Vilnius defensive wall and the bastion

A hill over Vilnius city called Barbakanas contains some masonry buildings. It is the former Vilnius defensive wall and the bastion. Nowadays used as a nice place to relax, have a rest or join nice friend companies, long time ago it was a place where trash and death flourished.

In the junction of 15-16th centuries Lithuania faced threat of tartars and fast growing Russia. Inhabitants of Vilnius felt unsafe thus they asked the then leading Grand Duke Aleksandras to build a defensive wall. Under such circumstances, the defensive wall was started to build in 1503 by citizens themselves. These who were too weak to brick the masonry, still had to build the wall of wooden sharp stakes.