The magnificent Late Baroque church and monastery at Pažaislis on the eastern edge of Kaunas was built in the 17th century by Italian master craftsmen for the obscure Camaldolese Monks. The Lithuanian nobleman and Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kristupas Zigmantas Pacas (Polish. Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac, 1621-1684) invited the monks here and commissioned three Italian masters from Florence, Michelangelo Palloni, Joan Merli and Pietro Pertito to oversee the work, which took more than 60 years to complete. In 1831 tsar Alexander I evicted the monks and gave the monastery to Russian Orthodox priests who remained there until the German invasion of 1915. In 1920 a group of American nuns took over the empty ensemble but were forced out by the Soviets soon after they recaptured Lithuania in 1944. During the Soviet occupation the buildings were used as an archive and mental hospital among other things before being handed over to the M. K. Čiurlionis State Art Museum in 1966. The nuns returned in 1990 and opened much of the grounds to the public. In 2011 a small museum was opened inside the ensemble which traces the history of the buildings from their founding to the present. To get there during the summer, take trolleybus N°9 or 12 all the way to the monastery. If you go at any other time you need to travel to the last stop and walk further along the road in the direction of the trolleybus. The complex is well signposted on the left.
Admission 10/5Lt
Pažaislis Monastery is an inspirational masterpiece of baroque architecture! It will take your breath away! The new museum is well organized and very informative. It is a lovely addition to the Pažaislis Monastery.