The Muscovite occupation lasted for 6 years and 4 months. Muscovite forces took Vilnius and started killing residents who could not escape, burning their houses, looting churches, and raping women. Out of 33 churches, 28 were desecrated. The town hall and here stored Lithuanian archive were burned, all noblemen's palaces were destroyed, and the Lower Castle was destroyed.
A few days later Tsar Alexei appeared here, his way was carpeted with stolen carpets, and but was forced to stay in the tent.
In half a year, everything calmed down, but the occupiers kept control of the city. Those who wanted to leave the city had to leave a relative as a hostage, and after coming back they were interrogated.
In 18 months after the occupation a plague epidemic broke out. Less than in a year it caused the death almost a half of Vilnius citizens. The poor and the middle class suffered the most, and the rich quickly fled the city.
Plague government was introduced in the city. Wight locked all the city gates and kept the keys himself. Only the Rūdininkai gate remained open but was put under strict guard. Envoys of the other countries were not allowed to enter the city. The townspeople had to stand next to the bonfire and get purified with smoke to enter the city.
It was believed that smoke kills plague bacteria, even the letters sent from Vilnius were also purified with smoke. Locals were robbing empty houses, so 30 armed men were patrolling day and night, and those who were caught were sent to the Vilnius executioner. The city faded out: the market did not work, shops and taverns were closed, and the Neris port stopped functioning. The Squares and the streets were empty, and people avoided each other, even when the will was being written, the sick person was separated by the wall from the scriber. The supply of goods was interrupted, and people were starving. Vilnius was devastated by four calamities: plague, famine, fire, and war.
Almost for 400 years until the 19th century Lukiškės port operated next to the current Seimas. Lots of different ships passed from and to Vilnius every year. A lot of different goods were loaded into the boats and ships moored at Lukiškės. The names of the old ships were interesting: Vytinės, Štugai, Škutos. They were quite simple, with oars, and only the Vytinė (Lithuanian river boat) had one sail. The ships had flat bottom, as the draft could not exceed half a meter.
Before the railway started operating, water transport was the most efficient, as the season lasted for 9 months, it was cheap, several times cheaper than transporting goods by carts. The work of the port was briefly stopped once in 1660, when the Moscow army occupied Vilnius and set fire to the warehouses, ships and piers while retreating, but everything was quickly restored.
The merchants shipped grain, hemp oil, hides, wood, and honey. A lot of herring and salt were brought to Vilnius. Salt was very expensive: 250 barrels of salt could cost as much as a good mansion. Only men worked on the ships, the captains looked after the rowers and the burlaks who towed the ships against the current. The longer ships had 20 crew members The ships covered their way from Vilnius to the Baltic Sea in two weeks
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