Exhibition “NOSTRA VILNA: The First Image of Vilnius”

25 January - 31 March 2019

The fragment of the half of the map of the 2nd half of the 14th century, where for the first time Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania is depicted.

Crafted by Czech artisans, it presented the image of Vilnius (Vilna), the capital of Lithuania, for the first time in history. The fragment was known back in the 19th century, but was mistaken for the image of Czechia and thus called “the Bohemian Roadmap”. In 2001, Janez Höfler, the Ljubljana University Professor, doubted such interpretation and, after making a consistent research of the place-names, possible historic circumstances of the appearance of the map and the location, found out that the fragment actually pictured Vilnius. Thus, the unique historical source has been discovered with the initial representation of the capital of Lithuania. The fragment of the map is kept at the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia in Ljubljana.

 

This is the second exhibition of the international exhibition cycle the Landmarks of Vilnius City History (2018–22) held in preparation for the 700th anniversary of Vilnius. Annually, on the 25 of January, the birthday of Vilnius City, Vilnius Picture Gallery foresees to present an exclusive cultural value item from the institutional funds of different European countries, relevant to the history of Lithuania and Vilnius.

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4 Didžioji st, Vilnius, Lithuania
+370 5 261 1685
vpg@lndm.lt

See also