Academic literature on the topic 'Rossa (Cemetery : Vilnius, Lithuania)'

The recent international outcry concerning an old Jewish cemetery once again being destroyed in a former suburb of Vilnius, namely Šnipiškės (nowadays in the very centre of the city), forces us to revise the history of its origin and development in the period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Summarizing the history of the cemetery, one plausible conclusion is that the cemetery was established on state-owned land in the jurisdiction of the Castle possibly in the late fifteenth century and the first reliable historical data goes back to the late sixteenth century in relation to tax exemptions. A comparison of historical, cartographic and archaeological data permits to make a valid assumption that the oldest burials from the second half of the sixteenth century were located in the south-western and central section of the cemetery based on the layout of 1808 (in the area between the Sports Hall and swimming pool built in the Soviet period). The cemetery developed gradually by acquiring separate state land plots belonging to the Castle Authority (Horodnictwo) and Forestry Authority (Derewnictwo) which were rented by different persons and by taking over payment of the taxes and fees they used to pay. The general situation of the cemetery at that period was marked in the plan from the Fürstenhof collection, drafted in approximately 1730. The Jewish cemetery was combined into one mas out of separate plots around 1790 in listing the urban possessions (land plots). Such situation was reflected in the layout of 1808 (possession no. 1116).

In Medieval Europe, Lithuania remained a pagan state the longest, officially accepting Catholic baptism only in 1387. But the country had already been influenced by Christian culture, Orthodox from the East and Catholic from the West, since the 11th century. It should be noted that this influence was not the same: Catholicism was mostly brought ‘by fire and sword’ in the role of the Teutonic Order while the spread of Orthodox Christianity could be more peaceful. It is frequently stressed that the Ruthenian Orthodox Christians were close neighbours of the pagan Lithuanians, settling in Lithuania as subjects of the grand dukes. While the Catholics needed to be invited, the Orthodox Christians from the Ruthenian lands were already subjects of the grand dukes. Thus, communities of both branches of Christianity: Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic, had settled here and were interacting in a still pagan environment in pagan cities ruled by pagan dukes. This article, in seeking to present the circumstances of the settlement of one of the early Christian communities in Vilnius, the Orthodox one, and its development, examines this community through data from the burial site it left and the interpretation of those data.

Each burial site is a reflection of the community that left it; thus the burial rite features allow assumptions to be made about the society, its social structure, its distribution of power, the social status and economic situation of the deceased, and possible gender and age differences. The Bokšto St. inhumation cemetery, which dates to the last third of the 13th – early 15th centuries, is unique in the context of mediaeval Vilnius due to being a Christian cemetery that appeared while Lithuania was still a pagan country. It is primarily a place where the Orthodox community could demonstrate its religious affiliation in pagan Vilnius by burying its dead in accordance with its own traditions. This cemetery also reflects the community’s internal features and was a place where its members could interact, i.e. a social arena. Therefore, investigation of the cemetery’s various elements and its burial rites allows for hypotheses to be made not only about the community’s religious affiliation but also about its social structure, its connections, cultural environment and distribution of power, as well as allowing one to talk about past traditions and rituals. The wealth of assembled information makes it possible to examine this cemetery as a place that reflects the traditions of not only death but also of life.

Analysis of cribra orbitalia in the earliest inhabitants of medieval VilniusThe purpose of this work is to present an analysis of cribra orbitalia (CO) from the population of a medieval cemetery in Vilnius, Lithuania, dated between the end of the 13th to the beginning of the 15th centuries. The sample consisted of 208 individuals with sufficiently preserved orbits: 82 subadults and 122 adults. CO was correlated with sex, age-at-death, and three skeletal indicators of biological health: linear enamel hypoplasia, periostitis, and adult femur length as a proxy value for stature. Siler's and Gompertz-Makeham's parametric models of mortality as well as χ2 statistics were used to evaluate these relationships. Almost one-third of all analyzed individuals had signs of CO, including approximately 60% of the subadults. There was a very strong relationship between the age-at-death and incidence of CO, i.e., individuals with the lesion were dying much younger. The frequency of CO among the sexes was not statistically significant. On the other hand, CO had a negative effect only on adult males, i.e., males who had the lesion died at a younger age. Furthermore, CO and linear enamel hypoplasia were positively related for subadults, whereas no significant relationships were found among adults of corresponding sex. Incidence of periostitis and adult stature were not related to CO.

For centuries health institutions have been the most traditional community-oriented providers of public services. The paper focuses on the initial steps of urban development of health facilities in Vilnius city. Historic health institutions are analysed as a specific prototype of what is understood today as a “hospital”. In the paper special attention is drawn to the process of emerging of “a hospital” as an independent public institution, its connections to other public buildings, its urban integrity with adjusting and surrounding development as well as its architectural importance for Vilnius city. Having emerged as a consistent part of religious and sacral complexes, health institutions (špitolės – in Lithuanian) occupied a part of space in traditional convents, located throughout Vilnius Old Town. In early years (around the 15th–16th c) health and treatment spaces were based in ordinary rooms of convents and monasteries. Later in the 17th-18th c they were transferred to specially designated blocks and houses within a convent territory and occupied a major part of spaces there. In the late 18th – 18th c health facilities gradually were disconnected from convents and churches to separate building complexes and finally became completely a new and independent type of public institutions. During the historical periods of development health complexes changed their functional layout and so their planning from initial missions of “separation” and “isolation” to “care” and developed finally to “healing” and “cure”. Analysis of selected cases in Vilnius Old Town reveals that as long as changes in urban location of health complexes took place, it was followed by their functional evolution. Making an integral part in numerous sacral complexes, usually consisting of a church, convent, healing centre, garden and cemetery, health institutions were a part of important “architectural hills” that are clearly notable as vertical and spatial landmarks in the surrounding townscape of Vilnius city. Artistic spatial arrangement and architectural expression are the other specific traits that distinguish health complexes – hospitals – in the context of surrounding development. Health complexes have always played the most important public role in Vilnius city as centres of social aid, community life, religion, culture and health services for local neighbourhoods. Research on the development of health institutions in historical run is a strong foundation to build up the perspectives for architectural and municipal policies for the future of these complexes. The issue gains special importance in the recent situation of essential transformation of the public health care system in Lithuania and in Vilnius city. Santrauka Straipsnyje pateikiama sveikatos priežiūros įstaigų – šiandienos ligoninių prototipo – urbanistinės raidos analizė istoriniu rakursu. Atskleidžiama pirmųjų sveikatos priežiūros objektų – gydyklų – raidos chronologija išryškina jų ryšius su kitais visuomeniniais kompleksais, jungtis su gretimu ir aplinkiniu miesto apstatymu, taip pat architektūrinę svarbą Vilniaus miestui. Atsiradę po Vilniaus senamiestį pasklidusiuose vienuolynų pastatuose nuo XV a., sveikatos priežiūros objektai pradžioje užėmė dalį jų gyvenamųjų patalpų. Vėliau XVI-XVII a. gydymo paslaugos buvo tolydžio perkeliamos į atskirus vienuolynų pastatus ar jų priskirtas dalis, kur užėmė didžiąją dalį patalpų. XVIII–XIX a. sveikatos priežiūros pastatai palaipsniui prarado glaudų rysį su sakraliniais pastatais, atsiskyrė nuo jų ir tapo nauju viešųjų paslaugų pastato – ligoninės – tipu. Per raidos šimtmečius sveikatos priežiūros ir gydymo pastatai įgavo savo unikalią funkcinę ir erdvinę struktūrą pagal teikiamas paslaugas, kurias pradžioje sudarė atskyrimas, globa bei priežiūra, vėliau – gydymas ir sveikatos priežiūra. Atliktas tyrimas rodo, kad sveikatos priežiūros gydymo pastatams atsiskiriant nuo vienuolynų, keitėsi ir jų funkcinė struktūra. Būdami dalimi sakralinių kompleksų, kuriuos dažniausiai sudarė bažnyčia, vienuolynas, gydykla, sodas ar parkas bei kapinės, gydymui naudojami vienuolynų pastatai išsiskyrė Vilniaus siluetuose ir panoramose – jie buvo raiškių „architektūrinių kalvų“ dalimi. Šių pastatų grupių išraišką lėmė jų ypatinga erdvinė kompozicija bei architektūrinė raiška. Sveikatos priežiūros ir gydymo pastatai per visus laikus išlaikė itin glaudžius ryšius su vietos bendruomenėmis, teikdami joms socialinę pagalbą ir sveikatos priežiūrą, būdami religijos ir kultūros centrai. Šių pastatų kompleksų istorinės raidos tyrimas yra tvirtas pagrindas, skirtas paremti šių kompleksų architektūrinės tvarkybos ir municipalinės politikos principams. Šis klausimas yra ypač aktualus šiandieną, kai pradedama radikaliai pertvarkyti sveikatos priežiūros sistemą Lietuvoje ir Vilniaus mieste.

The article is dedicated to the historically original figure of Krzysztof Szwermicki (1814-1894), a Marian priest, an exile to Siberia in the middle of the 19th century, then for many years, a parish priest in Irkutsk, who died there. On the basis of new materials - the parish books of the parish of Dauksze (today in Lithuania) - stored in the Lithuanian Historical Archive in Vilnius, the author establishes many facts, and corrects the errors in the biography of Father Szwermicki, one of the most interesting, exceptionally positive figures of the Catholic Church in Russia. The most important findings include the following: he was born on September 6, 1814 into a peasant family, to Adam and Catherine, in the village of Warnupiany, in the parish of Dauksze near Mariampol; on September 8 he was baptized with the name Krzysztof; he had the family name of Szwirmicki, which he later changed to Szwermicki, although he was also known and described as Szwernicki. He died in Irkutsk on October 31 (according to the Julian calendar), 1894, and was buried on November 3 in the Jerusalem cemetery (the grave does not exist). In historical literature he was more often spelled: Szwernicki. The author of the text argues that he should be spelled: Krzysztof Szwermicki, or more fully: Krzysztof Szwermicki (Szwernicki).