Museums in Kaunas

Kaunas city has around 40 museums. Kaunas boasts museums of art, nature, literature, history, science, and sports as well as historical and memorial museums. The variety provides something for everyone to discover, and you will find prices very reasonable.

 

 

M. K.CiurlionisNationalMuseum of Art can be described as the oldest and the biggest museum of art in Lithuania. It is the only place in the world where one can survey the evolution of Lithuanian art from the Middle Ages to the present day.  At present it is the largest museum of art in Lithuania and owns 334 758 items. Permanent exhibitions include: the works of the most prominent Lithuanian artist and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911), Lithuanian Art (15th-19th c.), Lithuanian Art (1st half of 20th c.), and Lithuanian Folk Art.

Prints, CDs and albums of M. K. Ciurlionis’s  work are available to buy at the Museum’s ticket office.

 

Mykolas Zilinskas Art Gallery
Kaunas Picture Gallery
Historical Presidential Palace of Lithuania
Ceramics Museum
Devils’ Museum
M. K. Ciurlionis Memorial Museum
Antanas Zmuidzinavicius Memorial  Museum
The Galaune Family House
Liudas Truikys and Marijona Rakauskaite Museum
Juozas Zikaras Museum
Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas Gallery

 

Source: www.muziejai.lt

 

 

The Gallery was designed by architects E. Miliunas, E. Kisielius, S. Juskys and built in 1989, in honor of the art collector Mykolas Zilinskas (1904–1922), who enriched many Lithuanian art collections donating more than 1600 art pieces. The museum collection consists of the M. K. Ciurlionis State Art Museum's most valuable collections of foreign art. The gallery houses the Contemporary Art Information Center, and the best movies are shown on a large screen at the Galerijos Kinas.

 

Source: www.muziejai.lt

 

 

The Devil Museum (Lithuanian: Velniu Muziejus) is the only one of its kind in the world and boasts a large collection (around 3000 exhibits) of depictions of devils, witches , various other kinds of wicked characters as well as masks of mythical creatures from all over the world. The museum has three floors full of a stunning array of devils in all shapes, sizes, colours and materials. Of particular interest are the Hitler and Stalin devils, doing the dance of death over a helpless Lithuania. The museum has a long-standing tradition: any visitors from foreign lands can bring their own native devil art to add to the collection, making for some interesting viewing.

 

 

The basement of the Town Hall houses a small but very cozy museum which has a regular exposition of Lithuanian ceramic art (15th-20th centuries), while contemporary ceramic exhibitions are regularly held here.TheDepartment of Archeology of the Kaunas Conservation Institute has transferred a collection of 30 000 items which includes archaeological finds from the excavations made in Kaunas Old Town and its surroundings between 1968 and 1997.The collection of the museum contains crockery, Renaissance and Baroque tiles, tile stove-ornaments, and roof tiles of impressive size. The exhibition not only presents ceramic work but also gives an idea of the city life of the time. At the museum, you can also get information about the technology behind the firing of ceramics.

 

Source: www.travel-lithuania.com

 

 

A wonderful collection of weapons and armor has been accumulated in the museum. Part of it is introduced in the exposition of the history of weapons , where you will find the traditions and style of the inter-war period has been preserved. The most interesting examples displayed include : mediaeval arbalests ( a type of stone-launching crossbow), bows, a collection of shafted weapons, suits of armor from the 16th century and representational shields from the 18th-19th centuries donated by the Countess Capskiene in the 1940s. Copies of Lithuanian guns of the 16th-17th centuries are part of an exhibition demonstrating the evolution of light firearms from the 15th century up to World War II.

 

Source: www.muziejai.lt

 

 

This unique museum houses a collection of thousands of stuffed and preserved animals skeletons, furs, skins and anatomical displays. It has more than 175 000 items in its collection. Arranged over several floors, the collection ranges from full grown giraffes to butterflies. Also included in the exhibition are the sounds of exotic as well as Lithuanian animals, and visitors will also find a tremendous amount of information about animal taxonomy, behaviour, geographic spread, and how animals have adapted to the environment. In the exposition’s historical section are the museum’s first display items, made over 150 years ago.
The museum also offers functional biological preparatory workshops, and taxidermy to order.

 
The Lithuanian Aviation Museum

 

This museum contains 13 300 displays of different fields of technology. The major part of the collection is memorials to the history of aviation in Lithuania, and includes 35 flying machines.
Following a co-operation agreement with the militarized fire-prevention unit of Kaunas in March, 1997, displays representing the history of fire fighting in Lithuania began to be collected as well.
15 700 publications are stored in the library of the museum. Visitors are shown 220 photographs reflecting the development of Lithuanian aviation from its birth to recent times. In the center of the hall, the collection displays propellers of the first airplanes of the air club and the Lithuanian military aviation wing, including the ANBO Lithuanian designed combat aircraft from World War II, designed by General. A.Gustaitis.
You can see 4 flying machines in the exposition, and beside them are lined up aviation engines used in various periods. In the halls models of airplanes, flyers, gliders and helicopters of various periods are demonstrated.

 

Source: www.muziejai.lt

 

The Ninth Fort is a stronghold in the northern Šilainiai elderate of the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, forming part of the Kaunas Fortress complex, constructed in the late 19th century. When the city was controlled by the Soviets, the stronghold was used as a prison and was a transit point for prisoners being transported to the Gulag. After the Nazis occupied the area, they used the fort as their place of execution for Jews, captured Soviets, and others. The Ninth Fort museum contains collections of historical artifacts related both to Soviet and Nazi genocides, as well as materials related to the earlier history of Kaunas and the Ninth Fort itself.

The memorial to the victims of fascism at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas, Lithuania, was designed by sculptor A. Ambraziunas. Erected in 1984, the monument is 105 feet (32 meters) high.

The Ninth Fort dungeon and defensive  wall is a separate element on an excursion itinerary. It is about 1 km long, and features guns and ammunition from the First and Second World Wars, and you can also view the ammunition depots and drinking water well used by the former sentries of the fort.