Aleksotas Funicular () is a

funicular railway A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends ...

located in

Aleksotas The Aleksotas Eldership () is an eldership in the southern section of the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, bordering the left bank of the Nemunas River. Its population in 2006 was 21,694. The elderate borders Vilijampolė and Centras in the north, ...

elderate of

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. The

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

constructed on the right bank of the

Nemunas River Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its southern channel. It drains ...

was officially opened on 6 December 1935. The track of the Aleksotas funicular remained unchanged. The track has a separation in the centre of the track for carriages to pass. Special automatic brakes were installed in carriages not to let them run down in case of cable damage. The length of funicular is ,

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...

- 18 degrees. Authentic traction equipment, including the genuine pre-war wagons, wooden seats, and stop platforms of the funicular are still used. The funicular climbs from the end of the

Vytautas the Great Bridge Vytautas the Great Bridge, also known as Aleksotas Bridge before 1930 and from 1940 until 23 February 2008, crosses the Nemunas River to connect Aleksotas and Kaunas Old Town, Old Town in Kaunas, Lithuania. Its length exceeds 256 meters, and it ...

to the Aleksotas hill from where the panorama of the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

of Kaunas can be experienced. It was included in the Registry of Immovable Cultural Heritage Sites of the Republic of Lithuania in 1996. Periodic KVT tickets can be used here. In 2015, the funicular was one of 44 objects in Kaunas to receive the

European Heritage Label The European Heritage Label is a recognition awarded by the European Union to buildings, documents, museums, archives, monuments, and events which are seen as milestones in the creation of today's Europe. The program is managed by the European Com ...

Image gallery

Image:Aleksoto funikulierius.2010-06-05.jpg, Aleksotas Funicular Railway at the top Image:Aleksotas, Kaunas, Lithuania - panoramio (4).jpg, One of the wagons Image:Aleksotas, Kaunas, Lithuania - panoramio (5).jpg, One of the wagons

References

{{coord, 54, 53, 28, N, 23, 53, 13, E, type:landmark, display=title 1935 establishments in Lithuania Aleksotas Transport in Kaunas Buildings and structures in Kaunas Funicular railways in Lithuania Tourist attractions in Kaunas Objects listed in Lithuanian Registry of Cultural Property

Image gallery

See also

References