Seimas Palace () is the seat of the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

, the Lithuanian parliament. It is located in Lithuania's capital

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 ...

History

The decision to build a seat for the Supreme Soviet of Lithuanian SSR was made in 1969. The location of the Youth Football Stadium, in the

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 ...

, was chosen for the project. The stadium was then demolished. Architects

Algimantas Nasvytis Algimantas Nasvytis (8 April 1928 – 27 July 2018) was a Lithuanian architect. He was active in the pro-independence Sąjūdis movement and served as Minister of Construction and Urban Development in the first four Cabinets of Lithuania after L ...

and were chosen to design and supervise the project and decided on a square plan for the main building of the complex. In 1976, the construction works began on the of the first wing of the palace. In 1980, 9717.37 square meters of the palace were completed. Initially, the palace was named as "Soviet Palace". The other two wings housed the Ministry of Finance of Lithuanian SSR and the

Trade Unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

Council. Later the building was expanded due to growing needs. The final phase of the palace complex consists of three wings, with the main, or first wing, housing the Parliament Hall, where legislation is passed. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania's independence was re-established in the old Parliament Hall, where the re-establishment declaration from the

Soviet Union 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 ...

was adopted. On the same day, most of the emblems of the Lithuanian SSR, which were installed, were removed or covered by the

coat of arms of Lithuania The coat of arms of Lithuania features an armoured knight on horseback, wielding a sword and carrying a shield with a Jagiellonian cross. This emblem is known as ''Vytis'' (). Since the early 15th century, it has served as the official coat of ...

. In addition, in 1993–1997 the western wing of the first wing gave temporary shelter to the President of the Republic of Lithuania. Now, as in 1990–1992, it again houses the offices of the Speaker of Parliament and his Secretariat. In 2006, work started on building a new Parliament Hall. Employees in the second wing were housed in temporary accommodation. On 10 September 2007, the new Parliament Hall was officially opened. It cost fifty million

litas The Lithuanian litas (ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural ''litai'' (nominative) or ''litų'' (genitive) was the currency of Lithuania, until 1 January 2015, when it was replaced by the euro. It was divided into 100 centų (geniti ...

. The old Parliament Hall remained to be used for celebratory sessions of the Seimas (e. g. opening sessions of newly elected Seimas).

Gallery

Image:Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas (3).jpg, View of the First Seimas Palace Building from

Žvėrynas Bridge The Žvėrynas Bridge () is a bridge over the Neris River in Vilnius, Lithuania. It connects Naujamiestis, Vilnius, Naujamiestis with the district of Žvėrynas. History The bridge was first built of timber in 1892 by a landowner in Žvėryna ...

Image:Seimas — Parliament of Lithuania.jpg, Building 1 and 2 Image:Seimas 1 rumai vestibiulis.JPG, Interior of Building 1 Image:Seimas door.JPG, Door entrance Image:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - CES Seminar 'Baltic Freedom, The Next 20 Years" (30).jpg, Old Parliament Hall "Act of 11 March" Image:Seimas Constitution Hall1.JPG, Constitution Hall Image:Baltijas_Asamblejas_31.sesija_Viļņā_(8169464428).jpg, New Parliament Hall Image:LRS by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg, Central view of the New Parliament Hall Image:Seimas 3 rumai 2.JPG, Building 3 Image:Seimas barricades 2.jpg, Remains of the Seimas barricades Image:Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas (6).jpg, Boundary marker of the former defensive barricade

History

Gallery

References

See also