title: Vilnius

text: Chief City Administrator was "vaitas" (a Grand Duke of Lithuania vicegerent in the city). Most of them were beginning their careers in the magistracy before obtaining such a position. All "vaitai" were Catholics. "Vaitas" was chairing during the City Council meetings. His competence also included criminal cases and he had the right to impose a death penalty. At first, he examined the cases alone, however since the 16th century two "suolininkai" also examined important cases (if the lawsuit was over 10 groschen) together with the "vaitas". In the 16th century, Vilnius City Council consisted of 12 burgomasters and 24 councilors (half of them were Catholics, the other half were orthodoxes). There were no direct elections to the City Council and members to the council were chosen by the wealthy townspeople, merchants, workshops seniors. Burgomasters were being chosen until their deaths. In case of death, another member of the council was being chosen of the same religion. In 1536, Sigismund I the Old signed a privilege which regulated the magistracy formation principles that prohibited to choose close relatives to the council and all the new taxes, obligations and regulations required the prior agreement of the townspeople.


title: Vilnius

text: Under the Russian Empire, the City Council was replaced with a City Duma. The city was the capital of the Lithuania Governorate in 1797–1801, Vilna Governorate-General in 1794–1912, and Vilna Governorate in 1795–1915.


title: Vilnius

text: After the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, Vilnius became a republican subordinate city and capital of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.


title: Vilnius

text: The current Vilnius City Municipal Council was established in 1990. The Vilnius City Municipality is one of 60 municipalities of Lithuania and includes the nearby town of Grigiškės, three villages, and some rural areas. The town of Grigiškės was separated from the Trakai District Municipality and attached to the Vilnius City Municipality in 2000.


title: Vilnius

text: A 50-member council is elected to four-year terms; the candidates are nominated by registered political parties and committees. As of the 2011 elections, independent candidates also were permitted. The last election was held in March 2019 and the results were: Public Election Committee "R. Šimašius Team "For Vilnius, which we are proud of" (17 seats), A. Zuokas and Vilnius Citizens Coalition "Happy Vilnius" (10 seats), Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (9 seats), the coalition of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania and Russians Alliance "Christian Families Alliance" (6 seats), Labour Party (5 seats), Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (3 seats).


title: Vilnius

text: Before 2015, mayors were appointed by the council. Starting with the elections in 2015, the mayors are elected directly in a two-round system by voters registered in the municipality. Remigijus Šimašius became the first directly elected mayor of the city.


title: Vilnius

text: Elderships, a statewide administrative division, function as municipal districts. The 21 elderships are based on neighbourhoods:


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius District Municipality () is one of the largest municipalities in Lithuania. It occupies 2129 square kilometres and has 23 civil parishes. There are 1163 villages and 5 towns (Nemenčinė, Bezdonys, Maišiagala, Mickūnai and Šumskas) in the district. Vilnius district surrounds the Lithuania's capital and has developed public, business rural infrastructure and offers high standard of living with clean environment. Vilnius district borders with the Republic of Belarus and neighbours with Švenčionys, Moletai, Širvintos, Elektrėnai, Trakai and Šalčininkai districts.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius district has a multinational population, of which 52% are Poles, 33% are Lithuanians and the rest of 16% are Russians, Belarusians and other nationalities residents (e.g. Ukrainians, Lipka Tatars, Jews). Vilnius district has over 100,000 residents. Most of the population (95%) live in villages and 5% live in towns.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius district has the highest terrains of Lithuania – Aukštojas, Juozapinė and Kruopinė Hills, which are raised over 290 metres above sea level and are considered very high in the country's flatlands.


title: Vilnius

text: Palm Sunday is widely celebrated in the district and the unique and colorful Vilnian Easter palms ("verbos") are made there from dried flowers and herbs. The tradition of making Vilnius palms is dated to the times of St. Casimir, who is a patron saint of Lithuania and Lithuanian youth.


title: Vilnius

text: Medininkai Castle, Liubavas Manor mill and Bareikiškės Manor are the most famous historical landmarks of the district.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Voivodeship from 1769 surrounded a completely independent microstate Republic of Paulava, known for its Age of Enlightenment values, with its own president, peasants parliament, army and laws.


title: Vilnius

text: As a result of its large Polish population, Vilnius District Municipality Council mostly consists from members of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania. Lithuanian Pole is a long-term mayor of the district.


title: Vilnius

text: As the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius is the seat of Lithuania's national government. For the executive, the two chief officers of Lithuania have their offices in Vilnius. The President of the Republic of Lithuania resides at the Presidential Palace in Daukanto Square, while the Prime Minister's seat is at the Government of Lithuania office in Gediminas Avenue. According to the Law of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the President of the Republic has a residence in Vilnius that is located in Turniškės district near Neris river. Prime Minister also has a right to a residence in Turniškės district during term in office. Government ministries are located in various parts of the city; many are located in Vilnius Old Town.


title: Vilnius

text: Historically, the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania mostly gathered in Vilnius. The present-day Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania is also located in Vilnius and meets at the Seimas Palace in Gediminas Avenue.


title: Vilnius

text: Lithuania's highest courts are located in Vilnius. The Supreme Court of Lithuania (), the highest court in the judicial order, which reviews criminal and civil cases, is located in the Gynėjų Street, while the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (), which acts as the highest court in the administrative order, judging litigation against public bodies, is located in the Žygimantų Street. The Constitutional Court of Lithuania (), an advisory body with ultimate authority on the constitutionality of laws meets in the Constitutional Court's Palace in Gediminas Avenue.


title: Vilnius

text: The Lithuanian Tribunal, the highest appeal court for the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was established by Stephen Báthory, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, in 1581. It was located in Vilnius until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.


title: Vilnius

text: The security of Vilnius is mainly the responsibility of the "Vilniaus apskrities vyriausiasis policijos komisariatas", the highest police office in the city, and local police offices. Its main responsibilities are ensuring public order and public safety, disclosure and investigation of criminal offenses and traffic safety supervision. In 2016, there were 1500 police officers in Vilnius. Public Security Service is responsible for the prompt restoration of public order in extreme and special situations and ensure proper protection of important state objects and escorted subjects.


title: Vilnius

text: "Vilniaus apskrities priešgaisrinė gelbėjimo valdyba" is the primary governing body of the Vilnius's firefighters forces. In the first 9 months of 2018, there were 1287 fire incidents in the city of Vilnius, during which 6 people died and 16 were traumatized.


title: Vilnius

text: "Vilniaus greitosios medicinos pagalbos stotis" is responsible for emergency medical services in the city and can be contacted directly by calling a short number 033. It is one of the oldest emergency medical services institution in Eastern Europe and was established already in 1902. Large part of this institution doctors and other personnel were awarded with medals for their assistance to victims during the January Events in 1991.


title: Vilnius

text: Major number for contacting all the special services in Vilnius (and other regions of Lithuania) is 112.


title: Vilnius

text: The Old Town of Vilnius is the historical centre of Vilnius, about in size. Its history begins from the Neolithic period. During it, the glacial hills were intermittently occupied and a wooden castle, at the confluence of the Neris and Vilnia rivers, was built around 1000 AD to fortify Gedimino Hill. The settlement developed into a town in the 13th century, when the pagan Baltic people were invaded by the Westerners during the Lithuanian Crusade. Around 1323, when the first written sources about Vilnia occurred, it was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was formed from various cultures and nationalities residents. At this time, it only had some brick structures. By the 15th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had become one of the most powerful and the largest country in Europe with its territory stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea (mostly, present-day Belarus, Ukraine and Russia lands). The historic centre consists of three castles territories (Upper, Lower and Curved) and the area that was previously encircled by a Wall of Vilnius. Its plan is mostly circular with its center in the original castle site. The streets pattern is medieval and has small, narrow streets, however large squares were also developed in later periods. Pilies Street, the main artery, links the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania with Vilnius Town Hall. Other streets meander through the palaces of feudal lords and landlords, churches, shops and craftsmen's workrooms.


title: Vilnius

text: The historic buildings are in Gothic (e.g. Church of St. Anne), Renaissance (e.g. Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania), Baroque (e.g. Church of St. Peter and St. Paul with over 2,000 stucco figures interior, Vilnius University's main campus, which features 13 courtyards framed by 15th century buildings and splashed with 300-year-old frescoes, and the Church of St. Johns) and Classical styles (e.g. Vilnius Cathedral, Vilnius Town Hall, Šuazeliai Palace, Verkiai Palace) with splendid exteriors and interiors. The variety of preserved churches and former palaces of the Lithuanian nobility especially constitutes the Vilnius multicultural heritage.


title: Vilnius

text: As a capital of the massive state, Lithuanians shaped the development of its outstanding capital together with other nations. Vilnius development was influenced by the West and East ideologies. Christianity has dominated in Lithuania since the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387, however Orthodoxy of the state's eastern residents and the growing importance of Judaism led to exemplary material manifestations of these religious communities (e.g. Orthodox Cathedral of the Theotokos, Great Synagogue of Vilna).


title: Vilnius

text: Various disasters resulted in reconstructions of the Vilnius buildings in the School of Vilnius Baroque style, which later left an imprint in the whole Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Talented artists (e.g. Matteo Castelli, Pietro Perti) from the present-day Canton of Ticino were particularly preferred by the Grand Duke of Lithuania and local nobility, and developed many famous objects in the city (e.g. Chapel of Saint Casimir). Lithuanian Laurynas Gucevičius left a huge mark in the Classical style architecture of Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Old Town was inscribed to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1994. The inscribed property has an extension of 352 ha. Vilnius Historic Centre is particularly noted for maintaining the medieval streets pattern without any significant gaps. However, some places were damaged during Lithuania's occupations and wars, including the Cathedral Square that covers the foundations of the Royal Palace – demolished after the 3rd partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, a square in the east from the Church of All Saints where the previously stood alongside a Vice-Chancellor Stefan Pac's established Baroque Church of St. Joseph the Betrothed, both demolished by the tsar's order. Great Synagogue and part of the buildings in the Vokiečių Street () were demolished after World War II.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius occupies an area of 401 square kilometers, of which only one fifth is developed and the remainder is green belt and water. For this reason, Vilnius is often referred to as one of the 'greenest' capital cities in Europe.


title: Vilnius

text: The crypts of Vilnius Cathedral are a place where prominent figures of Lithuania and the Catholic Church are buried. At the Royal Mausoleum Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon, Queen Elizabeth of Austria, Barbara Radziwiłł, heart of the Grand Duke Władysław IV Vasa are buried. These crypts also have one of the oldest frescos in Lithuania, painted in the late 14th or early 15th century, and dating to the times of the Christianization of Lithuania.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Old Town () with medieval stone paved streets and Užupis offers one of the most prestigious housing in Vilnius. Many old town apartment buildings there offers direct views to the iconic churches or the biggest landmarks of the city (e.g. especially desired Gediminas Tower), enclosed inner courtyards, high ceilings, attics, non-standard layouts and luxurious historic interiors. Most expensive flats in these neighbourhoods may cost millions of euros and are accessible only to the wealthiest residents of the city. However, such problems as traffic jams, expensive car parking spaces, air pollution, high costs of maintenance, limitations for reconstructions repels rich Vilnians from living in these neighbourhoods, who often buy or build private houses in more distant parts of Vilnius (Balsiai, Bajorai, Pavilnys, Kalnėnai, Pilaitė and others) or nearby areas of the Vilnius District Municipality. About 21,000 residents live in the old town and 7,000 in Užupis.


title: Vilnius

text: Neighbourhoods around the old town (Antakalnis, Žirmūnai, Naujamiestis, Žvėrynas) offer a wide variety prices flats, decent amount of greenery suitable for walks, bicycle roads and therefore are the most popular among the middle class residents. Wealthier communities are living in a new construction apartments or renovated Soviet-era apartments. The Government of Lithuania strongly supports the renovation process and compensates 30% or more of the cost. However, poorer inhabitants and low income pensioners are often stopping the process adding to overall regionalistic policies of the politicians.


title: Vilnius

text: More distant neighbourhoods (e.g. Lazdynai, Karoliniškės, Viršuliškės, Šeškinė, Justiniškės, Pašilaičiai, Fabijoniškės, Naujininkai) are offering significantly cheaper flats. Their biggest disadvantages together with a more difficult communication with the city centre are mostly not renovated Soviet-era high-rise buildings, worn out surroundings, large traffic jams on the streets connecting with the city centre during the rush hours and a constant lack of car parking spaces near older apartments.


title: Vilnius

text: Šnipiškės eldership has received a significant amount of investment during the 2010s. The area was first mentioned in the Vilnius's historical documents in 1536 when the Grand Duke Sigismund I the Old ordered Ulrich Hosius to build a wooden bridge over the Neris river. Soon around the bridge, a suburb began to develop. In the 16th a palace dedicated to the Muscovites and Tatars messengers was built by the magistrate of Vilnius to the north of Šnipiškės, as during their visits, they acted noisily and the townspeople did not want them around. In the 18th century, a Jesuit's Church of St. Raphael the Archangel and monastery as well as solid palaces of the rich and multi-story brick houses of ordinary townspeople were built in Šnipiškės. On the other hand, the outskirts of this suburb were inhabited by the craftsmen: the glass-makers, brick-makers, pottery-makers. Smoking pipe factory, sawmills and even a tiny candy factory emerged. A small part of the territory (8 ha) of Šnipiškės west of the Kalvarijų market, called Skansenas, occupied mostly by poor condition wooden houses, emerged in the late 19th century. Surprisingly, it survived to this day and is now still underdeveloped territory, protected by the state. Next to it, then-luxurious quarter of bankers – Piromontas was built in the 1890s, is architectural heritage too.


title: Vilnius

text: During the 1960s, the Šnipiškės area was named the new city center: the first city pedestrian zone organized and before the 1990 a number of buildings, including the largest shopping center in what was then Lithuanian SSR, the highest and the largest hotel, planetarium, museum of Revolution, Pioneer's Palace as well as number of ministries of the Lithuanian SSR were built. However, the broader territory of Šnipiškės, stretching to the north of what is now Konstitucijos Avenue, remained mainly underdeveloped until the early 2000s when the new Vilnius city municipality building was built in the area, that inspired transformation of the surroundings: the new Europa square formed with a new shopping center "Europa", 33-story "Europa" business tower and 27-story "Europa" apartment building. Former Museum of Revolution was reconstructed to the National Art Gallery in the late 2000s. Since then skyscrapers and expensive commercial offices are being built constantly in the area. It already has almost 0.5 million square meters of real estate. A Japanese garden will be completed in the area till 2020.


title: Vilnius

text: In 2019, average price for of flat was around 2,000 euros and around 1,200 euros for of a private house in Vilnius, while the rent prices were ~€10 /m (for flats) and ~€8 /m (for private houses) respectively. According to the economists, number of transactions and housing affordability index has reached record highs in 2019 because of the significant rise in Vilnius residents incomes and slowing of the flats prices rising. Despite that, according to a research one fourth of the 26–35 years old inhabitants are still living in their parents or relatives owned homes, which is the highest number in the Baltic states, however it is likely that large part of these young people are simply saving for their own homes or the initial contribution because statistics traditionally shows that Lithuanians purchases their homes with less borrowed funds than Latvians or Estonians.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius has thousands of years of demographics history as in the eldership of Vilkpėdė the remains of the Magdalenian culture settlement were found, which are dated to around 10,000 years BC. In the first 1,000 years AD there were large settlements in Kairėnai, Pūčkoriai and Naujoji Vilnia. The most densely populated area was the confluence of the Neris and Vilnia Rivers, which also had fortified homesteads. Later Vilnius was part of the Kingdom of Lithuania territory, however King Mindaugas did not constantly reside in it, despite building the first Catholic Church in Lithuania there on the occasion of his coronation. The city began to develop in the late 13th century, during the reign of Grand Dukes Butvydas and Vytenis.


title: Vilnius

text: Major growth of Vilnius as the centre and capital of the medieval state is attributed to the 14th century reign of Grand Duke Gediminas who invited knights, merchants, doctors, craftspeople and others to come to the Grand Duchy to practice their trades and faith without restriction. Although, the growth of Vilnius was limited at the time due to the brutal Teutonic Order attacks (e.g. during their assault in 1390 around 14,000 Vilnians were killed) and the Lithuanian Civil War of 1389–1392.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius developed as a multicultural city. In the 14th century sources it is mentioned that Vilnius consists of the Great (Lithuanian) city and Ruthenians city. Until the 16th century the city was mostly inhabited by Lithuanians and Ruthenians, however the German merchants, artisans, Jews (since the 14th century; later had their qahal until 1845) and the Tartars (since 1397) also settled down in Vilnius. In the 16th–17th centuries, during Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the Polonophone population began to grow – by the middle of the 17th century most writings were in Polish due to the Polonisation (before the 16th century the number was only around 5%).


title: Vilnius

text: The city prospered during the Golden Age by being one of the main cities of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the residence of the Lithuanian nobility. However, the city was severely devastated by fire in 1610. After the Battle of Vilnius in 1655 the city came under Russian control (1655–1661). Next, after the Great Northern War, the Swedish Empire controlled the city from 1702 to 1709. This occupation ended during the Great Northern War plague outbreak in 1709. It took the city more than 50 years to recover.


title: Vilnius

text: According to the first population census of the Commonwealth in 1790, the Vilnius Voivodeship (without the Grodno County) had a population of 718,571 residents, while the Vilnius County had 105,896 residents (the whole Grand Duchy after the Second Partition had a population of 1,333,493 then). Shortly after, the city population decreased to just 17,500 residents in 1796 due to the fierce battles of the Vilnius uprising in 1794, which was the last attempt to save the Grand Duchy's capital from falling under the complete Russian control. Though, after the rebels defeat, Vilnius was incorporated into the Russian Empire and was its third largest city in the beginning of the 19th century. After a few decades of the Russian despotism, Vilnius demographics were once again affected by the November Uprising in 1830 and the January Uprising in 1863, during which rebels attempts were made to restore the statehood. According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Vilnius had 154,532 residents and later grown to 205,300 residents in 1909, while the Vilna Governorate had 1,561,713 residents in 1897.


title: Vilnius

text: During World War I thousands of Vilnians were forced to flee, were killed or were taken to the forced labor camps; consequently the city had only 128,500 residents in 1919 (in total, the present-day Lithuania territory lost around 1 million residents). Vilnius recovered during the interwar period and had 209,442 residents in 1939, but due to World War II the number fell to 110,000 in 1944.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius again grew in population by being the capital of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (according to the 1989 census, it had 576,747 residents). Despite the fact that almost whole Lithuania suffered from a large emigration after the restoration of independence in 1990, the number of residents in Vilnius remained almost unchanged (542,287 in 2001) and began to steadily grow every year since 2006 to 580,020 residents (as of 1 January 2020).


title: Vilnius

text: Around 1000 years AD, the confluence of the Neris and Vilnia rivers was densely populated by the Brushed Pottery culture, which had a half a hectare fortified settlement on the Gediminas' Hill. The tribes of this culture were common throughout present-day Lithuania, east of the Šventoji River and in western Belarus. The direct descendants of this culture are believed to be a Baltic tribe – the Aukštaitians (). According to a prominent researcher of Vilnius history Antanas Čaplinskas, who researched the surnames of Vilnius residents in the archive documents of the city, the oldest surviving surnames of Vilnius residents are Lithuanian. Pagan Lithuanians mostly lived at the northern foot of Gediminas' Hill and in the Crooked Castle.


title: Vilnius

text: Later, following the invitation of Grand Duke Gediminas, merchants and craftsmen began to move to Vilnius from the cities of the German Hanseatic League, France, Italy and Spain, and replaced the Lithuanian surnames with German, Polish, and Russian surnames. In the late 14th century, during the reign of Grand Duke Algirdas, Vilnius already had a Ruthenian quarter () in the present-day Latako and Rusų Streets, as the trade relations between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Ruthenian principalities were quite well developed, therefore quite a few Ruthenian merchants lived there and the Ruthenian nobles had their residences in the quarter. The variety of nations in Vilnius was further increased by Grand Duke Vytautas the Great, who introduced Litvak Jews, Tatars and Crimean Karaites. After a few hundred years, the number of locals in Vilnius was smaller than the number of newcomers. However, according to an analysis of the tax registers of 1572, Lithuania proper had 850,000 residents of which 680,000 were Lithuanians.


title: Vilnius

text: Beginning during the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Polish culture began to penetrate the city rapidly and soon the Polish language prevailed in the city, even the Magistrate's documents were written in Polish until the November Uprising in 1831. After living for a while in Vilnius, foreign merchants and artisans quickly assimilated and were Polonized. The majority of the Lithuanian nobles spoke the Polish language, however they never considered themselves Poles and the Union of Lublin was only signed during the second attempt in 1569, with the agreement that both states will be sovereign entities within the Commonwealth. Their opinion did not change within the union and was confirmed again in the Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations in 1791.


title: Vilnius

text: Over the centuries, the composition of the population of Vilnius changed to become ethnically less Lithuanian. According to historian Vytautas Merkys, the city lost a great deal of its old population during the brutal rampages of the Swedish and Russian armies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and they were replaced by the newcomers, however the Lithuanians also constantly inhabited in Vilnius. According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, only 2.1% (3200 residents) identified themselves as Lithuanian-speakers, while the speakers of Polish language (30.8%; 47,600 residents) and Yiddish (40.0%; 61,800 residents) were the largest linguistic groups of the city. According to the Parish censuses of 1857–1858, the Lithuanian population remained significant in the Vilna Governorate and, according to different authors, was between 23.6% and 50.0% (210,273–418,880 residents). Among the Szlachta (nobility) in Vilnius during the census of 1897, there were 5,301 (46.3%) local nobles and 6,403 (54.7%) newcomers, of these 24.1% noble newcomers came from Vilna Governorate territories, while the rest of newcomers nobles came to Vilnius from Grodno Governorate, Minsk Governorate, Vitebsk Governorate, Kovno Governorate, Vistula Land and other regions.


title: Vilnius

text: Ethnic Lithuanian numbers in the city of Vilnius reached record lows in 1931 (1600 residents – 0.8%, while Poles accounted for 65.9% – 128,600 residents) following the 1922 annexation of Vilnius Region by Poland and the Lithuanians retreat from the region to the temporary capital of Kaunas. Following the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty in 1939, Lithuania regained one third of Vilnius Region and made efforts to Lithuanize Vilnius by the introduction of Lithuanian laws. Prime Minister Antanas Merkys once said that it was intended "to make everybody think like Lithuanians. First of all, it was and still is necessary to comb out the foreign element from the Vilnius Region". The Lithuanian Government put into force a law according to which "who on 12 July 1920 (...) were regarded as Lithuanian nationals, and on 27 October 1939 were resident in the territory became Lithuanian nationals" (this definition of citizenship was used to dismiss a large number of Polish civil servants as during the Interbellum period about 88,000 Poles migrated to Vilnius from as far as Małopolska, while around 150,000 Poles were repatriated from the Lithuanian SSR in 1945–1956. Almost the whole Jewish population was exterminated during the Holocaust in Lithuania. After World War II, the number of ethnic Lithuanians in the city started recovering (e.g. there already were 79,363 Lithuanians in 1959, who accounted for 33.6% of all residents in the city), however the Lithuanization ideas were mostly replaced with the Sovietization of the population after the rigged election to the People's Seimas in 1940. Following the restoration of independence in 1990, the ethnic Lithuanian population in the city continued to grow in 2011 to 63.2% (337,000 residents), and in 2021 to 67,44 % (373,513 inhabitants) according to the censuses.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius is the major economic centre of Lithuania. The GDP per capita (nominal) in Vilnius metropolitan area (Vilnius County) is almost €30,000, making it the wealthiest city in Lithuania and the second-wealthiest city in the Baltic states after Tallinn.


title: Vilnius

text: The budget of Vilnius reached €1.0 billion in 2022. As of Q3 of 2022 the average monthly salary in Vilnius city municipality reached €2,051(gross) and €1,270(net).


title: Vilnius

text: Since 2010, employment and unemployment indicators have continuously been improving in Lithuania. Employment reached a record high of 77.5% in the third quarter of 2018 while unemployment was 6.3% in the fourth quarter, a rate last observed in 2008. Nevertheless, this has to be seen in the context of a shrinking working age population. The activity rate reached 82% in 2017. Vilnius and Kaunas counties offer better labour market opportunities than other counties, and this drives the internal interregional migration. However, in other regions employment opportunities remain scarce. Unemployment rates remained persistently high in the least developed regions (14.9% in Utena County as compared to 4.8% in Vilnius County). Other key labour market indicators have improved, returning to pre-crisis levels. Long-term unemployment fell to 2.1% in the third quarter of 2018 (EU average: 2.9%). Youth unemployment (13.3%) and the rate of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET, at 9.1%) were below the EU average in 2017.


title: Vilnius

text: Overall, the share of the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) has decreased since Lithuania joined the EU in 2004. However, it remains among the highest in the EU (29.6% in 2017, compared to 22.4% in the EU). The risk of poverty or social exclusion in rural areas is nearly double that of urban areas, which corresponds to the gap in the unemployment rate between cities and rural areas (4.5% versus 11% in 2017). In particular the metropolitan areas of Vilnius and Kaunas, where significant economic activity is centred, drive a significant gap between AROPE rates in urban and rural areas. In 2017, the AROPE rate in rural areas was 37.2%, compared to 19.9% in cities.


title: Vilnius

text: Over the past 15 years, Lithuania has experienced the fastest convergence in the EU, but the benefits of economic growth are uneven across regions. Disparities among Lithuania's regions have steadily grown in this period. While GDP per capita reached nearly 110% of the EU average in the capital region of Vilnius, it is only between 42% and 77% in other regions. The country's rapid convergence is mainly fuelled by two regions – the capital region of Vilnius and Kaunas County – producing 42% and 20% of the national GDP, respectively. In 2014–2016 these regions grew on average by 4.6% (Vilnius) and 3.3% (Kaunas), while the other regions, which have a higher share of rural areas, stagnated or were in recession.


title: Vilnius

text: The supply of new housing in Vilnius and its suburbs, the country's biggest real estate market, has reached post-crisis highs and the stock of unsold apartments in the three largest cities has started to increase since the


title: Vilnius

text: beginning of 2017. The demand for housing is still strong, fuelled by rapidly rising wages, benign financial conditions and positive expectations. In the first half of 2018, the number of monthly transactions was the highest since the 2007–2008 peak. Most foreign direct investment and productive public investment in Lithuania is concentrated around the two main economic development poles of Vilnius and Kaunas.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Industrial Park is located 18.5 kilometres from the city and its land is intended for commercial, industrial use.


title: Vilnius

text: In 1675, Tito Livio Burattini lived in Vilnius and published a book "Misura universale" in which he suggested to use term metre for a unit of length for the first time. In 1753, on the initiative of Thomas Zebrowski the Vilnius University Astronomical Observatory was established, which was among the first observatories in Europe and the first in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt led the reconstruction of the observatory in 1770–72 (according to Marcin Knackfus project) and made sure it was equipped with the latest astronomical instruments, from 1773 he began constant astronomical observations, which were recorded in the observation journals (), and created a constellation "Taurus Poniatovii". In 1781, Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert established the Botanical Garden of Vilnius University with over 2000 plants, he also provided the first herbariums, collections of stuffed animals and birds, fossil plants, animal remains, and a collection of minerals to the Vilnius University. After the Third Partition of the Commonwealth, the observatory published the first exact sciences journal in the Russian Empire called the "Journal of Mathematical Sciences" ().


title: Vilnius

text: Sunrise Valley Science and Technology Park () is a non-profit organization, founded in 2003. The park is the centre of entrepreneurship, promotion of business and science collaboration, provision of infrastructure and other innovation support. Over 20,000 students study in the Vilnius University and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University facilities in the Sunrise Valley and 5,000 scientists performs their research in the corresponding science centres there.


title: Vilnius

text: Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology () or FTMC is the largest scientific research institution in Lithuania, which specialises in laser technologies, optoelectronics, nuclear physics, organic chemistry, bio and nano technologies, electrochemical material science, electronics, and other scientific fields. The centre was created in 2010 by merging institutes of Chemistry, Physics, Semiconductor Physics in Vilnius and Textile institute in Kaunas. The centre features 250 laboratories (24 open to the public) and can accommodate more than 700 researchers and students. Furthermore, the centre also offers PhD Studies and annually helds FizTech conferences of PhD students and young researchers. FTMC is the founder and sole shareholder of the Science and Technology Park of Institute of Physics in Savanorių Avenue, which provides assistance to companies operating in research and development field.


title: Vilnius

text: Laser Research Centre of Vilnius University () is one of five departments in the Faculty of Physics, which prepares highly qualified physicists, laser physicists and laser technology specialists. The department carries out world-class research in laser physics, nonlinear optics, optical component characterization, biophotonics and laser microtechnology. Lithuania is one of the world's leaders in producing laser technologies and has over 50% of the world's market share in ultrashort pulses lasers, which are produced by the Vilnius-based companies. In 2019, they developed one of the world's most powerful laser system in the world SYLOS for the Extreme Light Infrastructure laboratory in Szeged, which produces high-intensity ultra-short pulses with a peak power of up to a thousand times that of the most powerful nuclear power plant in the United States. Also, Corning Inc. has bought the licence for the state-of-the-art glass cutting solutions from the Vilnius-based laser company Altechna and uses it for manufacturing billions of Gorilla Glasses.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre () is a scientific research centre, which consists of three institutes: Institute of Biochemistry, Institute of Biosciences and Institute of Biotechnology. The centre was opened in 2016 and has 800 students, 120 PhD students and 200 scientific-pedagogical staff that are able to use open access scientific laboratories equipped with the most advanced equipment there. Next to the main building there is a Technology Business Incubator for small and medium businesses in life sciences or related fields.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University has three research centres in the Sunrise Valley: Civil Engineering Research Centre, Technology Centre for Building Information and Digital Modelling, Competence Centre of Intermodal Transport and Logistics.


title: Vilnius

text: The Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences () in A. Goštauto St. 9 creates and disseminates high-level scientific knowledge in the fields of economics, sociology and law in order to implement public policy solutions and innovations based on them, strengthening the cohesion of science, business and society. The Centre closely cooperates with the Government of Lithuania.


title: Vilnius

text: Santara Valley () is a second science and research valley in Vilnius, which focuses on the medicine, biopharmaceutical and bioinformatics areas. Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine Science Centre, costing  million, will be completed in the valley in 2021.


title: Vilnius

text: Jonas Kubilius, long-term rector of the Vilnius University is known for works in Probabilistic number theory, Kubilius model, Theorem of Kubilius and Turán–Kubilius inequality bear his name. Jonas Kubilius successfully resisted attempts to Russify the Vilnius University. Vilnian Marija Gimbutas was the first to formulate the Kurgan hypothesis. In 1963, Vytautas Straižys and his coworkers created Vilnius photometric system that is used in astronomy. Kavli Prize laureate Virginijus Šikšnys is known for his discoveries in CRISPR field – invention of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.


title: Vilnius

text: Lithuania and its capital Vilnius is an attractive place for foreign companies to open their offices. This is due to several main reasons – highly qualified employees and good infrastructure. Several high schools are preparing skilled specialists in Vilnius, most notably the Vilnius University Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Faculty of Fundamental Sciences. Sphere of the information technology is an attractive profession among the qualified professionals due to the high salaries in Vilnius (e.g. Lithuanian branch of Google, established in Vilnius, offers ~ monthly salary, which is one of the highest in Lithuania). In 2018, the annual output of the information technology sector in Lithuania was  billion, of which a large amount was created in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Tech Park in Sapieha Park is the biggest information technology startup hub in the Baltic and Nordic countries and unites international startups, technology companies, accelerators, incubators. In 2019, the fDi Intelligence (an investment experts subdivision of the Financial Times) ranked Vilnius as number one city in the Tech Start-up FDI Attraction Index.


title: Vilnius

text: In 2011, Vilnius had the fastest internet speed in the world and despite the fall in the rankings in recent years – it still remained as one of the fastest around the globe. Vilnius Airport also has one of the fastest wireless public internet (Wi-Fi) among the European airports.


title: Vilnius

text: The National Cyber Security Centre of Lithuania was established in Vilnius due increasing internet attacks against the Lithuanian Government organizations.


title: Vilnius

text: Lithuania and especially its capital Vilnius is a popular fintech companies hub due to the state's flexible regulations in the e-money licences field. In 2018, Bank of Lithuania granted an electronic money licence to the Google Payment Lithuania company, based in Vilnius. Since 2018, prominent e-money startup Revolut also has an e-money licence and headquarters in Vilnius, furthermore in 2019 it began to move its clients to the Lithuanian company Revolut Payments. On 23 January 2019, the Europe's first international Blockchain Centre was opened in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius is Lithuania's financial centre. The Ministry of Finance is located in Vilnius and is responsible for the development and enforcement of an efficient public financial policy with a view to ensuring the macroeconomic stability of the state and its economic growth. The Bank of Lithuania is also headquartered in Vilnius and fosters a reliable financial system and ensures sustainable economic growth. Nasdaq Vilnius Stock Exchange, a leading stock exchange in Lithuania, is located in K29 business centre in Konstitucijos Avenue.


title: Vilnius

text: The National Audit Office of Lithuania () is located in V. Kudirka Street and helps the state to manage public funds and property wisely. While the State Tax Inspectorate () is headquartered in Vasario 16-osios Street and is responsible for collecting or refunding taxes in the country.


title: Vilnius

text: At the time, 7 banks in Lithuania are holding a bank or a specialised bank licence, while 9 banks are carrying out their activities as foreign bank branches. The two largest banks registered in Lithuania (AB SEB bankas, Swedbank, AB,) are supervised directly by the European Central Bank jointly with Bank of Lithuania experts.


title: Vilnius

text: On 14 October 1773, the Commission of National Education () was created by the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Grand Duke Stanisław August Poniatowski, which supervised the Vilnius University, schools and was responsible for other educational matters in the Commonwealth. Because of its vast authority and autonomy, it is considered as the first Ministry of Education in European history and an important achievement of the Enlightenment in the Commonwealth.


title: Vilnius

text: The city has many universities. The largest and oldest is Vilnius University with 24,716 students. Its main premises are in the Old Town. The university has been ranked among the top 500 universities in the world by QS World University Rankings. The university is participating in projects with UNESCO and NATO, among others. It features Masters programs in English and Russian, as well as programs delivered in cooperation with universities all over Europe. The university is divided into 14 faculties.


title: Vilnius

text: Other major universities include Mykolas Romeris University (7,500 students), Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (9,600 students), and Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences (merged into Vytautas Magnus University in 2018). Specialized higher schools with university status include the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and the Vilnius Academy of Arts. The museum associated with the Vilnius Academy of Arts holds about 12,000 artworks.


title: Vilnius

text: There are also a few private universities such as ISM University of Management and Economics, European Humanities University, and Kazimieras Simonavičius University.


title: Vilnius

text: Several colleges are also in Vilnius including Vilnius College, Vilnius College of Technologies and Design, International School of Law and Business, and others.


title: Vilnius

text: Primary and lower secondary education is mandatory in Lithuania. Children must start attending pre-primary education at six years old and education is compulsory until the age of 16. Primary and secondary education is free at all stages, however there also are private schools with tuition fees in Vilnius. The education system is governed by the Government of Lithuania and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of Lithuania which headquarters are in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Cathedral School of Vilnius, first mentioned in 1397, is the earliest known Lithuanian school. Vilnius Vytautas the Great Gymnasium, established in 1915, is the first Lithuanian gymnasium in Eastern Lithuania. In 2018, the city had 120 schools (not including preschools) with 61,123 pupils and 4,955 educators. Four out of five best rated schools in Lithuania are located in Vilnius, while the Vilnius Lyceum is the number one.


title: Vilnius

text: Ethnic minorities in Lithuania are allowed to have their own schools. In Vilnius there are 7 elementary schools, 8 primary schools, 2 progymnasiums and 12 gymnasiums dedicated exceptionally for minorities children where lessons are conducted in minorities languages only. In 2017, there were 4,658 Poles and 9,274 Russians who studied in their minorities languages in the city.


title: Vilnius

text: National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art is the only art school in Lithuania spanning the entire 12-year learning cycle. is another prominent art school in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Most of the school graduates in Vilnius later studies in the universities or colleges as Lithuania is one of the world's leading countries in OECD's statistics of population with tertiary education (56% of 25–34 year-olds in 2018).


title: Vilnius

text: International schools include International School of Vilnius and Vilnius International French Lyceum.


title: Vilnius

text: The Central Library of Vilnius City Municipality () operates public libraries in Vilnius. It has 16 public libraries, located in different elderships of Vilnius, one of them ("Saulutė") is dedicated to children's literature only. Large part of these libraries organizes computer literacy courses that are free of charge. Usage of public libraries requires a free LIBIS (integrated information system of Lithuanian libraries) card.


title: Vilnius

text: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania (), located in Gediminas Avenue and founded in 1919, is a national cultural institution which collects, organizes and preserves Lithuania's written cultural heritage content, develops the collection of Lithuanian and foreign documents relevant to research, educational and cultural needs of Lithuania, and provides library information services to the public. As of 1 July 2019, its electronic catalog has 1,140,708 bibliographic records.


title: Vilnius

text: The Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences () is a scientific library of state significance, a cultural, scientific and educational institution. Its founder is the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. All citizens of Lithuania and foreign countries are entitled to use the services of the Library. As of 1 January 2015, the stock of the Library counted 3,733,514 volumes. On 1 January 2015, the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences had 12,274 registered users.


title: Vilnius

text: Every Lithuanian university and college has its own library, dedicated to their students, professors and alumni. The most notable modern university library is the National Open Access Scientific Communication and Information Center of Vilnius University () in Saulėtekis Valley, which was opened in 2013 and offers over 800 workplaces in total area of . Central Vilnius University Library, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Library, Mykolas Romeris University Library, ISM University of Management and Economics Library, European Humanities University Library, Kazimieras Simonavičius University Library are located in these universities complexes in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Already in the 17th century Vilnius was known as a city of many religions. In 1600, Samuel Lewkenor's book describing cities with universities was published in London. Lewkenor mentions that citizens of Vilnius included Catholics, Orthodox, followers of John Calvin and Martin Luther, Jews and Tartar Muslims.


title: Vilnius

text: Throughout the 17th century Vilnius had a reputation as a city which had no rivals in Europe in the number of churches of different confessions. At the end of the century, this reputation was confirmed by the highly regarded (and several times republished) work by Robert Morden, "Geography Rectified or a Description of the World", which said that no other city in the world could surpass Vilnius in the number of churches and temples of various faiths, except perhaps Amsterdam.


title: Vilnius

text: Today Vilnius is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius, with the main church institutions and Archdiocesan Cathedral (Vilnius Cathedral) located here. Numerous Christian Beatified persons, martyrs, Servants of God and Saints, are associated with Vilnius. These, among others, include Franciscan martyrs of Vilnius, Orthodox martyrs Anthony, John, and Eustathius, Saint Casimir, Josaphat Kuntsevych, Andrew Bobola, Raphael Kalinowski, Faustina Kowalska, Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius.


title: Vilnius

text: There are a number of other active Roman Catholic churches in the city, along with small enclosed monasteries and religion schools. Church architecture includes Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical styles, with important examples of each found in the Old Town. Additionally, Eastern Rite Catholicism has maintained a presence in Vilnius since the Union of Brest. The Baroque Basilian Gate is part of an Eastern Rite monastery.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius has been home to an Eastern Orthodox Christian presence since the 13th or even the 12th century. A famous Russian Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Spirit, is near the [Gate of Dawn. St. Paraskeva's Orthodox Church in the Old Town is the site of the baptism of Hannibal, the great-grandfather of Pushkin, by Tsar Peter the Great in 1705. Many Old Believers, who split from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1667, settled in Lithuania. The Church of St. Michael and St. Constantine was built in 1913. Today a Supreme Council of the Old Believers is based in Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: A number of Protestant and other Christian groups are represented in Vilnius, most notably the Lutheran Evangelicals and the Baptists.


title: Vilnius

text: The pre-Christian religion of Lithuania, centred on the forces of nature as personified by deities such as Perkūnas (the Thunder God), is experiencing some increased interest. Romuva established a Vilnius branch in 1991.


title: Vilnius

text: Once widely known as "Yerushalayim D'Lita" (the "Jerusalem of Lithuania"), Vilnius, since the 18th century, was a world centre for Torah study, and had a large Jewish population. A major scholar of Judaism and Kabbalah centred in Vilnius was the famous Rabbi Eliyahu Kremer, also known as the Vilna Gaon. His writings have significant influence among Orthodox Jews to this day. The Vilna Shas, the most widely used edition of the Talmud was published in Vilnius in 1886. Jewish life in Vilnius was destroyed during the Holocaust; there is a memorial stone dedicated to victims of Nazi genocide in the centre of the former Jewish Ghetto – now Mėsinių Street. The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum is dedicated to the history of Lithuanian Jewish life. The site of Vilnius's largest synagogue, built in the early 1630s and wrecked by Nazi Germany during its occupation of Lithuania, was found by ground-penetrating radar in June 2015, with excavations set to begin in 2016.


title: Vilnius

text: The Karaites are a Jewish sect that migrated to Lithuania from the Crimea. Although their numbers are very small, the Karaites are becoming more prominent since Lithuanian independence, and have restored their kenesas (e.g. the ).


title: Vilnius

text: Since the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387, Vilnius has become one of the main centres of Christianity in Lithuania and a Christian pilgrimage site. Vilnius Pilgrimage Centre () coordinates pilgrimages, assists in their proper preparation, and takes care of pilgrimage pastoral care. Many places in Vilnius are associated with divine miracles or marks significant events to the Christians. The Chapel of the Gate of Dawn is visited by thousands of Christian pilgrims annually. Initially, the gates were part of the defensive Wall of Vilnius, however in the 16th century they were given to the Carmelites, who installed a chapel in the gates with a prominent 17th century Catholic painting Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn. The painting was later decorated with gold-plated silver embellishments and is surrounded by a legend and divine miracles.


title: Vilnius

text: Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy is another important pilgrimage site, which has the Divine Mercy image. Vilnius became the birthplace of the Divine Mercy Devotion when Saint Faustina began her mission under the guidance and discernment of her new spiritual director, blessed Michał Sopoćko. In 1934, the first Divine Mercy image was painted by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski under the supervision of Faustina Kowalska and it presently hangs in the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Vilnius. A feast of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is held in the shrine 24 hours per day. The House of St. Faustina where she previously lived is located in V. Grybo St. in Antakalnis and is open to the pilgrims every day.


title: Vilnius

text: Church of St. Philip and St. Jacob near the Lukiškės Square has the painting of the Mother of God of Lukiškės, which is glorified by divine miracles. The icon was painted in the 15th – 16th centuries and is one of the oldest monuments of easel painting in Lithuania. It was brought by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania artillery general Motiejus Korvinas Gosievskis from the Russo-Polish War. From 1684 onwards miracles began to be experienced in the Vilnius Dominican Monastery, related to the image of Mother of God of Lukiškės, which in 1737 were published in a miracles book "Mystical fountain" (). The icon was restored and returned to the Dominicans in 2012.


title: Vilnius

text: Three Crosses is a prominent monument in Vilnius. According to a debated legend of the Franciscan martyrs of Vilnius, presented in the Bychowiec Chronicle, fourteen Franciscan friars were invited to Vilnius from Podolia by . The friars publicly preached the gospel and denigrated the pagan Lithuanian gods. Angered city residents burned the monastery and killed all fourteen friars. Seven of them were beheaded on the Bleak Hill; the other seven were crucified and thrown into the Neris or Vilnia River.


title: Vilnius

text: Verkiai Calvary (or Vilnius Calvary) is the second oldest calvary in Lithuania after Žemaičių Kalvarija. It is located in Verkiai, a neighborhood of Vilnius. The Calvary was built in 1662–69 as a sign of gratitude for the victory in the Second Northern War (1655–60). The consecration ceremony of the new Stations of the Cross took place at Pentecost on 9 June 1669. The Calvary includes 20 brick chapels, seven wooden and one brick gate, and one bridge with a wooden chapel. The path ends at the Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross. In 1962 all chapels, except four closest to the church, were destroyed by the Soviet authorities with dynamites overnight. The Calvary was reconstructed in 1990–2002 and the chapels were solemnly consecrated at Pentecost in 2002. Pilgrimages in the Calvary are organized regularly with the clergy.


title: Vilnius

text: Church Heritage Museum () exhibits the oldest and largest of all the churches of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania treasure trove of the Vilnius Cathedral and liturgical artefacts from other churches of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius is the only city in the Baltic states with an Apostolic Nunciature, in which Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis stayed during their visits to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.


title: Vilnius

text: Additionally, Vilnius is host to numerous lakes, where residents and visitors swim and have barbecues in the summer. Thirty lakes and 16 rivers cover 2.1% of Vilnius's area, with some of them having sand beaches.


title: Vilnius

text: Vingis Park, the city's largest, hosted several major rallies during Lithuania's drive towards independence in the 1980s. Sections of the annual Vilnius Marathon pass along the public walkways on the banks of the Neris River. The green area next to the White Bridge is another popular area to enjoy good weather, and has become venue for several music and large screen events.


title: Vilnius

text: Cathedral Square in Old Town is surrounded by a number of the city's most historically significant sites. Lukiškės Square is the largest, bordered by several governmental buildings: the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Polish Embassy, and the Genocide Victims' Museum, where the KGB tortured and murdered numerous opposers of the communist regime. An oversized statue of Lenin in its centre was removed in 1991. Town Hall Square has long been a centre of trade fairs, celebrations, and events in Vilnius, including the Kaziukas Fair. The city Christmas tree is decorated there. State ceremonies are often held in Daukantas Square, facing the Presidential Palace.


title: Vilnius

text: On 20 October 2013, Bernardinai Garden, near Gediminas Tower, previously known as Sereikiškės Park, was opened after reconstruction. The authentic 19th century Vladislovas Štrausas environment was restored. It is a venue for concerts, festivals, and exhibitions.


title: Vilnius

text: Rasos Cemetery, consecrated in 1801, is the burial site of Jonas Basanavičius and other signatories of the 1918 Act of Independence, along with the heart of Polish leader Józef Piłsudski. Two of the three Jewish cemeteries in Vilnius were destroyed by communist authorities during the Soviet era; the remains of the Vilna Gaon were moved to the remaining one. A monument was erected at the place where Užupis Old Jewish Cemetery was. About 18,000 burials have been made in the Bernardine Cemetery, established in 1810; it was closed during the 1970s and is now being restored. Antakalnis Cemetery, established in 1809, contains various memorials to Polish, Lithuanian, German and Russian soldiers, along with the graves of those who were killed during the January Events.


title: Vilnius

text: According to the data collected by the Lithuanian Department of Statistics, a total of 1,200,858 visitors had rented rooms in Vilnius accommodation venues where they spent a total of 2,212,109 nights in 2018. Compared to the 2017 statistics, the number of guests grew by 12% and 11% respectively.


title: Vilnius

text: In 2018 81% of all the visitors who stayed in Vilnius were foreigners (970,577), which is 11% more than the previous year. Most foreign visitors came from Belarus (102,915), Germany (101,999), Poland (99,386), Russia (90,388) and Latvia (61,829). Guests from these countries accounted for 47% of all foreign guests, who rented rooms in Vilnius accommodation venues. Entirely, 230,281 Lithuanians (19% of all guests) were in Vilnius accommodation venues during 2018 (which is 18% more than in 2017).


title: Vilnius

text: According to a 2018 Vilnius Visitors Survey, 48% of tourists visited Vilnius for the first time, 85% of tourists planned the trip by themselves and 15% travelled with travel agencies. According to the same survey, 40% of tourists specified that they decided to visit Vilnius in order to learn about the history and heritage of the city; however, 23% of tourists also planned trips to other areas of Lithuania (e.g. Trakai, Kaunas, Druskininkai, Šiauliai, etc.). Many Belarusians (around 200,000 granted travel visas annually) are arriving for shopping in the city's shopping malls and upon departing submits even half a meter long receipts to the customs.


title: Vilnius

text: In 2018 Vilnius Tourist Information Centres were visited by a total of 119,136 visitors (95,932 foreigners and 23,204 Lithuanians), a 5% increase compared with the 2017 statistics. In 2017 the centres were visited by 113,818 visitors (97,072 foreigners and 16,746 Lithuanians).


title: Vilnius

text: The best-rated tourist services in Vilnius are restaurants (cafés) services quality, old town attractions, hotels (or other accommodation places) services, trips to Trakai, parks (green zones), connection with the Vilnius Airport, food in hotels, restaurants, cafés.


title: Vilnius

text: In the City Costs Barometer 2019, Vilnius was ranked as number one among the European capitals for offering best value to visitors.


title: Vilnius

text: The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports, originally constructed by the Soviet authorities on the site of a Jewish graveyard, is slated in 2022 to be transformed into the leading convention center in the Baltic states. The project is controversial.


title: Vilnius

text: Lithuania is a member of the European Hotelstars Union, which provides a harmonised hotel classification with common criteria and procedures in the participating countries. Vilnius has six 5-star hotels, all located in the Vilnius Old Town. There are also 27 4-star hotels. The Grand Hotel Kempinski Vilnius, with a direct view of the Cathedral Square, is considered as the most luxurious hotel in Vilnius and offers presidential rooms for around €3,000 per night (more than three times the average monthly net salary in Vilnius) and is frequently chosen by the heads of state, movie stars, famous musicians and other celebrities during their visits to Lithuania.


title: Vilnius

text: In 2019, Vilnius had 82 hotels, 8 motels and 40 other accommodation facilities with 6,822 rooms and 15,248 beds. The highest hotel room occupancy was in August and the lowest in February.


title: Vilnius

text: According to a 2018 Vilnius visitors survey, 44% of visitors to Vilnius stayed in middle-range hotels (3–4 stars), 12% stayed in standard or economy hotels (1–2 stars) and 11% stayed in luxury 5-star hotels.


title: Vilnius

text: Several basketball teams are based in the city: newly created BC Wolves, which will start to compete in the 2022–23 Lithuanian Basketball League season and the largest one is BC Rytas, which participates in the international the Basketball Champions League and the domestic Lithuanian Basketball League, winning the ULEB Cup (predecessor to the EuroCup) in 2005 and the EuroCup in 2009. Its home arena is the 2,500-seat Lietuvos Rytas Arena; all European matches and important domestic matches are played in the 10,000-seat Avia Solutions Group Arena.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius also has several football teams. FK Žalgiris is the main football team. The club plays at LFF Stadium in Vilnius (capacity 5,067). Construction of the multi-functional Lithuania National Stadium has been ongoing in Šeškinė since 1987.


title: Vilnius

text: , the newly expanded SEB Arena, holding 28 tennis courts, is the largest tennis complex in Central Europe and home of the Lithuanian tennis and squash teams. It's also the venue for the Vilnius Open tennis tournament, part of the ATP Challenger Tour.


title: Vilnius

text: Olympic champions in swimming Lina Kačiušytė and Robertas Žulpa are from Vilnius. There are several public swimming pools in Vilnius with Lazdynai Swimming Pool being the only Olympic-size swimming pool of the city.


title: Vilnius

text: The city is home to the Lithuanian Bandy Association, Badminton Federation, Canoeing Sports Federation, Baseball Association, Biathlon Federation, Sailors Union, Football Federation, Fencing Federation, Cycling Sports Federation, Archery Federation, Athletics Federation, Ice Hockey Federation, Basketball Federation, Curling Federation, Rowing Federation, Wrestling Federation, Speed Skating Association, Gymnastics Federation, Equestrian Union, Modern Pentathlon Federation, Shooting Union, Triathlon Federation, Volleyball Federation, Tennis Union, Taekwondo Federation, Weightlifting Federation, Table Tennis Association, Skiing Association, Rugby Federation, Swimming Federation.


title: Vilnius

text: Navigability of the river Neris is very limited and no regular water routes exist, although it was used for navigation in the past. The river rises in Belarus, connecting Vilnius and Kernavė, and becomes a tributary of Nemunas river in Kaunas.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius Airport serves most Lithuanian international flights to many major European destinations. The airport has about 50 destinations in 25 countries. The airport is situated only away from the centre of the city, and has a direct rail link to Vilnius railway station.


title: Vilnius

text: The Vilnius railway station is an important hub serving direct passenger connections to Minsk, Kaliningrad, Moscow and Saint Petersburg as well as being a transit point of Pan-European Corridor IX.


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius is the starting point of the A1 motorway that runs across Lithuania and connects the three major cities (Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda) and is a part of European route E85. The A2 motorway, connecting Vilnius with Panevėžys, is a part of E272. Other highways starting in Vilnius include A3, A4, A14, A15, A16. Vilnius's Southern bypass is road A19.


title: Vilnius

text: The bus network and the trolleybus network are run by Vilniaus viešasis transportas. There are over 60 bus, 18 trolleybus, 6 rapid bus and 6 night bus routes. The trolleybus network is one of the most extensive in Europe. Over 250 buses and 260 trolleybuses transport about 500,000 passengers every workday. The first regular bus routes were established in 1926, and the first trolleybuses were introduced in 1956.


title: Vilnius

text: At the end of 2007, a new electronic monthly ticket system was introduced. It was possible to buy an electronic card in shops and newspaper stands and have it credited with an appropriate amount of money. The monthly e-ticket cards could be bought once and credited with an appropriate amount of money in various ways including the Internet. Previous paper monthly tickets were in use until August 2008.


title: Vilnius

text: The ticket system changed again from 15 August 2012. E-Cards were replaced by Vilnius Citizen Cards ("Vilniečio Kortelė"). It is now possible to buy a card or change an old one in newspaper stands and have it credited with an appropriate amount of money or a particular type of ticket. Single trip tickets have been replaced by 30 and 60-minute tickets.


title: Vilnius

text: The public transportation system is dominated by the low-floor Volvo and Mercedes-Benz buses as well as Solaris trolleybuses. There are also plenty of the traditional Škoda vehicles, built in the Czech Republic, still in service, and many of these have been extensively refurbished internally. This is a result of major improvements that started in 2003 when the first brand-new Mercedes-Benz buses were bought. In 2004, a contract was signed with Volvo Buses to buy 90 brand-new 7700 buses over the following three years.


title: Vilnius

text: An electric tram and a metro system through the city were proposed in the 2000s. However, neither has progressed beyond initial planning. In 2018 the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania approved a new metro project with the president's agreement.


title: Vilnius

text: In 2017, Vilnius started the historically largest upgrade of its bus services by purchasing 250 new low-floor buses. The project will result in making 6 of 10 public buses being brand new by the middle of 2018 and will allow its passengers to use such modern technologies as free Wi-Fi and to charge their electronic devices while traveling. On 5 September 2017, 50 new Isuzu buses were presented and articulated Scania buses were promised in the very near future. Vilnius City Municipality also held a contest for 41 new trolleybuses and its winner Solaris committed to deliver all trolleybuses until the autumn of 2018, which will also have the free Wi-Fi and charging features. On 13 November Vilnius City Municipality signed a contract with Solaris for the remaining 150 Solaris Urbino buses of the newest IV generation (100 standard and 50 articulated), also with the free Wi-Fi and USB charging. On 20 September 2019, five all-electric Karsan Jest Electric autobuses were presented, which will serve the 89 route in narrow streets.


title: Vilnius

text: Since 2017 a 30-minute ticket costs 0.65 euro, a 60-minute ticket costs 0.90 euro and a single ticket bought on board costs 1.00 euro. There are other types of tickets, both short-term and long-term. Various discounts for pupils, students and elder people are available.


title: Vilnius

text: The Vilnians took care of the cleanliness and health responsibly already during the Grand Duchy of Lithuania times as the city had public bathhouses and one fourth of houses in Vilnius had individual bathhouses, also almost half of the houses had alcohol distilleries. In 1518, medicine doctor and canon Martynas Dušnickis established the first "špitolė" () in Vilnius, which was the first hospital-like institution in Lithuania and treated people who were not able to take care of themselves due to their health condition, age, and poverty. The Brotherhood of Saint Roch maintained primitive hospitals and shelters ("špitolė") for the sick and the disabled in Vilnius from 1708 to 1799, although it is not known whether the brothers had any kind of medical education, it is known that the brothers hired paramedics, doctors, and surgeons, including women nurses who could take care of their female patients, and a significant number of its patients had sexually transmitted diseases (other Catholic hospitals refused to treat such patients), also the brotherhood sheltered pregnant women and their abandoned children, other patients sought help for injuries, tuberculosis, rheumatism, arthritis, etc. In 1805, the Vilnius Medical Society was established on the initiative of Joseph Frank (son of Johann Peter Frank), which was the first society of this type in Eastern Europe and to this day unites medicine doctors and professors in Vilnius. The same year, the society established a teaching hospital (clinic) under the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine.


title: Vilnius

text: The Ministry of Health is located in Vilnius and is responsible for the healthcare in Lithuania. Vilnians have to pay the compulsory health insurance (6.98% of the salary), which is governed by the Vilnius Territorial Health Insurance Fund and guarantees free health care to every insured person, however some residents are exempt from this tax (e.g. disabled persons, children, full-time students, etc.).


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos and the Vilnius City Clinical Hospital are the primary hospitals in Vilnius. There also are eight polyclinics, the Medical Centre of the Ministry of the Interior and a number of private health care facilities in the city.


title: Vilnius

text: The first Lithuanian periodical newspaper (weekly) "Kurier Litewski" was published in Vilnius from 1760 to 1763. Vilnius is home to numerous newspapers, magazines and publications including "Lietuvos rytas", "Lietuvos žinios", "Verslo žinios", "Respublika", "Valstiečių laikraštis", "Mokesčių žinios", "Aktualijos", "15min", "Vilniaus diena", "Vilniaus Kraštas", "Lietuvos aidas", "Valstybė", "Veidas", "Panelė", Franciscan "Bernardinai.lt", Russian "Litovskij kurjer", Polish "Tygodnik Wileńszczyzny".


title: Vilnius

text: Vilnius TV Tower is located in Karoliniškės microdistrict and transmits television signals to the whole of Vilnius. The most-viewed networks in Lithuania are headquartered in Vilnius including LRT televizija, TV3, LNK, BTV, LRT Plius, LRT Lituanica, TV6, Lietuvos rytas TV, TV1, TV8, Sport1, Liuks!, Info TV.


title: Vilnius

text: The first stationary radio station in Vilnius "Rozgłośnia Wileńska" was launched in Žvėrynas microdistrict on 28 November 1927, but was later moved to the present-day Gediminas Avenue in 1935. M-1, the first commercial radio station in Lithuania, started broadcasting from Vilnius in 1989. Many other Lithuanian or foreign languages radio stations also broadcasts from Vilnius, most of them signals comes from the Vilnius TV Tower or the .


title: Vilnius

text: The Lithuanian Union of Journalists () and the Lithuanian Society of Journalists () are headquartered in Vilnius.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987. She was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss has released fourteen albums, appeared on numerous soundtracks, and sparked a renewed interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, and the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack, which led to her performance at the 2004 Academy Awards.


title: Alison Krauss

text: As of 2019, she has won 27 Grammy Awards from 42 nominations, ranking her fourth behind Beyoncé, Quincy Jones and classical conductor Georg Solti for most Grammy Award wins overall. Krauss was the most awarded singer and the most awarded female artist in Grammy history until Beyoncé won her 28th Grammy in 2021. When Krauss won her first Grammy in 1991, she was the second-youngest winner at that time.


title: Alison Krauss

text: On November 21, 2019, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. She was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in September 2021.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Alison Maria Krauss was born in Decatur, Illinois, to Fred and Louise Krauss. Her father was a German immigrant who came to the United States in 1952 at age 12, and taught his native language while he earned a doctorate in psychology. He later went into the business of real estate. Her mother, an American of German and Italian descent, is the daughter of artists, and works as an illustrator of magazines and textbooks. Fred and Louise met while they were studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. After a brief residence in nearby Decatur, the family settled in Champaign, where Krauss was raised with her older brother, Viktor.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss's mother played banjo and acoustic guitar, so Krauss was exposed to folk music at home, and she heard rock and pop music on the radio: She liked Gary Numan's synth-pop song "Cars", and rock bands such as Foreigner, Bad Company, and Electric Light Orchestra. Her brother Viktor played piano and double bass in high school, launching a career as a jazz and rock multi-instrumentalist. At her mother's insistence, Krauss began studying classical violin at age five. Krauss was reluctant to spend time practicing, but she continued with classical lessons until she was eleven. Krauss said her mother "tried to find interesting things for me to do" and "wanted to get me involved in music, in addition to art and sports". Krauss was also very active in roller skating, and in her teens she finally decided on a career in music rather than roller derby.


title: Alison Krauss

text: In mid-1979, Krauss's mother saw a notice for an upcoming fiddle competition at the Champaign County Fair, so she bought a bluegrass fiddle instruction book and the 1977 bluegrass album "Duets" by violinist Richard Greene. Krauss learned by ear to play several songs from the album, including "Tennessee Waltz", which she practiced on violin with her mother accompanying on guitar. Krauss entered the talent contest in the novice category at the age of eight, placing fourth. (This is where she first met fiddler Andrea Zonn, who won the junior division at age 10.) Krauss investigated the bluegrass genre more thoroughly after this, and she developed a knack for learning complex riffs by ear, quickly turning them into her own version. In 1981–82, Krauss performed with Marvin Lee Flessner's country dance band, in which she fiddled and sang. In September 1983, her parents bought her a custom violin made by hand in Missouri – her first adult-sized instrument. At 13, she won the Walnut Valley Festival Fiddle Championship, and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her the "Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest". She was also called "virtuoso" by "Vanity Fair" magazine.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss first met Dan Tyminski around 1984 at a festival held by the Society. Every current member of her band, Union Station, first met her at these festivals.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss made her recording debut in 1986 on the independent album, "Different Strokes", in collaboration with Swamp Weiss and Jim Hoiles, and featuring her brother Viktor Krauss. From the age of 12 she performed with bassist and songwriter John Pennell in a band called "Silver Rail", replacing Andrea Zonn. Pennell later changed the band's name to Union Station after another band was discovered with the name Silver Rail.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Later that year, she signed to Rounder Records, and in 1987, at 16, she released her debut album "Too Late to Cry" with Union Station as her backup band.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss' debut solo album was quickly followed by her first group album with Union Station in 1989, "Two Highways". The album includes the traditional tunes "Wild Bill Jones" and "Beaumont Rag", along with a bluegrass interpretation of the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider".


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss' contract with Rounder required her to alternate between releasing a solo album and an album with Union Station, and she released the solo album "I've Got That Old Feeling" in 1990. It was her first album to rise onto the Billboard charts, peaking in the top seventy-five on the country chart. The album also was a notable point in her career as she earned her first Grammy Award, the single "Steel Rails" was her first single tracked by Billboard, and the title single "I've Got That Old Feeling" was the first song for which she recorded a music video.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss' second Union Station album "Every Time You Say Goodbye" was released in 1992, and she went on to win her second Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album of the year. She then joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1993 at the age of 21. She was the youngest cast member at the time, and the first bluegrass artist to join the Opry in 29 years. She also collaborated on a project with the Cox Family in 1994, a bluegrass album called "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow". Mandolin and guitar player Dan Tyminski replaced Tim Stafford in Union Station in 1994. Late in the year, Krauss recorded with the band Shenandoah on its single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart", which brought her to the country music Top Ten for the first time and it won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Also in 1994, Krauss collaborated with Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to contribute "Teach Your Children" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 1997, she recorded vocals and violin for "Half a Mind", on Tommy Shaw's 7 Deadly Zens album.


title: Alison Krauss

text: "", a compilation of older releases and some covers of her favorite works by other artists, was released in 1995. Some of these covers include Bad Company's "Oh Atlanta", the Foundations' & Dan Schafer's "Baby, Now That I've Found You", which was used in the Australian hit comedy movie "The Castle", and the Beatles' "I Will" with Tony Furtado. A cover of Keith Whitley's "When You Say Nothing at All" reached number three on the "Billboard" country chart; the album peaked in the top fifteen on the all-genre "Billboard" 200 chart, and sold two million copies to become Krauss' first double-platinum album. Krauss also was nominated for four Country Music Association Awards and won all of them.


title: Alison Krauss

text: "So Long So Wrong", another Union Station album, was released in 1997 and won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. One critic said its sound was "rather untraditional" and "likely [to] change quite a few ... minds about bluegrass". Included on the album is the track "It Doesn't Matter", which was featured in the second-season premiere episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and was included on the "Buffy" soundtrack in 1999.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Her next solo release in 1999, "Forget About It", included one of her two tracks to appear on the Billboard adult contemporary chart, "Stay". The album was certified gold and charted within the top seventy-five of the Billboard 200 and in the top five of the country chart. In addition, the track "That Kind of Love" was included in another episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."


title: Alison Krauss

text: Adam Steffey left Union Station in 1998, and was replaced with renowned dobro player Jerry Douglas. Douglas had provided studio back-up to Krauss' records since 1987's "Too Late to Cry". Their next album, "New Favorite", was released on August 14, 2001. The album went on to win the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, with the single "The Lucky One" winning a Grammy as well. "New Favorite" was followed up by the double platinum double album "Live" in 2002 and a release of a DVD of the same live performance in 2003. Both the album and the DVD were recorded during a performance at The Louisville Palace and both the album and DVD have been certified double Platinum. Also in 2002 she played a singing voice for one of the characters in the animated comedy film "Eight Crazy Nights."


title: Alison Krauss

text: "Lonely Runs Both Ways" was released in 2004, and eventually became another Alison Krauss & Union Station gold certified album. Ron Block described "Lonely Runs Both Ways" as "pretty much... what we've always done" in terms of song selection and the style, in which those songs were recorded. Krauss believes the group "was probably the most unprepared we've ever been" for the album and that songs were chosen as needed rather than planned beforehand. She also performed a duet with Brad Paisley on his album "Mud on the Tires" in the single "Whiskey Lullaby". The single was quickly ranked in the top fifty of the "Billboard" Hot 100 and the top five of the Hot Country Songs, and won the Country Music Association Awards for "Best Musical Event" and "Best Music Video" of the year.


title: Alison Krauss

text: In 2007, Krauss and Robert Plant released the collaborative album titled "Raising Sand". RIAA-certified platinum, the album was nominated for and won 5 Grammy Awards at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album, and Record of the Year ("Please Read the Letter"). Krauss and Plant recorded a Crossroads special in October 2007 for the Country Music Television network, which first aired on February 12, 2008.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Returning with Union Station, Krauss released an album called "Paper Airplane" on April 12, 2011, the follow-up album to "Lonely Runs Both Ways" (2004). Mike Shipley, the recording and mixing engineer for the album, said that the album had a lengthy production time because of Krauss' non-stop migraines. Nevertheless, "Paper Airplane" became Krauss's highest-charting album in the U.S., reaching number three on the "Billboard" 200 on topping both the country and bluegrass album charts.


title: Alison Krauss

text: In 2014, Krauss and her band Union Station toured with Willie Nelson and Family, with special guests Kacey Musgraves, and the Devil Makes Three.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Capitol Records released "Windy City", an album of country and bluegrass classics, produced by Buddy Cannon and her first solo release in 17 years, on February 17, 2017. Krauss received two nominations at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Country Solo Performance and Best American Roots Performance.


title: Alison Krauss

text: In August 2021, Krauss announced she was releasing a sequel album to "Raising Sand" with Robert Plant called "Raise the Roof". In addition to the album, Krauss and Plant are planning a 2022 tour.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss has made guest appearances on other records on lead vocals, harmony vocals, and fiddle. In 1987, at the age of 15, she played fiddle on the album "The Western Illinois Rag" by Americana musician Chris Vallillo. In 1993 she recorded vocals for the Phish song "If I Could" in Los Angeles. In 1997 she sang harmony vocals in both English and Irish on the album "Runaway Sunday" by Irish traditional band Altan. In 1998 she played and sang on the title track of Hawaiian slack-key artist Ledward Kaapana's album, "Waltz of the Wind".


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss had her only number one hit in 2000, receiving vocal credit for "Buy Me a Rose". She has contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks, most notably "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000). She and Dan Tyminski contributed multiple tracks, including "I'll Fly Away" (with Gillian Welch), "Down to the River to Pray", and "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow". In the film, Tyminski's vocals on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" were used for George Clooney's character. The soundtrack sold over seven million copies and won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002. Both Krauss and the surprisingly popular album were credited with reviving interest in bluegrass. She has said, however, that she believes Americans already liked bluegrass and other less-heard musical genres, and that the film merely provided easy exposure to the music. She did not appear in the movie, at her own request, because she was pregnant during its filming.


title: Alison Krauss

text: In 2007, Krauss released "," an album of new songs, soundtrack tunes, and duets with artists such as John Waite, James Taylor, Brad Paisley, and Natalie MacMaster. The album was successful commercially but given a lukewarm reception by critics. One of the tracks, "Missing You", a duet with Waite (and a cover of his hit single from 1984), was similarly received as a single. On August 11, television network Great American Country aired a one-hour special, "Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More", based on the album.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss appeared on Heart's March 2010 concert DVD "Night at Sky Church", providing the lead vocals for the song "These Dreams".


title: Alison Krauss

text: Other soundtracks for which Krauss has performed include "Twister", "The Prince of Egypt", "Eight Crazy Nights", "Mona Lisa Smile", "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood", "Alias", "Bambi II" and "Cold Mountain". She contributed "Jubilee" to the 2004 documentary "Paper Clips". The "Cold Mountain" songs she sang, "The Scarlet Tide" with T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello, and "You Will Be My Ain True Love" with Sting, were each nominated for an Academy Award. She performed both songs at the 76th Academy Awards, the first with Costello and Burnett, and the other with Sting. She produced Nickel Creek's debut album (2000) and the follow-up "This Side" (2002), which won Krauss her first Grammy award as a producer.


title: Alison Krauss

text: She participated in Billy Childs' 2014 tribute album to Laura Nyro, "Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro", performing on the track "And When I Die".


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss also appears on Def Leppard's twelfth studio album, "Diamond Star Halos", released March 2022, as a featured vocalist on the songs "This Guitar" and "Lifeless".


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss' earliest musical experience was as an instrumentalist, though her style has grown to focus more on her vocals with a band providing most of the instrumentation. Musicians she enjoys include vocalists Lou Gramm of Foreigner and Paul Rodgers of Bad Company. Krauss' family listened to "folk records" while she was growing up, but she had friends who exposed her to groups such as AC/DC, Carly Simon, the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and ELO. She cites Dolly Parton, with whom she has since collaborated a number of times, as a major influence. Some credit Krauss and Union Station, at least partially, with a recent revival of interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Despite being together for nearly two decades and winning numerous awards, she said the group was "just beginning right now" (in 2002) because "in spite of all the great things that have happened for the band, [she] feel[s] musically it's just really beginning". Although she alternates between solo releases and works with the band, she has said there is no difference in her involvement between the two.


title: Alison Krauss

text: As a group, AKUS have been called "American favourites", "world-beaters", and "the tightest band around". While they have been successful as a group, many reviews note Krauss still "remains the undisputed star and rock-solid foundation" and have described her as the "band's focus" with an "angelic" voice that "flows like honey". Her work has been compared to that of the Cox Family, Bill Monroe, and Del McCoury, and has in turn been credited with influencing various "Newgrass" artists including Nickel Creek, for which she acted as record producer on two of their albums. In addition to her work with Nickel Creek, she has acted as producer to the Cox Family, Reba McEntire and Alan Jackson. Adam Sweeting of "The Guardian" has said Krauss and Union Station are "superb, when they stick to hoedowns and hillbilly music, but much less convincing, when they lurch towards the middle of the road". "Blender magazine" has said the "flavorless repertoire [Krauss] sings... steers her toward Lite FM". In addition, "Q" magazine and "The Onion" AV Club have said their newer releases are "pretty much the usual", and that although Krauss is generally "adventurous", these recent releases contain nothing to "alienate the masses".


title: Alison Krauss

text: She has said her musical influences include J. D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, and Tony Rice. Many of her songs are described as sad, and are often about love, especially lost love. Though Krauss has a close involvement with her group and a long career in music, she rarely performs music she has written herself. She has also described her general approach to constructing an album as starting with a single song and selecting other tracks based on the first, to give the final album a somewhat consistent theme and mood. She most commonly performs in the bluegrass and country genres, though she has had two songs on the adult contemporary charts, has worked with rock artists such as Phish and Sting, and is sometimes said to stray into pop music.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss did not think she would make music videos at the beginning of her career. After recording her first she was convinced it was so bad that she would never do another. Nonetheless, she has continued to make further videos. Many of the first videos she saw were by bluegrass artists. Dan Tyminski has noted that the video for "Thriller" was very popular at the time she was first exposed to music videos. She has made suggestions on the style or theme to some videos, though she tends to leave such decisions to the director of the particular video. The group chooses directors by seeking out people who have previously directed videos that band members have enjoyed. The director for a video to "If I Didn't Know Any Better" from "Lonely Runs Both Ways", for example, was selected because Krauss enjoyed work he had done with Def Leppard and, she wondered, what he could do with their music. While style decisions are generally left to the various directors of the videos, many – including for "The Lucky One", "Restless", "Goodbye is All We Have", "New Favorite", and "If I Didn't Know Any Better" – follow a pattern. In all of these videos Krauss walks, sometimes interacting with other people, while the rest of the band follows her.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss has said she used to dislike working in the studio, where she had to perform the same song repeatedly, but has come to like studio work roughly the same as live stage performances. Her own favorite concert experiences include watching three Foreigner concerts during a single tour, a Dolly Parton concert, and a Larry Sparks concert.


title: Alison Krauss

text: She appeared on "Austin City Limits" in 1992 and opened the show in 1995 with Union Station. The "New Favorite" tour, after AKUS' album of the same name, was planned to start September 12, 2001 in Cincinnati, Ohio, but was delayed until September 28 in Savannah, Georgia following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Krauss took part in the "Down from the Mountain" tour in 2002, which featured many artists from the "O Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack. "Down from the Mountain" was followed by the "Great High Mountain Tour", which was composed of musicians from both "O Brother" and "Cold Mountain", including Krauss. She has also given several notable smaller performances including at Carnegie Hall (with the Grand Ole Opry), on Lifetime Television in a concert of female performers, on the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion", where she sang two songs not previously recorded on any of her albums, and a performance at the White House attended by then-President Bill Clinton and then-Vice President Al Gore. She has also been in the White House again, performing the song "When You Say Nothing at All" at country music performances. She also performed a tribute to the Everly Brothers at which she sang "All I Have to Do is Dream" with Emmylou Harris and "When Will I Be Loved" with Vince Gill. She was also invited by Taylor Swift to perform with her at the 2013 CMA's and by Joshua Bell to perform with him on a Christmas album; Bell said that "she (Krauss) is someone I've adored for so many years now". She performed at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. on January 10, 2015, as a part of "The Life and Songs of Emmylou Harris: An All Star Concert Celebration" which is a tribute to Emmylou Harris.


title: Alison Krauss

text: Krauss has won twenty-seven Grammy Awards over the course of her career as a solo artist, as a group with Union Station, as a duet with Robert Plant, and as a record producer. As of 2021, she ranks fourth on the list of winners of the most Grammy Awards. She overtook Aretha Franklin for the most female wins at the 46th Grammy Awards, where Krauss won three, bringing her total at the time to seventeen (Franklin won her sixteenth that night). The Recording Academy (which presents the Grammy Awards) presented her with a special musical achievement honor in 2005. She has also won 14 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, 9 Country Music Association Awards, 2 Gospel Music Association Awards, 2 CMT Music Awards, 2 Academy of Country Music Awards, and 1 Canadian Country Music Award. Country Music Television ranked Krauss 12th on their "40 Greatest Women of Country Music" list in 2002.


title: Alison Krauss

text: At the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004, where she performed two nominated songs from the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack, Krauss was chosen by Hollywood shoe designer Stuart Weitzman to wear a pair of $2 million 'Cinderella' sandals with 4½ inch clear glass stiletto heels and two straps adorned with 565 Kwiat diamonds set in platinum. Feeling like a rather unglamorous choice, Krauss said, "When I first heard, I was like, 'What were they thinking?' I have the worst feet of anybody who will be there that night!" In addition to the fairy-tale-inspired shoes, Weitzman outfitted Krauss with a Palm Trēo 600 smartphone, bejeweled with 3,000 clear-and-topaz-colored Swarovski crystals. The shoes were returned, but Krauss kept the crystal-covered phone. Weitzman chose Krauss to show off his fashions at the urging of his daughters, who are fans of Krauss' music.


title: Alison Krauss

text: In March 2015, her hometown of Champaign, Illinois, designated the 400 block of West Hill Street as "Honorary Alison Krauss Way".


title: Jon Heder

text: Jonathan Joseph Heder (; born October 26, 1977) is an American actor, best known for his role as the title character of the 2004 comedy film "Napoleon Dynamite". He has also appeared in the films "Just Like Heaven", "The Benchwarmers", "School for Scoundrels", "Blades of Glory", "Mama's Boy", "When in Rome", and as Roy Disney in "Walt Before Mickey". He also provided voice work for the animated films "Monster House", "Surf's Up", and "Pinocchio", as well as the "Napoleon Dynamite" animated series.


title: Jon Heder

text: Heder was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, the son of Helen (née Brammer) and physician James Heder. He has an identical twin brother, Dan; an older sister, Rachel; an older brother, Doug; and two younger brothers, Adam and Matt. He is of Swedish descent, and is a nephew by marriage of former NFL player Vai Sikahema. When he was about two years old, he and his parents moved to Salem, Oregon. He attended Walker Middle School in Salem and graduated from South Salem High School in 1996, where he was a member of the swim team and drama club. He is also an Eagle Scout, and served as a Scoutmaster in 2010.


title: Jon Heder

text: A 2002 alumnus of Brigham Young University, Heder worked on the short animated film "Pet Shop". When his acting career gained traction, he did not return to complete the work he had started on the short, though his name still appears in the credits. While attending BYU, he befriended Jared Hess and starred in Hess' short film "Peluca", which was later expanded into "Napoleon Dynamite".


title: Jon Heder

text: The comedy feature "Napoleon Dynamite", filmed in Preston, Idaho, earned $44.5 million. In June 2005, Heder received the MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance and Breakthrough Male Performance for the role. On October 8, 2005, he hosted "Saturday Night Live" with musical guest Ashlee Simpson. Heder and his film co-star Efren Ramirez then filmed a series of commercials to promote the 2015 Utah State Fair, and reprised their roles in a self-parody sketch, "Napoleon Bonamite", on the animated series "Robot Chicken".