Timeline of Vilnius

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Vilnius, Lithuania.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 17th century

• 1323
  • Gediminas relocates Lithuanian capital to Vilnius from Trakai.^[1]
  • Castle on Gediminas Hill expanded.
• 1330 – Coat of arms of Vilnius granted.
• 1345 – Pyatnitzkaya Church built.^[2]
• 1348 – Cathedral of the Theotokos built.
• 1387
  • Magdeburg rights granted.
  • St. Nicholas Church built.
• 1397 – Cathedral School active (approximate date).
• 1409 – Gediminas' Tower built.
• 1413 – City becomes capital of the newly formed Vilnius Voivodeship by the Union of Horodło.
• 1426 – Church of St. John built.^[2]
• 1469 – Church of Saints Bernard and Francis founded.^[2]
• 1500 – St. Anne's Church consecrated.
• 1501 – First mentions of Armenians in the city.^[3]
• 1522
  • City walls and Gate of Dawn built.
  • Francysk Skaryna sets up printing press.
• 1555 – Lutheran Church built on Nyemetzkaya Street.^[2]
• 1557 – Vilnius Cathedral rebuilt.
• 1560 – St. Paraskeva Church rebuilt.

Late-16th-century view of the city

• 1570 – Jesuit library established.
• 1572 – Synagogue built.
• 1579 – Alma Academia et Universitas Vilnensis Societatis Iesu founded.
• 1588 – Plague.^[1]
• 1597 – Monastery of the Holy Ghost founded.^[2]

17th-18th centuries

• 1610 – Fire.^[1]
• 1626 – Church of St. Theresa founded.^[2]
• 1630 – All Saints Church built.
• 1633 – Great Synagogue built.
• 1644 – Biblioteca Sapehana willed to Vilnia University.^[4]
• 1653 – Radziwill Palace built.
• 1655 – July: Battle of Vilnius; Russians in power.^[1]
• 1656 – Town becomes part of Russia.^[1]
• 1658 – Battle of Werki.
• 1697 – Sapieha Palace built.
• 1701 – St. Peter and St. Paul's Church built.
• 1702 – Swedes in power.^[1]
• 1710 – Plague.
• 1739 – Green Bridge constructed.
• 1749 – Divine Mercy Sanctuary built.
• 1778 – Lithuanian 5th Infantry Regiment relocated from Pińsk to Wilno.^[5]
• 1779 – 5th Infantry Regiment relocated from Wilno to Mścibów.^[5]
• 1781 – University Botanical Garden established.
• 1783 – 5th Infantry Regiment relocated from Mścibów back to Wilno.^[5]
• 1787 – Lithuanian 4th Infantry Regiment stationed in Wilno.^[5]
• 1788 – Russians in power.^[1]
• 1790
  • 4th Infantry Regiment relocated from Wilno to Borysów.^[5]
  • Lithuanian 3rd Infantry Regiment relocated from Kowno to Wilno.^[5]
• 1791
  • Lithuanian 3rd Infantry Regiment relocated from Wilno back to Kowno.^[5]
  • Lithuanian 7th Infantry Regiment stationed in Wilno.^[6]
• 1794 – Vilnius Uprising.
• 1795
  • Town becomes part of Russia, and capital of Vilna Governorate.
  • St. Paraskeva Church rebuilt.
• 1799
  • Town Hall rebuilt.
  • Romm publishing house relocates to Vilnius.

19th century

• 1801
  • Rasos Cemetery consecrated.
  • Royal Palace demolished.
• 1809 – Antakalnis Cemetery established.
• 1810 – Bernardine Cemetery established.
• 1812
  • Napoleon uses the city as a military base.^[7]
  • Vilnian National Guard formed.
  • 5 July: 3rd Light Cavalry Regiment of the Polish Guards founded in Wilno.^[8]
  • 22 September: Polish 21st Mounted Rifles Regiment founded in Wilno.^[9]
• 1823 – Population: 20,900.^[10]
• 1825 – Tuskulenai Manor built.
• 1828 – Jewish cemetery established in Uzupis (approximate date).
• 1831 – Uprising.^[1]
• 1832 – University closed.^[1]
• 1834 – Presidential Palace renovated.
• 1836 – St. George Avenue laid out.
• 1845 – Theatre opens.^[2]
• 1852 – Central Archive of Early Register Books established.^[11]
• 1855 – Museum of Antiquities established.
• 1856 – Public library established.^[12]
• 1861 – Demonstration against Russian Empire.
• 1863 – Uprising against Russian Empire.
• 1866 – St. Nicholas Orthodox Church reconsecrated.
• 1867 – Pretchistenski Cathedral rebuilt.^[2]
• 1881 – Population: 89,560.^[13]
• 1883 – Population: 93,760.^[1]
• 1897 – Jewish Labor Bund founded in Vilnius.^[14]
• 1898 – St. Alexander Nevsky Church and District Court built.^[2]
• 1900 – Population: 162,633.^[1]

20th century

• 1901 – Kaziukas Fair relocates to Place Lukiskim.
• 1903 – Power Plant, Choral Synagogue and Our Lady of the Sign Church built.
• 1904 – Lukiškės Prison built.
• 1905 – December: Great Seimas of Vilnius held.
• 1906
  • Society of Friends of Science organized.
  • Vileišis Palace built.
• 1907 – Lithuanian Art Society founded.^[15]
• 1911 – St. Casimir Church, Naujoji Vilnia built.
• 1913
  • Orthodox Church of St. Michael and St. Constantine built.
  • Population: 204,290.^[16]
• 1915
  • 19 September: Germans in power.^[17]
  • City becomes capital of Lithuania District.
• 1916 – Vilna Troupe active.
• 1918
  • 16 February: Lithuania declares independence from German Empire.
  • Museum of History and Ethnography established.

Polish troops in Wilno following the capture of the city from the Soviets

• 1919
  • April: Vilna offensive by Polish army.
  • Central Library of Lithuania organized.^[18]
  • Jabłkowski Brothers department store opens.
• 1920 – October: Żeligowski's Mutiny.
• 1925
  • Darius Stadium opens.
  • Elektrit Radiotechnical Society, Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius, and Yiddish Scientific Institute established.
  • 6 May: School massacre.
• 1926 – City becomes capital of Wilno Voivodeship.
• 1928 – Northern Trade Fair begins.
• 1931 – Population: 195,000.
• 1933
  • City Museum established.
  • Śmigły Wilno soccer team formed.
• 1939
  • 18–19 September: Battle of Wilno (1939) between the Poles and the invading Soviets at the start of World War II.
  • Soviets in power.
  • 28 October: Lithuanians in power.
  • Vilnius Pedagogical Institute established.
• 1940
  • City becomes capital of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
  • Vilnius State Theatre established.
• 1941
  • June: Germans in power.
  • July: Ponary massacre begins.^[19]
  • 5 July: Dulag transit camp for prisoners of war deployed in the city.^[20]
  • August: Dulag transit camp for prisoners of war relocated to Lida.^[20]
  • August: Subcamp of the Stalag 336 POW camp established by the Germans.^[21]
  • 9 September: Subcamp of Stalag 336 converted into the Stalag 344 POW camp.^[21]
  • December: Wehrmacht military prison established.^[22]
• 1942 – Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye formed in Vilna Jewish Ghetto.
• 1943 – HKP 562 forced labor camp set up by Germans.

Old Town in 1944

• 1944
  • Wehrmacht military prison relocated to Tarnów.^[22]
  • 6–15 July: Operation Ostra Brama; Soviets in power.
  • Airport begins operating.
• 1945 – Music School founded.
• 1946 – Russian Drama Theatre re-established.^[23]
• 1950 – Žalgiris Stadium opens.
• 1951 – Vilnius Heat Plant commissioned.
• 1955 – Šeškinė village becomes part of the city.
• 1956
  • Trolleybuses begin operating.
  • Vilnius Gediminas Technical University established.
• 1963
  • National Library of Lithuania relocates to Vilnius.^[18]
  • Polish Theater founded.
• 1964 – Statyba basketball team formed.
• 1965
  • Žirmūnai Bridge constructed.
  • Vingis Park renovated.
  • Population: 293,000.^[24]
• 1967 – Technika (publisher) established.
• 1968 – Ratilio ensemble formed.
• 1971 – Palace of Concerts and Sports opens.
• 1972 – Valakampiai Bridge constructed.
• 1974
  • Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre built.
  • Evangelical Cemetery demolished.
• 1979 – Population: 503,000.^[25]
• 1980 – Seimas Palace and Vilnius TV Tower built.
• 1983 – Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant commissioned.
• 1985 – Population: 544,000.^[26]
• 1987 – Vilnius Jazz Festival begins.
• 1989 – Jewish State Museum established.
• 1990
  • 11 March: Lithuania declares independence from USSR.
  • Vilnius Lyceum and Vilniaus lietuvių namai (school) established.
• 1991 – January: City besieged by Soviet forces.
• 1992
  • Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania^[27] and Verkiai Regional Park established.
  • Museum of Genocide Victims opens.
• 1994 – Military Academy of Lithuania established.
• 1995 – Alis Vidūnas becomes mayor.
• 1997
  • 1 April: Užupis neighborhood declares itself an independent republic.
  • Rolandas Paksas becomes mayor.
  • Kalnai Park established.
• 1999
  • Vilnius Book Fair begins.^{[citation needed]}
  • Juozas Imbrasas becomes mayor.
• 2000
  • House of the Signatories museum opens.
  • Artūras Zuokas becomes mayor.

21st century

• 2001 – Sportima Arena opens.
• 2002
  • Vilnius Ice Palace opens.
  • Energy and Technology Museum established.
• 2003
  • Mindaugas Bridge opens.
  • 750th anniversary of the coronation of Mindaugas.
  • FK Vetra relocates to Vilnius.
• 2004
  • Siemens Arena and Vetra Stadium open.
  • European Humanities University relocates to Vilnius.
  • Europa Tower built.
  • Mykolas Romeris University and Vilnius Academy of Business Law established.
  • Vilnius Marathon begins.
• 2005 – Lietuvos rytas Arena opens.
• 2006 – May: City hosts regional democracy conference.
• 2007
  • Juozas Imbrasas becomes mayor again.
  • Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center opens.
• 2008
  • February: City hosts NATO meeting.
  • Vilnius Airport railway station opens.
  • Gariunai Market pavilion built.
• 2009
  • Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania rebuilt.
  • City designated a European Capital of Culture.
• 2011
  • Vilniaus viesasis transportas (bus company) established.
  • Population: 554,060.
  • Artūras Zuokas becomes mayor again.^[28]
• 2015 – Remigijus Šimašius becomes mayor.
• 2023
  • July: City hosts NATO meeting.

See also

• History of Vilnius
• List of mayors of Vilnius
• Neighborhoods of Vilnius