The White Swan Town Hall

Kaunas Town Hall, called the White Swan, was built in the sixteenth century and was considered the center of the city. On the square near it all the significant city events took place, the main market worked there. Now this building is a landmark of Kaunas and one of the most significant Lithuanian buildings of the Middle Ages. It hosts wedding ceremonies, official meetings of high-ranking guests of the city, as well as political acts and agreements.

Initially, the town hall was a one-storey building with a nondescript facade, then it was completed with a second floor and a high tower. At this time, on the first floor there were rooms for trade and jailers. Above were the court, the magistrate, and the treasury, the archive, and the office. Food was stored in the basement of the town hall, and there was a prison under the tower.

In 1638, the town hall, built in the Gothic style, was restored in the style of the Renaissance. Subsequently, it was rebuilt and reconstructed several times, something was demolished, and somewhere, on the contrary, completed. As a result, the town hall was supplemented with decorations in the Baroque style and classicism, the tower received an additional floor - now there are nine. And on the pediment there were statues of the great Lithuanian princes, which stood until the nineteenth century.

It is worth saying that at this time the town hall was used for different purposes. There was an ammunition depot, then the residence of the Russian tsars, the Kaunas City Club, the Russian club worked there. A fire department was based in the town hall. And after it, the premises were given to the Russian theater.

In 1973, the town hall again decided to reconstruct and the building was badly damaged. To restore the destroyed began in the 2000s and while this is the last construction work that survived the town hall. Now it is painted in the color of ivory and no longer shines as white as before, for which she once earned her nickname “White Swan”.