The Europa Tower ( lt, Europos bokštas) is the tallest

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and func ...

in the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone ...

. It is located on Konstitucijos Avenue in

Šnipiškės Šnipiškės (also known as ''New City Centre'') is a neighborhood in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Located on the north bank of the river Neris, it became the site of a modern business district with skyscrapers which, however, mix with some ...

, a district of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

's capital

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

. It rises 148 meters above the ground. It was designed by the Vilnius based ''Audrius Ambrasas Architects Company''. Dominating the skyline of the newly developing New City Center, the building was completed and officially opened on 1 May 2004, as part of Lithuania's celebrations upon entering the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. The

caused some controversy among some of the public and some watch-dog groups because of its interference with the historic skyline of the

Vilnius' Old Town The Old Town of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus senamiestis, pl, Stare Miasto w Wilnie, be, Стары горад у Вільнюсе, russian: Старый город в Вильнюсe), one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in both Norther ...

. Despite varying opinions, the tower is now often regarded as a modern landmark of the Lithuanian capital. There is an observation deck on the open roof terrace at . File:Vilnius New City Center from the White Bridge (2013).jpg, New city center File:Europa_Square_in_Vilnius.JPG, Main entrance

Project history

The first announcements concerning the building appeared on the Internet in 2002, when some computer generated renderings were published on an architectural website. The initial design had thirty floors which were later updated, when three additional floors were added. This change in the original plan by the architect and developer, caused a confrontation with various heritage protection agencies. However, the project was approved by the municipality of Vilnius and was implemented according to the new plan. Construction started in late 2002, and was fully completed by April 2004. The tower is part of the Europa Square Complex, located in the New City Center, and is on the right bank of River Neris. On September 1, 2006,

Alain Robert Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962) is a French rock climber and urban climber. Known as "the French Spider-Man" (after the comic character Spider-Man) or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for his free solo climbi ...

, also known as the human

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Si ...

, climbed the Europa Tower along the eastern side facing Europa Square (left of a light

stripe Stripe, striped, or stripes may refer to: Decorations *Stripe (pattern), a line or band that differs in colour or tone from an adjacent surface *Racing stripe, a vehicle decoration *Service stripe, a decoration of the U.S. military Entertainment ...

seen in the photograph above).

References

{{reflist Office buildings completed in 2004 Buildings and structures in Vilnius Skyscrapers in Lithuania Skyscraper office buildings