40 Pilies Street
Photographer – Tomas Kapočius
40 Pilies Street. 2018
Lithuanian Art Museum
At the end of the 17th century, the building known as the Apostles’ House belonged to the goldsmith Stanisław Daniłowicz. In the 18th–19th centuries, it was damaged in fires numerous times, yet it was rebuilt, renovated, its ownership changed hands, as did its function. It had served as the Hotel de Philadelphie, a restaurant, several stores, and various craftsmen also rented premises there. Only after major renovation work in 1887 did the building receive a more representational appearance, which has been preserved to this day.
In 1926 the building was purchased by Jurgis and Marija Šlapelis – their home became one of the cultural centres for Lithuanians in Vilnius, attracting visitors such as Jonas Basanavičius, Jonas Jablonskis and other intellectuals. The family rented the ground floor to a bakery and store. In the post-war years, the building was nationalised by the Soviet government, reconstructed and transformed into an apartment building. Marija Šlapelienė lived in an apartment there that had been allocated to her by the state until her death. In 1996, the building became the Marija and Jurgis Šlapeliai House-Museum.
Individuals
MARIJA (1880–1977) AND JURGIS (1876–1941) ŠLAPELIS
The couple were social and cultural figures. They participated in cultural life in Vilnius, belonging to cultural and scientific societies, and helping transport and distribute the banned Lithuanian press from Lithuania Minor. Marija acted in Lithuanian amateur theatre troupe dramas and operettas, and in 1906 she played the main role in Mikas Petrauskas’ first Lithuanian opera Birutė. Jurgis worked as a Lithuanian and Latin teacher at the Vytautas Magnus Gymnasium in Vilnius, and edited and compiled dictionaries, including the first Lithuanian dictionary of international words, going by the title Svetimų ir nesuprantamų žodžių žodynėlis (Dictionary of Foreign and Incomprehensible Words, 1907). He belonged to the Vilnius City Council and participated in the activities of the Lithuanian War Relief Society, and was also a collector of folklore. In 1906 in Vilnius, Marija and Jurgis Šlapelis, together with Elena Brazaitytė, founded the Šlapelis Lithuanian Book-store, which became a centre for the Vilnius Lithuanian intelligentsia. From 1926 until her death, Marija lived at 40 Pilies Street.