Jakšto Street
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Jakšto Street () is a short street in the central part of
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
, named after the Lithuanian Catholic theologist and philosopher . It is some 350 metres long and leads from the principal
Gediminas Avenue Gediminas Avenue () is the main street of Vilnius, where most of the governmental institutions of Lithuania are concentrated, including the government, parliament, Constitutional Court and ministries. It is also the location of cultural institu ...
towards the
Neris river 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 ...
, sloping by some 7 metres towards the north. The street is flanked by buildings built between the 1890s and the 2000s. Throughout its history and according to political preferences of Vilnius authorities, it was named Старый Переулок (Old Backyard), Улица Херсонская (Kherson Street), Krähenstraße (Crow Street), ulica Dąbrowskiego (Dąbrowski Street), Dambrausko-Jakšto gatvė (Dambrauskas-Jakštas Street), Komunarų gatvė (Communards Street) and Jakšto gatvė (Jakštas Street). Two houses which merit attention are the
historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...
building designed by in the 1890s and the functionalist building by
Jerzy Sołtan Jerzy Sołtan (March 6, 1913 - September 16, 2005) was a Polish architect who worked with Le Corbusier and was the Robinson Jr., Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he taught from 1959 until his ...
, constructed in the 1930s. The street featured prominently in the history of Vilnius on January 1, 1919, when it became a battleground between the local workers' soviet and the local Polish militia. Over time the street hosted some locally important institutions: the Russian high school Гимназiя Прозоробой (early 20th century), the radical left-wing Vilnius Soviet of Workers Deputies (1918–1919), the Lithuanian high school Vytauto Didžiojo Gimnazija (1931–1944), and the key Russian-language
Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...
daily '' Sovetskaya Litva'' (1949–1987). However, for city dwellers of some 5 generations the street has been rather associated with performance hall, hosting various types of shows; it was named "Apollo" (Russian rule), "Słońce" (Polish rule), "Pionierius" (Soviet rule) and "Vaidilos" (Lithuanian rule).


Лукишки / Łukiszki / Lukiškės

Until the late 19th century the Vilnius layout was oriented along the north–south axis; the city backbone was formed by a sequence of streets (now known as
Pilies Street Pilies Street (literally, "Castle Street"; ) is one of the main streets in the Old Town of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It is a rather short street, running from Cathedral Square to the Town Hall Square. Pilies Street is a popular locati ...
, Didžioji Street, ) running from the
cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
to the О́страя бра́ма gate. Living memory of the
city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...
, demolished in the early 19th century, marked the inner-city; it was surrounded by mostly wooden suburbs. On the north-west the city was bordered by some 10-hectare rural area named (pol. Łukiszki), which hosted few isolated hamlets. Earlier drawings show in the area now occupied by the Jakšto street the presence of mounds, named Gura Czartowa (Devil's Hill) and Gura Gliniana (Clay Hill), but there is no trace of them on later maps. In the mid-19th century the landmark of the neighbourhood was a large religious compound, which consisted of the church of St. Jacob and St. Philip, the Dominican monastery and the hospital for the poor, managed by the order. It stood among fields, meadows and some low wooden houses, crossed by few country roads. A map from the 1840s shows what is now the Jakšto Street as one of these nameless roads, leading among fields and orchards towards few buildings, located on the bank of the Neris river.


Development plans

The rural area north-west of Vilnius started to undergo major change in the second half of the 19th century. A country road leading from the city westwards already in the 1830s was marked as a future major communications route, though for decades it spelled no practical change. In the 1860s it was named Георгиевский проспект (St. George Avenue), in the years to come to become a major city alley. A field next to the Lukiškės Prison was marked as the key Vilnius marketplace; some 15 minute walk from the cathedral, it soon became busy with hundreds of farmers selling straight from their horsecarts and city dwellers walking from the old town to make purchases. A new municipal development plan, adopted in 1875, set the area as the focus of further expansion. In the 1880s first large, multi-storey residential buildings started to appear along the St. George Avenue, first close to the cathedral, and then gradually further west. However, photos from 1866 to 1886 show the neighbourhood of St. Jacob and Philip church, including the later Jakšto Street area, as cultivated fields crossed by some country roads; here and there they were dotted with trees or what looks like single manors, stables, and warehouses.


Старый Переулок

In the 1890s rural perpendicular roads, running between the St. George Avenue and the Neris river, gradually began to lose their rural character. A map from the 1890s for the first time assigned a name to what later became the Jakšto Street; it is marked as Старый Переулок (Old Backstreet). However, a map issued in Polish named it Zaułek Nadbrzeżny (Riverbank Backstreet). The western side of the street was marked in green (rural), the eastern one in red (urban), even though it hosted merely few shabby wooden constructions. In the late 1890s the place attracted attention of , official architect of the Vilnius Orthodox eparchy and already the author of a few monumental buildings in the city. In 1896 his wife Sofia purchased two neighbouring plots. Prozorov designed a group of 3 adjacent 2-floor buildings, to be located there; the first one was completed in 1897–1898. The other two were constructed shortly afterwards, the entire complex based on an H-like layout. Though Prozorov later became an expert in
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
, the buildings were erected in traditional technology, with bricks. Designed in
eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...
style, they became one of the largest and most prestigious new sites in Vilnius of the time.


Kherson street

In unclear circumstances some time at the turn of the centuries the street was renamed; on the Russian map from 1904 it no longer appears as Старый Переулок, but is marked as Улица Херсонская (
Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...
Street). Also on the Polish-language map from 1907 the lane is marked similarly, as Ulica Chersońska. At the time the quarter was half-urban; a photo from 1903 shows elegant long-facade multi-storey residential buildings facing what appears to be fields or meadows. However, during the following decade the street became a typical urban lane. Large, 2-floor or 3-floor
tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...
s flanked long sections of the street, while cobble stone surface, pavements and gas lights completed the picture. The street became sort of a cultural landmark. The building at the corner of Херсонская and Георгиевский became home to a high school for girls, called Гимназiя Прозоровой (Prozorova Gymnasium). The central hall in the Prozorov building (in 1912 sold to a certain Bogdan Ratyński) initially hosted an exposition pavilion, but later formed part of the "Apollo" hall, used for theatrical performances, ''variétés'' and as a cinema. The complex hosted also head office of , a local railway company, apart from a club and canteen of the railwaymen trade union. Numerous shops were located at ground floor.


Krähenstraße

In September 1915 Vilnius was seized by the German army. Many Russian institutions ceased to operate, including the Prozorova Gymnasium. Instead, Polish institutions mushroomed. One of them was a high school for girls, set up by Anna Czarnowska; it took over the former Prozorova's premises, later replaced by the Nazaretan order high school. Though initially the street retained the name of Khersonstraße, in 1916 it was renamed to Krähenstraße (Crow Street); the name appeared also in Lithuanian (Varnių gatvė) and
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
(ulica Wronia). In 1918, following growing social unrest and gradual decomposition of German rule, the Prozorov building became a hub of workers’ organisations. The place was headquarters of the Vilnius Soviet of Workers Deputies, a far-left body which claimed authority over Vilnius; few meters away resided the competitive Polish body, Komitet Polski. The Germans tolerated the soviet, but once their troops started to abandon the city during very last days of 1918, local Polish militia closed in. Ironically dubbed “Crow Nest” by the Poles, the building was subject to intense half-a-day shootout and on January 1, 1919, it was seized by the militia. However, 4 days later Vilnius fell to advancing Bolshevik army.


Ulica Dąbrowskiego

Following turbulent years of 1919–1921, in 1922 Vilnius was incorporated into
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. In memory of Jerzy Dąbrowski, commander of the January 1919 assault, the street was named after him. Its both ends remained partially underdeveloped. The south-western corner was owned by the
curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...
and got rented to various tenants; periodically it hosted a cycling parkour, a café "Leonarda" and even vegetable plots. The south-eastern one hosted a low building and a makeshift annex, home to a legendary "Zacisze" restaurant. The Prozorov building hosted a music hall, a
revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...
and a cinema. The school premises, briefly occupied by the , at the turn of the decades were purchased by . Since 1931 they hosted Vytauto Didžiojo Gimnazija, the only Lithuanian high school in the city, which became an important spot for this tiny Vilnius
minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...
. In 1936 a military plane crashed into the Prozorov building; both pilots perished. In 1938 shabby houses at the corner with Mickiewicza were demolished to make room for headquarters of
Social Insurance Social insurance is a form of Social protection, social welfare that provides insurance against economic risks. The insurance may be provided publicly or through the subsidizing of private insurance. In contrast to other forms of Welfare spend ...
; a large functionalist building accommodated medical premises, offices, conference hall and emergency ward. A neighbouring villa hosted apartments for management and a garage for ambulances. Another modernist villa was built near the northern end. The street assumed a somewhat prestigious status; it also kept accommodating educational institutions.


Dambrausko-Jakšto gatvė

In September 1939 the Prozorov building served as centre of a paramilitary organisation ; there was some fighting in the neighbourhood when Red Army tanks approached the Green Bridge. Once the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
handed over the city to
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 new authorities renamed 490 streets. Dąbrowskiego became Dambrausko-Jakšto gatvė (Dambrauskas-Jakštas Street); the name honoured a 1938-deceased Catholic philosopher and scientist and took advantage of the coincidence of surnames. On the Polish national day of November 11 riots broke out in the city; the rebellious youth stormed the Social Insurance building before they were evicted by the Lithuanian police. During the German occupation numerous Polish conspiracy premises were located on the street, e.g. when returning from the
Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...
site in May 1943 the Polish envoy
Józef Mackiewicz Józef Mackiewicz (1 April 1902 – 31 January 1985) was a Polish writer, novelist and political commentator; best known for his documentary novels ''Nie trzeba głośno mówić'' (One Is Not Supposed to Speak Aloud), and ''Droga donikąd'' (The ...
reported to underground officials in a flat in one of the tenements there. On February 12, 1944, unusual Polish-German talks were held in the villa in the backyard of the Insurance building; the commander of
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
stelle Wilna col. tried to convince the commander of the , col. Aleksander Krzyżanowski, that Polish
Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
units should co-operate with
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
to fight the Soviet guerilla. In June 1944 the Insurance building served as detention centre for suspicious individuals.


Komunarų gatvė

Following re-incorporation of Lithuania into the USSR, in 1949 the authorities changed the street name: instead of a Catholic priest, as Komunarų gatvė (Communards Street) it now honoured the revolutionaries who lost their lives on January 1, 1919. In 1953-1959 there were large, 3-floor buildings built on both sides of the northern end of the street; a slightly more monumental office building was constructed opposite the former Social Insurance building, on the southern end. In 1973 an underdeveloped plot opposite the Prozorov building was turned into a square; it was dotted with an obelisk-line monument to
Zigmas Angarietis Zigmas Angarietis (born Zigmontas Antanas Aleksa, ; 13 June 1882 – 22 May 1940) was a Lithuanian communist and revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Lithuania. He was one of the main people behind the short-lived Lithuani ...
. In 1977 the street gave name to a theatrical play, which presented an apologetic reconstruction of the January 1919 defence. At the time the street again acquired sort of prestigious status, as it hosted numerous central offices of the
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was ''de facto'' one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944 ...
: Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Furniture and Wood Processing, Ministry of Food Industry and Foreign Tourism Administration Office. The former Social Insurance building kept serving as medical centre. The Prozorov building was partially turned into the House of Culture; it accommodated a number of institutions, including periodically also a cinema. In 1949-1987 it hosted premises of the daily '' Sovetskaya Litva'' ("Soviet Lithuania").


Jakšto gatvė

In reborn Lithuania most streets bearing Soviet-flavoured names were renamed; Komunarų gatvė returned almost exactly to its previous name and became Jakšto gatvė. The Angarietis monument was also dismantled and removed. In the mid-1990s a large new building was constructed on site of derelict tenement; in the early 21st century the square which hosted the Angeretis monument was taken over by a luxurious apartment residence, with an abstract sculpture named "Ryšys" ("Link", "Connection") by Marijonas Šlektavičius situated at the front. Commemorative plaques honouring Lithuanian personalities (, Konstantinas Stašys, Antanas Vienuolis-Žukauskas) were mounted on various facades. The street retained its somewhat prestigious character: it hosts
Ministry of Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...
, Customs Department of the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
, and Special Investigation Service. Most buildings changed owners and underwent refurbishment; in 2023 office space was rented between 10 and €30 /m2 per month, while catering premises went for sale at some €4,000 /m2. Among hundreds of companies registered at Jakšto there are numerous law firms, trading companies and finance institutions. The Prozorov building is home to , which serves mostly as luxurious space for corporate events, weddings etc., though at times it accommodates also theatrical performances. The compound is to host a lavish hotel in the future.Aidas Pelenis,
Jakšto gatvėje bus rekonstruojamas istorinis pastatas: įkurdins viešbutį
', n:''Made in Vilnius'' service, also Karsokaitė 2020


Current street line-up

The postal code to all Jakšto Street buildings is 01105. The below table shows the buildings lined up. For convenience, the table is structured to correspond to the standard, north-oriented view of a map. Construction years are indicated in brackets. Note that there is no building numbered Jakšto Street 10. The building numbered Jakšto Street 16 stands in the backyard between the villa #14 and the residential block numbered Goštauto Street 3.


Scenes from street history


Footnotes

{{Reflist, 3


External links


street lined up at ''Vilniaus Katalogas'' service
Note interesting historical photos at the bottom
rare photo of the northern end
The building on north-western corner already stands, but the one on the north-eastern corner remains to be built. The photo must have been taken in 1955 or 1956
Jakšto - view from northern end
Note two massive Soviet residential buildings from the late 1950s and the sloping profile of the street. On the southern end the ground level is where first-floor windows are on the northern end
Jakšto - view from southern end.
Note Ubezpieczenia Społeczne building on the left (where cycling parkour and "Leonarda" cafe used to be), soviet-style office building with empty spots after removed USSR symbols on the right (where "Zacisze" restaurant used to be), and narrow street entry from Gedymino, resulting from interwar plot property mix
1938-built villa
It hosted Abwehr - Armia Krajowa talks between col. Christiansen and col. Krzyżanowski on February 12, 1944. Note the "US" (Ubezpieczalnia Społeczna) logotype on the fence metalwork, still visible
luxurious 2004-built apartment block
Note the "Ryšys" sculpture by Marijonas Šlektavičius. This place was earlier occupied by a square, which hosted monument to Zigmas Angarietis
modernist villa and older building
The villa was built in late 1930s, though it differed from the original Bukowski design. The building in the backyard is # Jakšto 16, present on some photos from the pre-WW1 period, se
here
(with smoke)
Jaksto seen from a drone hovering over the Buffalo Hill

Jaksto seen from a drone hovering over the Neris river

front-end: performance hall in Prozorov building, 2020

rear-end: backyard of Prozorov building, 2021

assortment of Jaksto photos/videos, apparently taken by a SIS employee
Streets in Vilnius