Place · city

Vilnius

Also known as Wilno, Vilna

Vilnius is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, where the Vilnia flows into the Neris. Made the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by Gediminas in the early fourteenth century, it grew into a centre of Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish life, with a university from 1579, and was called the 'Jerusalem of Lithuania'. Contested with Poland after 1918, it returned to Lithuania in 1939.

Vilnius
Image: BigHead · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 profiles

Grand Duchy of LithuaniaFoundation, Socioeconomy, Military, Governance, Impact, SummaryRepublic of LithuaniaFoundation, Military, Governance, Impact, Decline, SummaryRepublic of EstoniaSummary

Mentioned in 9 state histories

Grand Duchy of LithuaniaKingdom of LithuaniaDuchy of TrakaiRepublic of LithuaniaRepublic of Lithuania (1918-1940)Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSRRepublic of Central LithuaniaLithuanian Soviet Socialist RepublicReichskommissariat Ostland

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Vilnius. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vilnius
MLA
“Vilnius.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vilnius. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Vilnius.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vilnius.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Vilnius’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vilnius (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻