Must see attractions in Kaunas

Lithuania's dark 20th-century history is poignantly told here, 7km north of Kaunas. Begin in the sombre, church-like gallery with striking stained glass…

One of Lithuania's oldest and grandest galleries, Kaunas' leading art museum (founded 1921) is the place to acquaint yourself with the dreamlike paintings…

Kaunas-based Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara (1900–86) saved around 6000 Jewish lives between 1939 and 1940, issuing transit visas to stranded Polish…

This museum is devoted to the Devil, Lucifer, Satan, the fallen angel, the seducer, the cajoler, with over 3000 statuettes, carvings, masks and other…

Artist Vytenis Jakas moved into this courtyard over a decade ago and turned it into an ever-evolving art project, creating murals and transferring onto…

Built in 1871, the only functioning synagogue of those that survived since 1941, and one of the few remnants of Kaunas' once-strong Jewish community, this…

Built by Camaldolese monks in the 17th century, this striking baroque monastery lies 9km east of central Kaunas, on a promontory jutting into the Kauno…

With ornate arches and turrets rippling from its brick facade, this late-15th-century mansion is a treasure of Kaunas' late-Gothic architecture. Built by…

This small memorial in the courtyard marks the spot where, on June 27, 1941, during the first days of the Nazi occupation of the city, Lithuanian …

The open-air museum consists of re-created 18th- and 19th-century villages representing Lithuania’s main regions (Dzūkija, Aukštaitija, Suvalkija,…

Old Town's tallest tower (53m) rises from Kaunas' Town Hall, an elegant white layer-cake of a building. Built in the mid-16th century, the hall has served…

This branch of the many-tentacled Čiurlionis museum exhibits works by 20th-century Lithuanian artists, including a particularly poignant Lithuania In…

The Soviets turned this blue-domed neo-Byzantine church, which fills the sky so dramatically at the eastern end of Laisvės alėja, into a stained-glass…

Even travellers unenthused by turn-of-the-20th-century literature will be enchanted by this museum dedicated to Lithuanian luminary Maironis (aka Jonas…

There's an austerity, symmetry and simplicity to this white-washed concrete cathedral, built over a period of 70 years from 1934 onwards, though its…

The southern side of Rotušės aikštė is dominated by rosy-pink late-Baroque facade of the St Francis Xavier Church, college and Jesuit monastery complex…

Known in full as Vytautas the Great Church of the Accession of the Holy Virgin Mary, this red-brick church is one of the oldest in Kaunas. Built by…

This museum shows that almost any raw material can be turned into a musical instrument. Housed in a 16th-century Gothic house, the wonderful 7000-piece…

Dating back to the 1930s, this fun museum details the progress of medical science in Lithuania over the centuries. There are also expositions on…

This art museum on three floors is based on the private collection of Mykolas Žilinskas, but is now operated by the National Čiurlionis Art Museum. The…