Holy Spirit Orthodox Church (Vilnius)
The Holy Spirit Church in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius is a Russian Orthodox church . It is to be distinguished from the Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit .
In the place of today's church there was already a small wooden church, which was built in 1638 in the form of a Latin cross. The church had a convent that opened in 1567. After a fire, the church was rebuilt from 1749 under the important Wilna architect Johann Christoph Glaubitz . Unusually for an Orthodox church, it shows itself in Baroque and Rococo forms , the interior design therefore lasted from 1749 to 1753. Even if smaller Neo-Byzantine elements were added in the 19th century , the splendid Baroque forms remained predominant. Both the frescoes and the altar-like iconostasis made of wood and the dome enhance the splendor, due to the strong blue and green coloring. The stucco marble sculptures are also atypical for Orthodox churches. A new reliquary was created in 1853.
In the crypt there are Saints Jonas, Eustachius and Antanas. A peculiarity of the congregation is that these saints are dressed in white at Christmas, black during Lent and red on other high religious holidays. On June 26th they will be shown completely undressed.
The church is not only the most important Orthodox church in Lithuania, but also the monastery church of two monasteries: the monastery of the Holy Spirit and the nunnery of St. Mary Magdalene . These two monasteries are also the only remaining Orthodox monasteries in the country.
Web links
- Vilnius tourism site (English)
- inyourpocket.com (English)
Coordinates: 54 ° 40 ′ 31.5 ″ N , 25 ° 17 ′ 27 ″ E