Known in full as the Cathedral of St Stanislav and St Vladislav, this national symbol occupies a spot originally used for the worship of Perkūnas, the Lithuanian thunder god. Seventeenth-century St Casimir’s Chapel, with its a baroque cupola, coloured marble and frescoes of the saint's life, is the showpiece, while the crypts (10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday, adult/child €4.50/2.50) are the final resting place of many prominent Lithuanians, including Vytautas the Great (1350–1430). The website has details of Mass.
The first wooden cathedral was built here in 1387–88; after several episodes of destruction and reconstruction, the present classical edifice was erected – following the original Gothic floor-plan and incorporating St Casimir's and the Valavičius family chapels – in the late 18th century. From 1950 the Soviets used the cathedral as a warehouse, gallery and concert venue, before its reconsecration in 1989.
