Editing Kaunas (section)

==Cityscape==

===Urbanism and architecture===
{{wide image|Vytautas the Great Bridge from hill, Kaunas, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg|800px|align-cap=center|Panorama of the [[Centras eldership|Kaunas Old Town]] as seen from [[Aleksotas Hill]] with [[Church of Vytautas the Great]] and [[Kaunas Cathedral Basilica]] visible.|dir=rtl}}
[[File:Tower in Kaunas City Wall.jpg|thumb|Authentic surviving fragment of the [[Wall of Kaunas|Kaunas Defensive Wall]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Kaunas defence wall |url=https://www.visitkaunas.net/kaunas-defence-wall.html |website=VisitKaunas.lt |access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref>]]
The city plan is mixed. The rectangular [[Old Town, Kaunas|old town]] at the confluence of the [[Nemunas]] and the [[Neris]] rivers is rich in valuable buildings and their complexes. During the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic period]], the [[Kaunas Castle]] (13th–16th centuries), [[Old Kaunas Ducal Palace]] (15th century), [[Church of Vytautas the Great]] (beginning of the 15th century; also known as the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), [[Church of Saint Nicholas, Kaunas|Church of Saint Nicholas]] (late 15th century), [[St. George the Martyr Church, Kaunas|St. George's Church and the Bernardine Monastery]] (1472), [[Church of St. Gertrude, Kaunas|Church of St. Gertrude]] (15th–16th centuries; also has [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] elements), [[Kaunas Cathedral Basilica]] (construction began in the 15th century; later was reconstructed and expanded), [[Town Hall, Kaunas|Kaunas Town Hall]] (construction began in 1542; later gained late [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] and early [[Classical architecture|Classicism]] forms), [[House of Perkūnas]] (late 15th century – early 16th century), residential houses in the Town Hall Square, Vilnius and Kurpių Streets were built.<ref name="KaunasArchitecture">{{cite web |title=Kauno architektūra |url=https://www.vle.lt/Straipsnis/Kauno-architektura-125061 |website=[[Vle.lt]] |language=lt |access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref> The ensemble of the [[Kaunas Priest Seminary|Church of the Holy Trinity and the Bernardine monastery]] (started in the late 16th century), the so-called Napoleonic House (16th century) has Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and [[Mannerist architecture|Mannerist]] architecture features.<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/> The Renaissance remains of Kaunas defensive fortifications have survived (2nd half of the 17th century).<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/>

[[File:Church of St Francis Xavier and Kaunas Town Hall (2017).jpg|thumb|left|[[Church of St. Francis Xavier, Kaunas|Church of St. Francis Xavier]], built by the [[Jesuit]]s in 1666–1732, and [[Town Hall, Kaunas|Kaunas Town Hall]], dating to 1542]]
[[File:Pažaislis Monastery interior 1, Kaunas, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg|thumb|[[Pažaislis Monastery]] complex has the most [[marble]]-decorated [[Baroque]] church of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]]]
One of the most famous monuments of Baroque architecture is the ensemble of [[Pažaislis Monastery|Pažaislis Church and Monastery]] (started in 1667, architects G. Frediani, C. Puttini, P. Puttini).<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/> Other Baroque style buildings: [[Kaunas Lutheran Holly Trinity Church]] (1683; in 1862 Romanticism style bell tower was built, its architect was J. Woller), [[Corpus Christi Church, Kaunas|Corpus Christi Church]] (1690, in 1866 was reconstructed to an Orthodox church gained [[Eastern Orthodox church architecture|Byzantine forms]]), [[Church of St. Francis Xavier, Kaunas|Church of St. Francis Xavier]] (1720; towers were built in 1725); Baroque and Classicism elements: the ensemble of the [[Church of the Holy Cross, Kaunas|Church of the Holy Cross]] (1690) and the Carmelite Monastery (1777), [[Siručiai Palace]] (18th century; also known as [[Maironis]] House, from 1936 is used as the [[Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum]]).<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/>

Forms of classicist architecture are typical in the [[Aukštoji Freda Manor]] (early 19th century), post station building complex (early 19th century; architect J. Poussier).<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/> Notable buildings of the [[Historicism]] period in Kaunas are: [[Kaunas State Musical Theatre]] (1892; architect J. Golinevičius; was expanded in the 20th century), [[St. Michael the Archangel Church, Kaunas|St. Michael the Archangel Church]] ([[Byzantine Revival architecture|Neo-Byzantine]] style; architect K. Limarenko), brick style Saulės Gymnasium building (1913; engineer F. Malinovskis, later E. A. Frykas), [[Kaunas Fortress]] (1889).<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/>

[[File:Kaunas Central Post Office in 2020.jpg|thumb|right|[[Kaunas Central Post Office]] is one of the most recognizable buildings of [[interwar Lithuania]]]]
[[File:Aerial photo of Vytautas the Great War Museum in Kaunas, Lithuania by Augustas Didžgalvis.jpg|thumb|right|[[Vytautas the Great War Museum, Kaunas|Vytautas the Great War Museum]] with tower of the [[Kaunas Carillon]]]]
[[File:Romuva Cinema in Kaunas, Lithuania in 2015.jpg|thumb|left|[[Romuva Cinema]], the oldest still operational [[movie theater]] in Lithuania, which was initially opened in 1940]]
In the first half of the 20th century, when Kaunas became the [[temporary capital of Lithuania]] in 1919, the city was extensively modernized and thousands of new buildings were built. From 1918 to 1940 more than 12.000 construction permits were issued in Kaunas, which was an extremely rapid growth for a relatively small-scale city (90.000 inhabitants) that fundamentally changed the city's character.<ref>{{cite web |title=Modernusis Kaunas: optimizmo architektūra, 1919–1939 |url=https://modernizmasateiciai.lt/unesco/ |website=modernizmasateiciai.lt |access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref> The construction permits resulted in more than 10.000 buildings being built in the city and the area of Kaunas expanded 7,1 times during the interwar period.<ref name="IPKaunas"/> [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassicism]] prevailed in the 3rd decade of the 20th century ([[Kaunas School of Arts]], built in 1923, [[Bank of Lithuania]] building, built in 1928, [[Palace of Justice and the Parliament]] with [[Art Deco]] elements, built in 1930) and a search for the Lithuanian national style was typical (e.g. residential house of ''Ragutis'' factory, built in 1925<ref>{{cite web |title=Fabriko "Ragutis" gyvenamasis namas |url=http://www.autc.lt/lt/architekturos-objektai/961?id=961 |website=autc.lt |language=lt |access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref>).<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/> The styles of Classicism and [[Modern architecture|Modernism]] intertwined in buildings built in the beginning of the 1930s (e.g. Faculty of Medicine at [[Vytautas Magnus University]], built in 1933, now belongs to the [[Lithuanian University of Health Sciences]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Faculty of Medicine at Vytautas Magnus University |url=http://www.autc.lt/en/architecture-objects/1022 |website=autc.lt}}</ref> [[Vytautas the Great War Museum]] and [[M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum]], built in 1936<ref>{{cite web |title=Vytautas the Great War Museum and M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum |url=http://www.autc.lt/en/architecture-objects/800 |website=autc.lt |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref>), while Modernism and national style intertwined in the [[Kaunas Central Post Office]] (architect F. Vizbaras), built in 1932,<ref>{{cite web |title=Kaunas Central Post Office |url=http://tarpukaris.autc.lt/en/search/object/64/kaunas-central-post-office |website=tarpukaris.autc.lt |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref> [[Kaunas Garrison Officers' Club Building]] (architect S. Kudokas and others), built in 1937.<ref>{{cite web |title=Officers club Ramovė |url=http://www.autc.lt/en/architecture-objects/881 |website=autc.lt |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/>

The most notable [[Rationalism (architecture)|Rationalism]] style buildings in Kaunas are: [[Christ's Resurrection Church, Kaunas|Christ's Resurrection Church]] (construction began in 1933, but it was converted into a radio factory from 1952 and so it was returned to the believers only in 1990 and was reconstructed in 2005), palaces of ''Pienocentras'' (architects [[Vytautas Landsbergis-Žemkalnis]], K. Reisonas), ''Pažangos'' with [[Art Deco]] decoration elements (architect F. Vizbaras), [[Physical Culture Palace|Physical Culture]] (architect V. Landsbergis‑Žemkalnis, now belongs to the [[Lithuanian Sports University]]), ''Prekybos, pramonės ir amatų'' (1938, architect V. Landsbergis‑Žemkalnis), ''Taupomųjų kasų'' (1939; architects A. Funkas, B. Elsbergas, A. Lukošaitis; now is the primary building of Kaunas City Municipality);<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/> [[Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Kaunas|Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus]] (1938; architect A. Šalkauskis), Military Research Laboratory for the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense (1938; architect V. Landsbergis‑Žemkalnis; now Faculty of Chemical Technology at [[Kaunas University of Technology]]),<ref>{{cite web |title=Military Research Laboratory for the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense |url=http://www.autc.lt/en/architecture-objects/1019 |website=autc.lt |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref> [[Kaunas Clinics]] complex (1939; French architect U. Cassan), [[Kaunas Sports Hall]] (1939; engineer A. Rozenbliumas), [[Pasaka Cinema]] (1939), [[Romuva Cinema]] (1940), residential houses complex in V. Putvinskio Street (formed in 1928–1937).<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/> In 2023, the [[UNESCO]] World Heritage Centre included the Kaunas modernist architecture into the List of [[World Heritage Site]]s.<ref name="UNESCO"/>

After [[World War II]] buildings of pseudoclassical forms were built (e.g. [[Kaunas railway station]], built in 1953), complex engineering structures ([[Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant]], built in 1960). From the 7th decade of the 20th century Modernism style buildings were further developed. New residential areas were built (e.g. [[Kalniečiai]], completed in 1985), public buildings (e.g. Industrial Construction Design Institute, 1966,<ref>{{cite web |title=Pramoninės statybos projektavimo instituto rūmai ("Pramprojektas") |url=http://www.autc.lt/lt/architekturos-objektai/209 |website=autc.lt |language=lt |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref> House for Political Education (now part of [[Vytautas Magnus University]]), 1976),<ref>{{cite web |title=House for Political Education (now Vytautas Magnus University) |url=http://www.autc.lt/en/architecture-objects/570 |website=autc.lt |access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref> shopping malls (e.g. Girstupis, 1975, Vitebskas, 1980, Kalniečių, 1986), shops (Viešnagė, 1982, Merkurijus, 1983), galleries (e.g. [[Kaunas Picture Gallery]], 1978, [[Mykolas Žilinskas Art Gallery]], 1989), educational institutions (e.g. Faculty of Light Industry at Kaunas University of Technology, 1983).<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/>

[[File:Business center 1000 in Kaunas by Augustas Didžgalvis.jpg|thumb|Business centre decorated with a 1000 [[Lithuanian litas]] banknote design]]
In the late 20th century and early 21st century, buildings were built in Kaunas based on the projects of architects V. Adomavičius (e.g. Ąžuolynas Sports Center Complex, 2003), G. Jurevičius (e.g. Peugeot, Toyota, Lexus, Honda car showrooms), A. Kančas (e.g. Aleksotas Church of St. Casimir, 1997, company Kraft Foods Lietuva administrative and laboratory buildings complex, 2001, shopping and entertainment center Akropolis, 2007), A. Karalius (building materials salon Iris, 2002, block of flats ''Aušros namai'', 2005), D. Paulauskienė (e.g. Catherine's Monastery, 2000) E. Miliūnas (e.g. [[Žalgiris Arena]], 2001), G. Janulytė‑Bernotienė (e.g. Library and Health Sciences Information Center of [[Lithuanian University of Health Sciences]], 2007, Center for Science Studies and Business of Kaunas University of Technology Santakos Valley, 2013), G. Balčytis (e.g. Kaunas Bus Station reconstruction, 2017), G. Natkevičius (e.g. Moxy Kaunas Center Hotel), [[Algirdas Kaušpėdas|A. Kaušpėdas]], V. Klimavičius, D. Laurinaitienė.<ref name="KaunasArchitecture"/>