Pažaislis monastery and church form the largest monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 complex in 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...

, and the most magnificent example of Italian baroque architecture

Baroque architecture

Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

 in the country. It is situated in the Petrašiūnai elderate of Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...

, Lithuania, on a peninsula in the Kaunas Reservoir  near the Kaunas Yacht Club.

History

Founded in 1662 by the Grand Duchy of Lithania Great Chancellor

Kanclerz

Kanclerz was one of the highest officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. A respective office also existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 16th...

 Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac

Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac

Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac was the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.He was the brother of Michał Kazimierz Pac, the Great Lithuanian Hetman who sponsored St Peter and St Paul's Church in Vilnius, a masterpiece of Baroque architecture. After their deaths, the influence of the Pac family...

 for the Order of the Camaldolese

Camaldolese

The Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities which follow the way of life outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the 6th century...

 Hermit

Hermit

A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...

s, the main construction continued until 1674 and resumed in 1712. The church was designed by Pietro Puttini, Carlo and Pietro Puttini, and Giovanni Battista Frediani. In 1755 the addition of the towers and the dome was funded by the king's chamberlain Michał Jan Pac.

In 1832 the church was closed by the Russian authorities and later converted into an Orthodox church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

. The author of the Imperial Russian national anthem God Save the Tsar, Alexei Lvov, was interred there in 1870. After 1920 the ruined church returned to Roman Catholics and was restored by sisters of the Lithuanian convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

 of St. Casimir. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 authorities converted the church and monastery into an archive, a psychiatric hospital

Psychiatric hospital

Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...

 and finally an art gallery

Art gallery

An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...

 (in 1966). In 1990s the complex was returned to the nuns of the convent and reconstruction work began.

Music festival

Today the monastery is home to the annual international Pažaislis Music Festival. It was started in 1996 and now lasts for three summer months and offers about 30 different concerts. The festival was visited by Lord Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...

 twice. It features classical music of diverse genres and styles, ranging from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

 to ABBA

ABBA

ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...

 classics. To some concerts admission is free, to most it is very affordable (6-10 litas

Lithuanian litas

The Lithuanian litas is the currency of Lithuania. It is divided into 100 centų...

 or 2-3 United States dollar

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

s). Other concerts have taken place in many different venues across Lithuania, such as the Kaunas Castle

Kaunas Castle

Kaunas Castle is located in Kaunas, Lithuania. Archeological evidence suggests that it was originally built during the mid-14th century, in the Gothic style. Its site is strategic – a rise on the banks of the Nemunas River near its confluence with the Neris River...

, Klaipėda University

Klaipeda University

- Overview :The University was formally founded on January 1, 1991 by a decree of Seimas . The new university incorporated existing institutions of higher education in the city. At its inception, it comprised 3,000 students and three faculties...

, and even the Pociūnai Airport

Pociunai Airport

Pociūnai Airport , also known as Prienai Airport or Prienai Pociūnai Airport, is an aerodrome and a small airport located in Ašminta elderate of Kaunas district municipality, Lithuania; 38 km south of the Kaunas centre...

.

External links

• Laima Sinkunaite, The Pazaislis Monastery — A Baroque Pearl in Bridges journal, March 1999.
• Pažaislis Music Festival Official website.