Vilnius was the most beautiful and greenest city in the north and maybe even in Europe. The magnificent palaces of magnates and residences of GLD dukes, churches and monasteries shining with luxury attracted the eyes of foreigners.
In the 17th century, the rich baroque- style churches attracted the eyes of travellers.
The fact of the founding of Vilnius was recorded in the old chronicles. It says that the Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania while hunting in the forests next to the river Neris spent the night there and saw in his dream a howling iron wolf. The wise men advised the Grand Duke on the place where he saw a wolf, to build a strong and undefeatable castle.
The Grand Duke liked this interpretation of the dream very much and he founded the city of Vilnius there. Grand Duke invited to the city merchants and artisans from the farthest lands to breathe new life into trade and crafts. Foreigners in Vilnius were exempted from all taxes and burdens, and their faith was not kept under control. Although at that time all Lithuanians still worshipped the idols, but as we can see from Gediminas' letter of 26 May 1323 to the Pope, the Duke had already built two Catholic churches in Vilnius for Bernardine and Dominican monks. One of them stood on the area of Vilnius Castle.
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