The BET project participants visited several important cultural sites in and around Vilnius, Lithuania. At Europos Parkas, an outdoor art museum, students viewed sculptures by famous artists and enjoyed the natural scenery. In Vilnius, the group explored the historic Old Town and important landmarks like the Gates of Dawn chapel and St. Anne's Church. They also visited Trakai Castle, located on an island in a lake, before returning to Druskininkai. Students documented their experiences through photos and presentations.

1. DAY THREE – Europos Parkas – Vilnius – Trakai
On Tuesday, June 4th, 51 BET project participant travelled to Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania.
At first, we stopped in Europos Parkas. The goal of the museum is to give an artistic significance
to the geographic centre of the European continent and to present the best of Lithuanian and
international modern art achievements. While enjoying the treasured landscape of the park we
discovered the admirable world of art. The collection includes large scale works by famous
contemporary artists such as Abakanowicz, Oppenheim, LeWitt and Pepper. While some students
were interested in sculptures, others enjoyed the beauty of Lithuania’s nature. This harmonious
whole with the light changing as the day progresses makes a lasting impression.
During the visit, students were asked to do some tasks. Project participants were divided into six
international groups and were given six different task. They were looking for moving sculptures;
also students were searching for the sculptures of the Japanese artists; one more group was
concentrated on the sculptures of women. Photos and video have been taken and later presented
during our project dissemination activities at school.
Afterwards participants headed to the Old Town of Vilnius with the task to find three important
cultural and historical sights of the city – Gates of Dawn, Simonas Daukantas square and the
Church of St Anne’s church.

2. - The Gates of Dawn is a city gate in Vilnius and it is one of Lithuania’s most important
religious, historical and cultural monuments. This is the only surviving gate of the first
original five gates in the city wall that was built between1503 and 1522. The painting of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, in the Chapel is known all over the world. The
picture, which is called Vilnius Madonna, was painted in the 17th century.
- Daukanto Square is located in the Old,
in front of the Presidentian Palace. The
Presidential Palace (Lithuanian:
Prezidentūra), located in Vilnius Old
Town, is the official office and eventual
official residence of the President of
Lithuania. The palace dates back to the
14th century and during its history it has
undergone various reconstructions,
supervised by prominent architects. In
1997 the palace became the official seat
of the President of Lithuania. Students
from Lithuania had an opportunity to
share their knowledge about recent
Presidential elections and Lithuania’s
politics.

3. - Church of St. Anne's is a prominent landmark in the Old Town of Vilnius that enabled the
district to be included in the list of UNESCO world heritage sites. Foreign students were
amazed by this interesting example of the late Gothic architecture. Popular legend has it that
Napoleon Bonaparte, who was fascinated by the beauty of the church, wanted to take it back
to Paris in the palm of his hand.
On the way back to Druskininkai we visited Trakai. Trakai is a town in south-eastern Lithuania,
west of Vilnius, the capital. Part of the Trakai Historical National Park, Trakai Island Castle is a
14th-century fortress in the middle of Lake Galvė. A notable feature of Trakai is that the town was
built and preserved by people of different nationalities. Historically, communities of Karaims,
Tatars, Lithuanians, Russians, Jews and Poles lived here.

4. Project participants tried some traditional Lithuanian foods like kibinai, spent some time exploring
the surroundings walking along the lake, take some beautiful pictures for the memory and buy some
souvenirs for their families.
When we came back home, we were tired due to the warm weather but happy because of the new
experiences and communication with our foreign guests.
BET Lithuanian team