Chodkevičiai Palace

The Chodkiewicz Palace (or, in Lithuanian transliteration, Chodkevičiai Palace) is a building in Old Town of Vilnius at 4 Didžioji St. Currently it is owned by the Lithuanian Art Museum.

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz purchased a brick building just before 1600, located next to the Church of St. Paraskeva at the edge of the Ruthenian district in Vilnius, along the prestigious Royal Road. The building had been constructed in the 15th century, and Chodkiewicz began transforming it into a palace, acquiring neighboring plots. His work was continued by his heir and nephew, Hieronim Chodkiewicz. The palace was destroyed during the Moscow occupation in the mid-17th century and was rebuilt by Jerzy Karol Chodkiewicz, who added images of dragons to the facade of the residence, leading to the building being called "Under the Dragons."

Between 1754 and 1762, the palace was rebuilt by Abraham Wurtzner and Franciszek Offert at the request of Jan Mikołaj Chodkiewicz. In 1812, the palace became the property of Wojciech Pusłowski, a deputy to the Four-Year Sejm and an entrepreneur who acquired neglected estates. He significantly expanded the palace, leading Michał Baliński to describe it as "the most beautiful private residence in Vilnius."

In 1834, the palace became part of the Medical-Surgical Academy, which was established after the closure of the Vilnius Academy. During this period, it underwent significant reconstruction under the direction of Tomasz Tyszecki, including the demolition of buildings separating the palace from the church, opening the northern facade to the street. Over the following years, the palace's function changed multiple times, and in 1919, it was incorporated into Vilnius University, primarily serving as housing for faculty members. After 1945, it remained part of the university.

Since 1994 it has been owned by the Lithuanian Art Museum and houses a picture gallery, administrative offices, the library, archive and art storage.

Text adapted from “Chodkevičiai Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Chodkevičiai Palace ranks #5,500 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #31 of the 32 mapped in Lithuania. Founded c. 1450, it is older than 49% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 454 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 15 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Vilnius, 1 km away. See how Lithuania compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗