Kaunas City Day ( Kaunas days ) is celebrated in May. The festival dedicated to this event lasts three days and is accompanied by many recreational and cultural events.
Kaunas was founded in 1280 at the confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers Nemunas and Neris. From the 17th century, the ruins of Kaunas Castle reached us, from the 17-18th centuries — beautiful buildings of the old city.
Kaunas — a city in Lithuania with very old and established cultural traditions. This place has given the country entire generations of Lithuanian artists, composers and writers. Their works are presented in numerous museums and galleries: M. Art Gallery. Zilinskas, Museum of Lithuanian Literature named after Myronis. Of great interest are the Museum of Ceramics, the Museum of Folk Music, the Museum of Medicine and Pharmaceuticals, the Vitautas the Great Military Museum and others.
In addition, Kaunas — is one of the ancient centers of art crafts: the production of knitted wool products, objects of embossed leather, wood and stone, art ceramics. In this regard, the Museum of Public Life is of great interest.
The first known mention of the city dates back to 1361. In modern Kaunas, one can also meet the remnants of the ancient fortress, belonging to the 13th and 16th centuries, when Lithuanians repeatedly had to repel the attacks of the Tevton knights.
The old city, picturesquely located at the confluence of two rivers, is an amazing combination of archeology, architecture and history. The buildings of the Gothic style include Kaunas Castle ( 13-17th centuries ), Pyarkunas House ( end 15-16th century ) — is one of the largest Gothic buildings in Lithuania. Palace of the princes of Masalsky — creation of the Renaissance. In the Baroque style, the Kamaldolian monastery in Pajayslis ( one of the most beautiful creations of this type in Northern Europe ), the city hall, the Jesuit church were built.
The uprising of 1831 greatly changed the policy of the empire to the Catholic Church. No new Orthodox churches were built in the city, instead, Catholic churches confiscated or abandoned after the 1812 war were redone. The city then consisted only of its old part ( modern Old Town ), so all the temples were located close to each other. The decoration of temples, icons are also often « borrowed from » from Catholics, which imposed a certain « western » print.
As the city develops and the station and the district « New Plan », new Orthodox churches begin to appear. The construction of the Kovensk fortress left a strong imprint not only on the development of the city itself, but also on the number of Orthodox churches in it.
At the beginning of the 20th century, more than half of the temples of the city were garrison. New temples were created in the places of deployment of troops ( military camps ) and initially existed as house churches, subsequently, wooden or stone outbuildings were built by the efforts of the military. With very small means, the military created interesting architectural compositions. The simplicity of regimental temples was more than compensated by the Cathedral erected in the very center of the new city in the name of Saints Peter and Paul — the central cathedral of the fortress.