Kaunas, Kaunas City Municipality
Kaunas
late Baroque twin-towered Jesuit church with monastery and gymnasium
Rotušės a. 8, Kaunas
54.89600, 23.88600
30-60 minutes
year-round; daylight is good for the facade and interior, while outside service times is calmer for viewing
Kaunas Jesuit Church, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
A twin-towered landmark on Town Hall Square
St. Francis Xavier Church rises with two slender Baroque towers on the southern side of Town Hall Square, opposite Kaunas Town Hall. Together with the Jesuit monastery and gymnasium, it occupies almost an entire old-town block, so this is not only a church but a large Jesuit ensemble. The main church facade is one of the square's most important landmarks.
The Jesuits settled in Kaunas in 1642, lived in houses on Town Hall Square, and soon founded a school that grew into a college in 1653. Important scholars of the period are connected with the Kaunas Jesuits: historian Albertas Vijukas-Kojalavicius, theologian Mikalojus Lancicijus, and architect Tomas Zebrauskas, who taught here.
Construction history and Baroque towers
Construction of the masonry church began in 1666, the main works were completed around 1720, and the towers were built in 1725; the church was consecrated on December 3, 1722, under the title of St. Francis Xavier. The great Kaunas fire of 1732 damaged the church, monastery, and college, so the towers and interior were later rebuilt. The second tower was completed around 1751, and in 1759 Samogitian bishop Antanas Tiskevicius reconsecrated the church with twelve altars.
It is a three-nave late Baroque basilica with a semicircular presbytery apse and two symmetrical towers flanking the main entrance. Because the church was built on the site of earlier buildings, its foundations and lower walls contain masonry remains from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Jesuits, Franciscans, and an Orthodox cathedral
After the Jesuit order was suppressed in 1773, the church and monastery gradually passed to the Franciscans. In 1819-1823 the poet Adam Mickiewicz lived in a former monastery cell while teaching at the Kaunas county school. In 1812 the church was looted and set on fire.
Under the Russian Empire, the church passed to the Orthodox and in the mid-nineteenth century was converted into Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, with the altars demolished. It remained so until 1915. In 1923 the church was returned to the Jesuits, services resumed in 1924 and a gymnasium was established, and in 1925 two more floors were added above the two-storey monastery according to architect E. Pejeris's project.
From sports hall back to the Jesuits
During the Soviet period, in 1949, the monastery and church were closed: schools occupied the buildings, and the church itself was turned into a sports hall. In 1990 the ensemble was returned to the Jesuits, the restored church was reconsecrated in 1992, and Kaunas Jesuit Gymnasium was re-established in 1991.
In 2016 restored facade frescoes with three saints were unveiled, the interior was renewed, Perkūnas House in the ensemble was repaired, and an observation platform was arranged. Today this is a living place of the Jesuit community and gymnasium in the heart of the old town.
How to visit the Jesuit church
The church is convenient to view with Town Hall Square, Perkūnas House, and other old-town sites; allow about an hour for the whole block. The exterior can be seen at any time, while the interior is best visited outside service times.
This is an active rectorate church, so entry is usually free. At the time of research, service and visiting schedules were best checked on the official Kaunas Archdiocese page because they can change.
