Introducing Kaunas
Kaunas has a reputation as a sprawling urban city and a hotbed of post-Soviet mafia. Think again. This vibrant city, the second largest in Lithuania, is a thriving cultural and industrial centre with an interesting Old Town.
Legend has it that Kaunas, 100km west of Vilnius at the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris Rivers, was founded by the son of tragic young lovers. Beautiful maiden Milda let the Holy Eternal Flame go out while caring for her lover Daugerutis. They were sentenced to death by vengeful gods, thus they fled to a cave and gave birth to Kaunas.
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Two women talking in the rain under an animal print umbrella on Laisves aleja or Freedom Avenue, new town Kaunas, with St Michael the Archangel's Church marking the end of the pedestrian only street.
- Brent Winebrenner
- Lonely Planet photographer
