Church of St Peter and St Paul

From outside the church is restrained: a white Baroque front with two towers, built from 1668 by the hetman Michał Kazimierz Pac in fulfilment of a vow. Inside is the opposite. Italian stuccoists worked here for years and covered the vaults, walls, chapels and arches with figures in white plaster, saints, biblical scenes, allegories, soldiers, animals, plants and grotesques, running to something like two thousand pieces, with no paint and no gilding, so the whole interior is a single white relief surface lit by clear windows. A boat-shaped glass chandelier hangs in the nave. Pac is buried under the threshold at his own request, with an inscription about sinners. It is a short walk or bus ride out from the old town and among the finest Baroque interiors in the region.

History

A legend holds that the first wooden church here was founded by Petras Goštautas, inspired by a sculpture of an unknown knight found when the foundations were dug. The present church was commissioned by the hetman Michał Kazimierz Pac, finished by his brother Kazimierz Pac, Bishop of Samogitia, and consecrated in 1701, with the decoration completed in 1704 (Wikipedia, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Vilnius).

What's there

• Two thousand stucco figures - white plaster relief over every surface.
• The unpainted interior - no gilding, so form rather than colour carries it.
• The glass boat chandelier - the hanging piece in the nave.
• Pac's threshold burial - the founder's grave at the door.

When to go

Year round; the interior needs daylight to read the white relief, so a bright day is better. Services take precedence. It is open daily and a visit takes under an hour.

Good to know

The church is outside the old town and needs a short bus ride or a twenty-minute walk. There is no interpretation inside beyond leaflets. Photography may be restricted during services. The exterior gives no hint of what is inside.

Nearby

Vilnius old town lies southwest; Verkiai Palace is north.

Key facts