Distance
from Vilnius - 102 km. Kaunas is the second largest industrial, scientific
and cultural centre of Lithuania. Kaunas is also a university town.
One of Kaunas architectural attractions, its Town Hall, and impressive
white building with a tower 53 meters high, built in the 16th century in the
Gothic style with baroque elements, is populary known as the White Swan. Other
splendid architectural monuments to be found in the vicinity of the Town Hall
Square include the St. George Church ensemble dating back to the 16th century,
Vytautas Church (15th century), the Cathedral, Lithuania's largest house of
worship, and the Perkunas House, one of the most exquisite examples of late
Gothic architecture in Lithuania. The Picture Gallery, one of the largest in
Lithuania, has over 800 works in its collection, including paintings by Rubens,
Raphael, Rembrandt, Goya, Murillo, Velasques and other masters. Among
the museums in Kaunas, mention should be made of Ceramics Museum, Literary
Museum, Zoology Museum, but the most popular is, without doubt, the State Art
Museum named after M.K. Ciurlionis, the famous Lithuanian painter and composer.
Alongside the works by M.K. Ciurlionis, the Museum boasts a large collection of
Lithuanian, Russian and West European paintings and applied art of the 16th -
20th centuries.
