St. George's Church

Kaunas, Lithuania

The church of St. George was part of the Bernardine Monastery. The first wooden church was built in 1468. It was replaced by the current brick church in the late 15th century and completed before 1503. It’s been ruined by fire three times, suffered the wrath of the Moscow army during the war of 1656-1659 and then had a bit of a rest during the 18th century before Napoleon turned it into a warehouse.

During Soviet times, the church was used to store medicine. It was returned to the Friars in 1993 in a pretty shabby condition, and restoration of its outstanding if run-down Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque interior has been slow to say the least. Ongoing restoration work has seen the addition of a new roof although the church itself remains locked for the foreseeable future.

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Founded: 15th century
Category: Religious sites in Lithuania

Rating

4.8/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Juvel Juvelyrika (6 months ago)
Beautiful old church, like the uncovered wall paintings. Although, wish there were less golden/shiny highlights on the new paintings.
Iryna Panina (17 months ago)
The elegant church in the Old Town) The church is located opposite the Kaunas castle, and this red brick building is hard to miss. Locals love to conduct a wedding ceremony here so there are a lot of people on holidays. It looks rather modest and has a tranquil atmosphere. The church features its nice decor in light colours without pathos and extravagance. Must visit)
Dina buntov (3 years ago)
Nice church
Arik Binder (4 years ago)
Old and nice church
Walker Scott (4 years ago)
is this a greenhouse
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Abbey of Saint-Georges

Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.

The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).