Thought to have begun life as a cemetery way back in 1809, the so-called Soldiers' Cemetery (Karių Kapinės) can be found in the forested area of Antakalnis a couple of kilometres or so from Old Town. The Polish soldiers' graveyard, distinguished by undulating rows of identical headstones, lies to the left of the entrance. Nearby stands a small collection of Tartar graves complete with Islamic symbols. To the left and deeper into the cemetery, large Soviet soldiers guard the (no-longer burning) eternal flame. To the soldiers' right is the ghastly Soviet memorial encasing the graves of Soviet Lithuania's dignitaries. Take a hike up the stairs on your left to reach the 'red star' graves of Soviet soldiers who died fighting Lithuanian partisans. Perhaps most poignant are the graves of the border guards murdered by the Soviets at Medininkai on July 31, 1991 and the civilians killed by Soviet paratroopers during the January 1991 demonstrations, all guarded by a stunning Pietà. Still in use, among the more notable recent additions are a large patch of grass surrounded by a tiny concrete wall and containing the remains of the Napoleonic soldiers discovered in the city in 2002, and the final resting place of the often overlooked Lithuanian composer Antanas Rekašius (1928-2003).
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Following the destruction in the mid-1960s of the original cemetery in Lukiškės, the former traditional home of the city’s Karaite and Tatar communities, a new cemetery was opened in a remote area in the southern part of Vilnius close to the airport. Among the graves, which are marked in an extraordinary mixture of Hebrew (Karaite) and Arabic (Tatar), is that of the Karaite scientist, historian and head of the Lithuanian and Polish Karaite communities Chadži Seraja Chan Šapšalas (Pol. Hadżi Seraja Chan Szapszał, 1873-1961). The cemetery is still in use, but is generally closed to visitors. According to tradition, women are forbidden from visiting. Find it on the stretch of Žirnių to the east of the road to the airport, before the ski slopes on the north side. [...]

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A cemetery of one sort or another has been known to exist here since victims of the plague were buried on the site in 1710. During the German occupation of Vilnius during WWI the cemetery was used for soldiers from the German, Turkish, Polish and Russian armies. In 1948 at the height of the destruction of the final resting places of many of the former inhabitants of the city, the Soviet authorities ripped up the gravestones and the site lay abandoned until 1980 when it was unceremoniously turned into a children’s playground and public toilet. Thanks to the efforts of the Germans, the 6.5 hectare site was renovated in 2001, with various markers and a large monument placed where specific burial sites were known to exist. At the eastern entrance of Vingio Parkas, the cemetery offers a poignant glimpse inside the former rich ethnic tapestry that once made up the population of the city.
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