Gediminas Avenue is the main street of Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, where most of the governmental institutions of Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 are concentrated, including the government, parliament

Seimas

The Seimas is the unicameral Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...

, Constitutional Court

Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania is a special court established by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania of 1992; it began the activities after the adoption of the Law on Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania on February 3, 1993...

 and ministries. It is also the place of cultural institutions such as Lithuanian National Drama Theatre

Lithuanian National Drama Theatre

Lithuanian National Drama Theatre , located on Gediminas Avenue in Vilnius, is one of the biggest theatres in Lithuania. Since its establishment in 1940, it has staged over 200 performances. The theatre's current repertoire mixes classical and modern theatre Lithuanian National Drama Theatre ,...

, Bank of Lithuania

Bank of Lithuania

The Bank of Lithuania is the central bank of the Republic of Lithuania. The Bank of Lithuania is a non-Eurozone member of the European System of Central Banks...

, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre

Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre

The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts.-History:...

 and Martynas Mažvydas National Library Nowadays it is also a popular shopping and dining street. It is partially a pedestrian street in the evenings when the traffic is prohibited.

Named after the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas, the street terminates at the Žvėrynas Bridge over the Neris River near Seimas Palace

Seimas Palace

Seimas Palace is the Lithuanian parliament named Seimas seat in Lithuania's capital Vilnius. Works on the construction of the first wing of palace were carried out in 1976. The Construction was supervised by architects Algimantas Nasvytis and Vytautas Nasvytis. In 1980 9717,37 square meters palace...

 on one end and at the Cathedral Square

Cathedral Square in Vilnius

The Cathedral Square in Vilnius is the main square of the city's downtown, right in front of the neo-classical Vilnius Cathedral. It is a key location in city's public life, situated as it is at the crossing of the city's main streets and reflecting the city's diversity...

 and Vilnius Castle Complex

Vilnius Castle Complex

The Vilnius Castle Complex , is a group of cultural, and historic structures on the left bank of the Neris River, near its confluence with the Vilnia River, in Vilnius, Lithuania. The buildings, which evolved between the 10th and 18th centuries, were one of Lithuania's major defensive...

 on the other, passing the Lukiškės Square

Lukiškes Square

Lukiškės Square is the largest square in Vilnius, Lithuania, located in the center of the city. A major street in Vilnius, Gediminas Avenue, passes by the southern border of the square...

. It connects the Old Town

Vilnius Old Town

The Old Town of Vilnius , one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in Northern Europe, has an area of 3.59 square kilometres . It encompasses 74 quarters, with 70 streets and lanes numbering 1487 buildings with a total floor area of 1,497,000 square meters...

 with Žvėrynas

Žverynas

Žvėrynas is one of the older neighborhoods and smallest elderships in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to the 2001 census, about 12,000 people live within a 2.6 km² area. It lies on the banks of the Neris River, and is situated to the west of the Lithuanian Parliament building. The river surrounds it...

.

History

The street, built in 1836, was initially known as St. George Avenue, Mickiewicz

Adam Mickiewicz

Adam Bernard Mickiewicz ) was a Polish poet, publisher and political writer of the Romantic period. One of the primary representatives of the Polish Romanticism era, a national poet of Poland, he is seen as one of Poland's Three Bards and the greatest poet in all of Polish literature...

 Street , when Vilnius was under Polish rule (1922–1939) and Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 Street during the Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 occupation. At the beginning of the Soviet occupation in 1940 it was called Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

 Avenue, later renamed Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

 Avenue. The avenue carries its present name from 1939 to 1940 and since 1989.

A portion of the avenue from the Vilnius Cathedral

Vilnius Cathedral

The Cathedral of Vilnius is the main Roman Catholic Cathedral of Lithuania.It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off of Cathedral Square. It is the heart of Lithuania's Catholic spiritual life....

 to Vincas Kudirka

Vincas Kudirka

Vincas Kudirka was a Lithuanian poet and physician, and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian National Anthem, Tautiška giesmė. He is regarded in Lithuania as a National Hero. Kudirka used pen names - V...

 Square was thoroughly reconstructed before the celebration of 750th anniversary of Mindaugas

Mindaugas

Mindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians...

' coronation in 2003. The reconstructions included building an underground parking facility – the first such in Lithuania - under the Municipality Square and renovation of all kinds of pipelines and communication cables under the street. Over 100 new trees were planted. During the excavations a few archaeological findings were found and are now on display in the parking garage. The reconstruction continues to other sections of the avenue and was completed in 2009.

See also

• Former Jabłkowski Brothers department store in Mickiewicz Street in Vilnius