The Centras Eldership () is an Eldership in the city 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, based on two neighbourhoods of Kaunas - the Old City and the New City. It lies at the confluence of two major Lithuanian rivers, the

Nemunas 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 ...

and the

Neris The river Neris () or Vilija (, ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius (Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the Nemunas (Neman) from the right bank, at Kaunas, as its ma ...

. The borough borders

Žaliakalnis Žaliakalnis (literally, "the green hill") is a neighbourhood and Elderships of Lithuania, eldership () in Lithuania's second largest city, Kaunas. Žaliakalnis is located north of the old town and the city center area, between the Neris and Girstu ...

in the north,

Šančiai Šančiai is an elderate in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas. It is located on the meandering right bank of the Nemunas River. Šančiai itself are divided into Žemieji Šančiai (or Lower Šančiai) and Aukštieji Šančiai (or Upper Šančiai ...

in the east,

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, ...

in the south and

Vilijampolė Vilijampolė is a neighborhood in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, located on the right bank of the Neris River and the Nemunas River, near their confluence. Part of a larger which consists of Vilijampolė, , , and neighorhoods, and covers 1438 h ...

in the west.

Kaunas Old Town

Kaunas Old Town - the oldest part of Kaunas town, located to the east of the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers, occupies 144 hectares. There are a lot of surviving

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

buildings, especially in the western part of the Old Town. Many notable buildings and facilities are located in the Old Town, such as the

Kaunas Town Hall The Town Hall of Kaunas () stands in the middle of the Town Hall Square at the heart of the Old Town, Kaunas, Lithuania.The structure dates from the 16th century. It houses a Museum of Ceramics. History The Town Hall is distinguished by its sle ...

, the

Kaunas Castle Kaunas Castle () is a medieval castle in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. Archeological evidence suggests that it was built during the mid-14th century in the Gothic style. Its site is strategic—a rise on the banks of the Nemunas ...

and the Historical Presidential Palace,

House of Perkūnas The House of Perkūnas is one of the most original and Gothic secular buildings, located in the Old Town of Kaunas, Lithuania. Originally built by Hanseatic merchants and served as their office from 1440 until 1532, it was sold in the 16th cen ...

, also the

Kaunas Cathedral Cathedral Basilica of apostles St. Peter and St. Paul of Kaunas () is a Roman Catholic cathedral basilica in Kaunas, Lithuania. History The exact date when the first Gothic style church dedicated to apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, was bu ...

, the Church of St. Gertrude, Vytautas' church and many other churches. A great variety of museums, such as

Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

Povilas Stulga Museum of Lithuanian Folk Instruments The Povilas Stulga Museum of Lithuanian Folk Instruments () is located in the Old Town of Kaunas, Lithuania. It was established in 1985. Its permanent collection contains Lithuanian and international musical instruments, recordings, books, placards ...

Maironis Maironis (born Jonas Mačiulis, ; – 28 June 1932) was a Lithuanians, Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest and the greatest and most-known Lithuanian poet, especially of the period of the Lithuanian press ban. He was called the Bard of Lithuanian Na ...

Lithuanian literature Lithuanian literature () concerns the art of written works created by Lithuanians throughout their history. History Latin language A wealth of Lithuanian literature was written in Latin, the main scholarly language in the Middle Ages. The edi ...

Museum,

Communication History Museum Former Communications History Museum was a museum supported by Teo LT AB, former AB Lietuvos Telekomas, in the Old Town of Kaunas, Lithuania. The building is an old merchant house, where were storages for grain to be exported. The building was ta ...

, Museum of

Gemology Gemology or gemmology is the science dealing with natural and artificial gemstone materials. It is a specific interdisciplinary branch of mineralogy. Some jewellery, jewelers (and many non-jewelers) are academically trained gemologists and are qua ...

and Kaunas City Museum are situated. The largest seminary in Lithuania -

Kaunas Priest Seminary Kaunas Priest Seminary () is the largest seminary in Lithuania serving the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaunas. It is part of the Faculty of Theology of Vytautas Magnus University. Its current rector is Aurelijus Žukauskas. As of 2007, the semi ...

is located in the westernmost part of the Old Town. The seat of

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaunas The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaunas () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. The episcopal see is in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. The archdiocese's Mother Church, mother ...

is based nearby. The main Kaunas street in the Old Town, and its continuation in the New Town - the pedestrian Laisvės Alėja runs across the Eldership. Laisvės Alėja is the longest pedestrian street in the whole Europe – 1.7 km. Laisvės Alėja connects Vilnius Street and Kaunas Cathedral. There was a horse-drawn tram in Laisvės avenue until 1929 which was called this way because a tram on a railing (Lith. ''konkė'') was drawn by horses. Banks, various offices, restaurants, cafes, and many modern shops are situated on this street. It is a favorite place for walks and meetings of Kaunas citizens.

Kaunas New Town

Kaunas' New Town (Naujamiestis) - the district, located east of Old Town, began to develop in 1847, tzar-time type of the new rectangular structure of the city. The New Town of Kaunas occupies 314 hectares. The New Town is especially known for

Interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

functionalism architecture complexes when Kaunas became the

Temporary capital of Lithuania The temporary capital of Lithuania () was the official designation of the city of Kaunas in Lithuania during the interwar period. It was in contrast to the declared capital in Vilnius, which was the capital of the Republic of Central Lithuania ( ...

. In the New Town Kaunas City Municipality, numerous business centers, hotels, and some shopping centers are situated. There are also the

Kaunas Synagogue The Kaunas Synagogue, also known as the Choral Ohel Yaakov Synagogue (), is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 13 East Ožeškienės Street, in Centras (Kaunas), Centras eldership, Kaunas, in the ...

, the St. Michael the Archangel Church and the only mosque in Lithuania, the

Kaunas Mosque The Kaunas Mosque () is a List of World Heritage Sites in Europe, World Heritage-listed Sunni Islam, Sunni Islam, Islamic mosque, located at Tatars Street 6 (), in the Centras (Kaunas), Centras eldership of Kaunas, Lithuania. It is the only mosq ...

located in the New Town. Kaunas Red Cross Hospital is located in the centre. On the bank of Nemunas River, on an island, the largest indoor arena in the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

was opened in 2011, the

Žalgiris Arena Žalgirio Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Centras (Kaunas), New Town of Kaunas, Lithuania. The arena is located on an island of the Nemunas River and is the largest indoor arena in Baltic states, the Baltics. The arena's maximum poss ...

. The arena was acknowledged as the most visited the Euroleague arena two years in a row. The

Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (, LSMU) is a medical school in Kaunas, Lithuania. The present-day Lithuanian University of Health Sciences is a consolidation of two institutions of higher education, Kaunas University of Medicine and th ...

, the

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, VDU) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known as the University of Lithuania, but ...

and the

Kaunas University of Technology The Kaunas University of Technology (abbreviated as KTU, ) is a public university, public research university located in Kaunas, Lithuania. Established in 1922, KTU has been seen as one of Lithuania's top science education centers. In 2021, KTU ...

are located there, as well as numerous museums: the

Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum The Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum () is a museum of zoology, established in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1919 by Tadas Ivanauskas (1882–1970). The museum collects and exhibits various animals: hunting trophies, Taxidermy, stuffed animals, Insect ...

, the

Žmuidzinavičius Museum Žmuidzinavičius Museum (), also known as the Devil Museum (''Velnių muziejus''), is a museum in Kaunas, Lithuania, dedicated to collecting and exhibiting sculptures and carvings of devils from all over the world. The museum is a part of M. K. � ...

, the

Vytautas the Great War Museum The Vytautas the Great War Museum () is a museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was built in Art Deco and early functionalism style. Originally it was established in 1921 by Vladas Nagevičius but later it was decided to move to a larger location. A ...

and Kaunas Museum for the Blind. M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum based in central Kaunas, is primarily dedicated to exhibiting the works of Lithuanian painter and musician M.K. Čiurlionis. Central Kaunas is connected with the neighbourhood of

by the Žaliakalnis Funicular Railway constructed in the 1930s. The headquarters and some other administrative buildings of the

Kaunas Fortress Kaunas Fortress (, , ) is the remains of a fortress complex in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was constructed and renovated between 1882 and 1915 to protect the Russian Empire's western borders, and was designated a "first-class" fortress in 1887. During W ...

' commandant are still used for public needs. Central Kaunas is also well known for its public statuary. The main cultural institutions of the city are also located there, such as

Kaunas State Musical Theatre The Kaunas State Musical Theatre, formerly Kaunas City Theatre, is a theatre in Kaunas, Lithuania. It is home to a musical theatre company of the same name, established on 27 November 1940 in the former State Theatre hall on the Laisvės Alėja. ...

Kaunas State Drama Theatre The National Kaunas Drama Theatre (NKDT), formerly Kaunas State Drama Theatre, is a theatre and theatre company in Kaunas, Lithuania. The company is the oldest professional theatre troupe in Lithuania, founded in 1920 at the building now known ...

Kaunas Chamber Theatre Kaunas city Chamber Theatre () is a municipal theatre in Kaunas, Lithuania. The theatre was established in 1976 as Kaunas Youth Musical Studio. Its founder and long-standing director was the Lithuanian actor and opera singer Stanislovas Rubinovas. ...

and Kaunas Symphony Orchestra. The

M. K. Čiurlionis Bridge M. K. Čiurlionis Bridge is a bridge in Kaunas, Lithuania. It crosses the Nemunas River to connect Freda (Kaunas), Freda (Aleksotas district) and Centras (Kaunas), Kaunas City center. The bridge is 475 meters in length and 29.4 meters in width. It ...

and

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 ...

link the district to

and

Petras Vileišis Bridge Petras Vileišis Bridge formerly known as Vilijampolė Bridge is a bridge connecting Kaunas Old Town and Vilijampolė, Lithuania. It is the last bridge over the Neris River before its mouth. Its length exceeds 291 metres, width 14 metres. The bri ...

links it to

. The New Town of Kaunas is well connected with

Kaunas International Airport Kaunas Airport () is List of the busiest airports in the Baltic states, the second-busiest civil airport in Lithuania after Vilnius Airport and the fourth-busiest in the Baltic states. The airport is located in the central part of the country, ...

by developed public transportation. At the eastern edge of central Kaunas, central

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and

Kaunas Railway Tunnel Kaunas railway tunnel () is one of the two railway tunnels existing in Lithuania and the only railway tunnel operating in the Baltic states. Passenger trains are operating between Vilnius and Kaunas through this tunnel. The length of the tunnel ...

are situated.

Gallery

Kauno senamiestis by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg, Centre of Kaunas Kaunas Old Town in winter 2.jpg, Kaunas Old Town in winter Kaunas Old Town in winter.jpg, One of the Kaunas Old Town restaurants Kauno pilis2010-11.jpg, The Tower of Kaunas Castle Centras, Kaunas, Lithuania - panoramio (12).jpg,

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

in the Old Town S. Daukanto gatve.jpg, S. Daukanto gatvė in Kaunas Kaunas Town Hall (2012).jpg, Kaunas Town Hall Unity Square in Kaunas by Augustas Didžgalvis.jpg, Vienybės Square in the New Town LT Kaunas, 2019.07.20, fot Ivonna Nowicka (3).jpg, A cobblestone lane with a leisurely cat Motiejaus Valančiaus Street in Kaunas, Lithuania in 2023.jpg, Motiejaus Valančiaus Street near Kaunas Cathedral

References

City of Kaunas - Eldership of Centras

External links

Website of Kaunas city
* {{Kaunas elderates Neighbourhoods of Kaunas Tourist attractions in Kaunas