre and a number of private theatre companies, including OKT / Vilnius City Theatre, Anželika Cholina Dance Theatre and others, show classical, modern and Lithuanian playwriting directed by world-known Lithuanian and foreign directors. There is also the Russian-language Old Theatre of Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: The beginning of Lithuanian photography is considered to be the daguerreotyping of the reconstructed Verkiai Palace, which was performed in the summer of 1839 by François Marcillac, the governor of the children of Duke Ludwig Wittgenstein, this fact is mentioned in the memoirs of architect Bolesław Podczaszyński published in January 1853 in the "Gazeta Warszawska" newspaper. The unfavorable political situation in the country led to the slow development of new technology and cultural activities. The first known daguerreotype portrait atelier in Vilnius was opened in 1843 by C. Ziegler; such ateliers operated in Lithuania until 1859. One of the most famous photographers was K. Neupert, who came from Norway (since 1851 he worked in Vilnius and Druskininkai).


title: Vilnius

text: In the 1860s with the spread of negative and positive collodion technology, glass negatives and albumen paper were used instead of daguerreotype plates, photo portraits of standardized formats became widespread and commercial photography ateliers were established in Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities. The first landscape and architectural photographs were created by Vilnius photographers and Albert Swieykowski, who compiled the first set of photographs in Lithuania – the "Vilnius Album" (32 images). In 1862, the Provisional Censorship Regulations were adopted, which determined the activities of photographic institutions; they were supervised by the Central Press Board of the Ministry of the Interior. Photographers ateliers (4 of 9) who participated in the January Uprising and photographed the rebels were closed, their images were annihilated and the authors were punished (e.g. A. Korzonas was deported to Siberia). Other prominent photographers of the 19th century were (one of the pioneers of stereoscopic photography), Aleksander Władysław Strauss, .


title: Vilnius

text: One of the most important facts about the use of photography for scientific purposes is the second photoheliograph in the world (after London) installed in 1865 at the Vilnius University Astronomical Observatory, which was used to observe and photograph the sunspots. Since 1868, for the first time in the world, a systematic photographic service of sunspots dynamics was launched in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: In 1927, Jan Bułhak in Vilnius established the first photography club in the present territory of Lithuania.


title: Vilnius

text: In 1952, the editorial office of "Švyturys" magazine organized the first photography exhibition in Vilnius, the main object of which was photography itself (16 photographers participated).


title: Vilnius

text: Iron tools, weapons, brass, glass and silver jewelry have been produced in the present territory of Lithuania since the 1st century. Later pottery and production of wood products became widespread, and weaving in the 2nd and 4th centuries. During the period of feudalism, home crafts were the most significant in the conditions of subsistence economy. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the separation of crafts from agriculture accelerated; crafts have become an independent branch of the economy. The Grand Dukes of Lithuania promoted the development of crafts in cities. Weaving, shoemaking, fur-making and other crafts predominated. With the introduction of foreign artisans (early 14th century), the development of crafts accelerated even further. The development of crafts and trade stimulated the growth of Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities. In the 14th and 15th centuries, crafts were already highly specialized (especially in the production of tools, household items, fabrics, clothing, weapons, and jewelry) and at the same time workshops were established, which trained and defended the interests of craftsmen. In the 16th century, the production of fine glassware began, goldsmithing was developed, and the level of pottery and weaving crafts rose. The Statutes of Lithuania (1529 and 1588 editions) mention 25 crafts. Prominent European goldsmiths worked in the Vilnius Goldsmiths' Workshop (established in 1495), which controlled the trade of precious metals, gemstones and stood out for its wealth as it serviced the territory up to Daugava and Dnieper Rivers, as well as the Catholic Church in Lithuania, the manor of the Grand Duke, nobility, townspeople. No less important was the Vilnius Mint, which was the main mint of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and minted the Lithuanian denarius, shillings, groschens, thalers, ducats, and other coins from 1387 to 1666.


title: Vilnius

text: In the second half of the 17th century, due to the economic turmoil caused by the Russo-Polish War, crafts declined, most of the goods were imported from abroad duty-free by Szlachta Lithuanian and Polish nobles and sold on their holdings. Crafts began to rise again in the second half of the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century and Vilnius was the largest Lithuanian craft center. After the abolition of serfdom, craft schools were established in the Lithuanian cities. The growing industry begun to push crafts from some areas of food processing, textiles and metalworking. However, crafts have long prevailed in clothing manufacturing, goldsmithing, wood, food processing, and other fields. During the years of Soviet occupation, craftsmen worked in artels (until 1960), after their abolition - in household service combines. After the restoration of Lithuania's independence, crafts complemented small and medium-sized businesses.


title: Vilnius

text: As a historically multicultural city, the language status changed significantly over the centuries. The predominant language of public life in medieval Lithuania was Lithuanian. It was spoken by commoners as well as in the ruler's manor and among the local nobility. However, the Lithuanian language had no literary traditions and was not used in writing, except for the most important religious texts (e.g. the Lord's and the Hail Mary prayers). However, a spoken knowledge of Lithuanian was not lost, as Vytautas the Great spoke in Lithuanian with Jogaila, whose son Casimir IV Jagiellon also spoke Lithuanian. The Byzantine historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles in the 15th century reported that the Lithuanians had their own distinct language.


title: Vilnius

text: The Ruthenian language was used in Lithuania and its capital Vilnius due to the incorporation of the Kievan Rus' lands. In colloquial form, these dialects formed the basis of the Ukrainian and Byelorussian languages in the 19th century. The written form of the Ruthenian language stemmed from the interaction of Old East Slavic with the local elements of the Ruthenian language. Such a Ruthenian language became the main language of the Chancery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th and 15th centuries and maintained its dominant position until the middle of the 17th century.


title: Vilnius

text: Latin and Polish were also widely used in the Chancery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the second part of the 17th century, the Polish language ousted the Ruthenian language from the written sources and the Lithuanian language from most areas of the public life. The first state documents in the Lithuanian language appeared in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania only at the very end of its existence (e.g. Constitution of 3 May 1791 and the Great Sejm Lithuanian manuscripts, Kościuszko Uprising Lithuanian notes).


title: Vilnius

text: In 1552, Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus ordered that orders of the Magistrate of Vilnius be announced in Lithuanian, Polish, and Ruthenian languages.


title: Vilnius

text: Minorities (e.g. Lithuanian Jews, Lipka Tatars, Crimean Karaites) were under the guardianship of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, but their languages were only used among themselves and never gained a significant role. The 2nd and 3rd Statutes of Lithuania consolidated Lithuanian Jews status as non-Christian and "common human" (non-noble).


title: Vilnius

text: According to article 14 of the Constitution of Lithuania, Lithuanian is the only official language in the state. Therefore, all the official procedures in Vilnius are proceeded in Lithuanian. However, interpreter assistance is guaranteed by the state in some cases.


title: Vilnius

text: It is known that the Vilnians have enjoyed to expensively dress up since the Middle Ages. According to historian Antanas Čaplinskas, even the merchants and craftsmen wives were wearing multiple rings decorated with gemstones (e.g. with ruby and fourteen diamonds). Those who did not dress up and did not followed the fashion trends were even ridiculed (e.g. for wearing sheepskins, for not wearing luxurious belts, gloves, or for not using handkerchiefs). Property inventories of 16th–17th centuries often mention expensive clothing, such as long, wide-sleeved jackets of precious materials, known as kontusz, and żupans decorated with lynx's or other animal fur, also kontush belts. Special attention was paid to the buttons as in the list of one nobleman's property Čaplinskas found 12 buttons with pearls and corals, about 100 large buttons with diamonds, plum-shaped buttons decorated with enamel, as well as buttons made from brilliants, emeralds. Delias and dolmans were also popular among the townspeople and nobles.


title: Vilnius

text: Wealthy townspeople, decorated with luxurious clothing, raised the envy of the Lithuanian nobility and the nobles demanded the adoption of laws limiting the clothing of the townspeople. For the first time such restrictions were recorded in the Statute of Lithuania of 1588, according to which the townspeople were allowed to wear only two rings (one of them was the seal) while Jews were forbidden to adorn with gold chains and brooches (though, the Jewish women had more rights). Even wider restrictions were put in place by the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth which adopted the Act of Thrift in 1613, according to which the non-noble townspeople were forbidden to appear in public places dressed in expensive furs (violators of the law were fined and the clothes were given to the complainants). The wealthy townspeople were not satisfied with such limitations, therefore a subscription fee was introduced later which removed all limitations.


title: Vilnius

text: The clothing trends changed in the late 18th century when almost all men already had shaved beards, short-haired hairstyles and began to wear trendy, blue, green or black tailcoats with open-fronts and waistcoats matched with white or yellowish trousers, while the 18th century women's clothing fashion had almost no differences from the Western European fashion trends. In the early 20th century the clothes were already in line with the Western European fashion trends, and in 1961 clothing designers studies were launched in the State Art Institute of Lithuania, also in the same year the Vilnius Model House was established which created and popularized unique and industrial apparel and footwear models, made clothing presentations.


title: Vilnius

text: "Mados infekcija" () was launched in 1999 and is the biggest Lithuanian fashion show, held every spring in Vilnius. Prominent Lithuanian clothing designer usually organizes his collections presentations in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: As a result of centuries long Catholic traditions in Vilnius and Lithuania, the Catholic holidays (e.g. Christmas, Easter, Saint John's Eve) are widely celebrated and employees have a days off.


title: Vilnius

text: Every year on 16 February (day of the Act of Independence of Lithuania) and on 11 March (day of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania) festive events are organized in Vilnius with official ceremonies conducted by the heads of state and the holy masses of the Lithuanian Catholic Church in the Vilnius Cathedral. While in the evening of 12 January bonfires are ignited to mark the bloody January Events.


title: Vilnius

text: Saint Casimir's Fair () has been held annually for hundreds of years in the city's markets and streets on the Sunday nearest to 4 March (Feast of St. Casimir), the anniversary of Saint Casimir's death. It attracts tens of thousands of visitors and many Lithuanian and foreign craftsmen. Easter palms () are one of the most recognizable symbols of the fair.


title: Vilnius

text: Capital's Days () is the biggest festival of music and culture held in the city annually for three days (from 30 August to 1 September).


title: Vilnius

text: Although it is not a national holiday, the Vilnia River is dyed green every year for Saint Patrick's Day.


title: Vilnius

text: During the annual Vilnius Culture Night various artists and cultural organisations hold events and performances all over the city.


title: Vilnius

text: Before the Magdeburg rights were granted to Vilnius in 1378, the city was overseen by the ruler's vicegerents. Later these duties were granted to a magistrate or a City Council, subordinate only to the ruler himself. During wars, when the city was in a danger, the city was led by a Voivode of Vilnius. The magisterial authority was headquartered at the Vilnius Town Hall.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Magistrate was responsible for the city economy, was collecting taxes, taking care of the city treasury, was accumulating stocks of grain in order to avoid residents starvation in case of famine or wars. He also acted as a notary in transactions, testaments and as a judge during the city residents conflicts that involved new buildings constructions and reconstructions. His other function was taking care of the city craftsmen. From the beginning, statutes of workshops were approved by the ruler himself. Later, Sigismund II Augustus granted this privilege to the city magistrates in 1552. Since the 1522 privilege by Sigismund I the Old, Vilnius Magistrates had the responsibility to protect the city and its resident's tranquility by having 24 armed guards. During war times, the night watch was performed by three jurisdictions – magistrate, bishop and castle men.