TT Ya probably know the stories of many tunnels under Vilnius?
Vilnius has much more vaults than anybody can imagine. Some of the underground galleries and tunnels make entire labyrinths. Basements were set underground for the reasons of war – mainly for the prisoners, military ammunition was put there, food resources kept – it was also a place for hiding from the enemies. Of course, most of them were used for burying. Municipal government used to build not only the entire arsenals, but also particular prisons where the prisoners – townspeople were kept. Vaults were of a big importance during the Russian occupation in Lithuania – it was a place for secret organizations to establish. They kept Lithuanian word, they hid Lithuanian books there.
one such story is the Ghost in the Jacobin cellars
Large labyrinth-like cellars are there under the church of the Holy Spirit and the monastery. In 1863, the Cruel Murovjov-Korik came to Vilnius and ordered the watch of those cellars for a reason not known. It was done independent of the fact that basements located only rotten coffins with bones of people. Guardians were put to watch the doors all day long. One day, the city heard of news – a ghost haunted in the basement of the Jacobin church. As ever in such cases, the news with various accompaniments and elaborations spread among the townspeople. The cause of this sensation was found only later.
It seems that one of the Jacobin church cellars has a hole of an oblong form. The day light or the light from street lanterns breaks through the gap and falls on the front wall. The shadow makes a form of a person, similar to a spirit. The
spirit seems like moving, especially at night when wind is swinging the street lamp. We must observe that all Vilnius prisons were chock-full of supposed prisoners during the Russian occupation and Jacobin, Friar, Bernardine and other monasteries were converted into prisons when no space was left in other places. It is true to say that the Jacobin monastery was exceptional – it was the most savage prison with a room for inquisition commission. Material from the book Vilniaus legendos, 1998
The cache of defensive wall
The defensive devise in the hill of the Tower was proclaimed diversely in the 19th c. – it was a fortress, tower with underground basements, cache or barbican. More interest for the catacombs was expressed in the beginning of 20th century.
Some people thought the remnants belong to Vilnius Kreivoji Castle (hooked) walls, built in 12th-14th century. Others stated that the tower was built together with the catacombs in 15th-16th centuries or even 17th century and they suppose it was a warehouse for the townspeople ammunition. City men spread talks that Tower hill basements lead to Vilnius Castle, and from there – to Trakai Castle. In 1856, the historian T.Narbutas wrote in his personal works: „We remember the times when the hole to the catacombs, although mured up a couple of times, was knocked down by obscure hands”. It is also told that water in the underground was red from the battles with the Crusaders who attacked the hill many times.
Now the tower complex is comprised of three parts: underground premises for the gunnery, overground tower and the connecting corridor-tunnel. These elements surround the hill and together with the half-bended façade for gunnery, form an extraordinary silhouette of the Tower hill. It is well seen from Vilnius Valley in the north and from the Gediminas Castle.
The underground caves of Cathedral
Vilnius Cathedral is standing on the remnants of Temple for God of Thunder, former foundations of the fi replace. Earlier, the temple of the capital city had extremely deep underground, caves, secret entrances and chapels forgotten long ago.
In 1931, the city experienced flood which painfully aff ected the foundations, it invaded the chapels, washed coffi ns of the kings. Vilnius townsmen understood the danger to the sanctuary and saw its decay in their eyes. The foundations of Cathedral started sinking and their dangerous imparity comprised.
After the flood, underground resembled a huge lake with niches. Firefighters of the city started rescuing works with the water pumps. In places where water was pumped out – openings appeared. When the remaining waters were eliminated and the entrance to the undergrounds was unclosed – the engineers, architects and geologist of Vilnius city soon came in to observe the situation. They confi rmed that Cathedral is barely standing on the rotten wooden poles. Specialists claimed about the inevitable collapse of the building. After examination of the building structure, it came to light that long ago the temple was built on a low waterlogged mud base and water streams percolated from it. At that time, vertical logs and posts were piled into the ground to firm the foundation of the temple and builders believed such piles will maintain Cathedral for ages. T
hey thought that no air shall protrude to the posts, water-saturated oak posts shall get black, harden and provide steadfast mass to the foundations. However, temple constructors were wrong. In the course of time, underground posts were aff ected by air, moisture and must. Posts started getting rotten, oaken posts decayed. Moreover, a spring started running in the foundations of the Cathedral. Later on, it burst into the brook and got a name of Kačerga. Theretofore it trickled above the undergrounds and was known as the stream of Vingra which ran into the streamlet by the name Vilnelė. But later water infiltrated under the base, under the posts, which were very short, only one and a half metres long at some places. In other words, the brook started destroying the foundation.
Findings After the flood, a decision was made to change the existing foundations with ferroconcrete, stronger. Apropos, city specialists resolved to explore the foundations of Cathedral in more detail and check the historical knowledge. Excavation started.In September, 1931, three coffins of kings were found besides the great altar of Cathedral – they belonged to Aleksandras Jogailaitis (1492-1506) and both wives of the King Žygimantas Augustas: Queen Elizabeth the Austrian and Barbora Radvilaitė. It was stated that the crypt was unclosed from the beginning of 17th century because of an attentive covering. The crypt of the kings was found during the investigation of fundamental plan of basilica, therefore the biggest part of the fl oor is dug down.
An experienced eye of the architect Pekša noticed extraordinary stonework. It meant that arches can be found under the stone works, or maybe caves, vaults or basements. Researchers already wanted to load the works with soil, but curiosity of the architect prevented it. A spade was stroke into the arch and an echo greeted – workers found the place for burying.The King Aleksandras had a luxurious golden crown dated back to the beginning of the 15th century. More precisely – it was a burying crown with clear features of the 16th century beginning. The Queen Elizabeth was buried witha golden chain, burying crown and silver plate with a long note in Latin, probably signifying the titles and merits of the queen. Best preserved was the coffi n of the Queen Barbora Radvilaitė – it was similar to the sarcophagus. The same plate with Polish, Lithuanian and Radvila family coats of arms, Latin characters and analogous data about the Queen was found with her too.
Much history My friend is hidden out of sight underground. However one must sort of WW1 , WW2 ans Cold War Tunnel from the ancient to find ant relic of Napoleons treasure.
Crow
