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Cathedral Square (Katedros aikste), dominated by the Neoclassical Cathedral (Arkikatedra bazilika; daily 7am-7pm), is the point where modern and old Vilnius meet. The cathedral belongs firmly in the old part, its origins going back to the thirteenth century, when a wooden church is thought to have been built here on the site of a temple dedicated to Perkunas, the god of thunder. Today's structure is based on a more substantial stone building erected during the fifteenth century, and given a facelift over the next three hundred years that's left it looking more like a piece of grandiose Neoclassical civic architecture than a place of worship. The highlight of the airy, vaulted interior is the opulent Chapel of St Kazimieras (Kazimiero koplycia), dedicated to the patron saint of Lithuania, whose remains lie in a silver casket in the chapel's main altar. Created between 1623 and 1636, the chapel is a riot of marble, stucco and statuary, with frescoes on the ceilings and side walls depicting episodes from the saint's life. Next to the cathedral on the square is the white Belfry (Varpine), once part of the fortifications of the vanished Lower Castle but now looking like a stranded Baroque lighthouse. Rising behind the cathedral is the tree-clad Gediminas Hill (Gedimino kalnas), its summit crowned by the red-brick octagon of Gediminas Tower (Gedimino bokstas), one of the city's best-known landmarks. The first substantial fortification here was founded by Grand Duke Gediminas, the Lithuanian ruler who consolidated the country's independence. According to legend Gediminas dreamt of an iron wolf howling on a hill overlooking the River Vilnia and was told by a pagan priest to build a castle on the spot. These days the tower houses the Vilnius Castle Museum (Vilnius Pilies muziejus; May-Sept Wed-Sun 11am-6pm; Oct-April Tues-Sat 11am-5pm; 4Lt; free on Wed in winter), showing the former extent of the Vilnius fortifications. A hundred metres or so north of the cathedral in a former arsenal building is the Lithuanian National Museum (Lietuvos Nacionalinis muziejus), Arsenalo 1 (Wed-Sun: May-Sept 11am-6pm; Oct-April 11am-5pm; www.lnm.lt ; 4Lt; free Wed in winter), covering the history of Lithuania from prehistoric times to 1940. Though most items are labelled in Lithuanian and Russian only, the exhibits, ranging from a pair of mammoth tusks to re-created domestic interiors from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, are worth a visit. A separate department of the museum (entrance a little further north on Arsenalo) houses the Prehistoric Lithuania exhibition (same times; 4Lt), an extremely well-mounted display illustrating the history of Lithuania from the earliest times to the middle ages with grave finds and scale models of forts. Nearby is the Applied Art Museum , Arsenalo 3 (Taikomosios Dailes muziejus; Tues-Sun noon-5/6pm; 4Lt; free Wed in winter), home to a glittering array of ecclesiastical treasures, Baroque paintings and jewellery from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century.
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