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19201920–1939 · Kaunas

Kaunas, Lithuania's interwar capital

The pale yellow Historical Presidential Palace in Kaunas, residence of Lithuania's interwar presidents
Photo: Pofka. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When Poland seized Vilnius in 1920, Lithuania made Kaunas its temporary capital. In two decades the provincial town grew into a modern capital, with a parliament, ministries, a university and hundreds of modernist buildings, from the Central Post Office to the Church of Christ's Resurrection. Soviet occupation in 1940 ended the era; the buildings became a World Heritage site in 2023.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Historical Presidential PalaceThe interwar presidents' residence and garden, now a museum.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Central Post Office, Laisvės alėjaModernist post office of the early 1930s on the city's main avenue.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: Church of Christ's ResurrectionLarge white modernist church with a rooftop terrace over the city.Map ↗

Guides who take you there

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Also in Kaunas

More from the Interwar

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.