Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard

Scott and I had a free day in Vilnius after we completed our family history tour so we decided to visit a couple of places that we had not visited before.

On the day we initially went to St. Anne's Church in Vilnius, the church was closed for major renovations. But in addition to St. Anne's Church, there is another church dedicated to St. Francis and St. Bernard adjacent to it.

Bernardine monks built a wooden church in the second half of the 15th century, and at the end of the same century - a brick one. In the early 16th century, it was reconstructed. At the beginning of the 16th century, the church was incorporated into the construction of the Vilnius defensive wall, so there are shooting openings in its walls. Afterward, it was renewed many times, particularly after the 1655-61 war with Moscow, when the Cossacks ravaged the church killing the monks and citizens who had taken shelter there. According to the legend, the Bernardine monks used to tell such good sermons that crowds would come to listen. That is why the church is so large.

Stanisław "the Pious" Radziwiłł (12 May 1559 – 19 March 1599) was a sixth-generation Radziwill family noble of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and was buried in this church. He was a general elder of the Duchy of Samogitia (from 1595 until his death) and the Great Lithuanian Marshal (from 1592 until his death). Raised as a Calvinist, he converted to Roman Catholicism and was known as a very pious person. He was also known for his scholarly interests - he collected books and could read in many languages.Read more