The courtyard of the Bishops’ Palace

Series ‘Old Vilnius’, 1926, fascicle II.

There used to be a corps de garde, the headquarters of military guards, in the spacious yard of the governor-general’s residence, converted from the Bishops’ Palace in the 19th century. The only such structure in Lithuania, built in the Late Classical style between 1825 and 1832, it was designed by the Russian architect Vasily Stasov, who also adapted the old Palace as the governor-general’s residence. The corps de garde building, with colonnade, completes the curved courtyard, but in Hoppen’s etching it forms only the lower part of the view. The sturdy buildings above it, and the walls and dome of the Dominican Church, give an impression of an old, stately city, which is reinforced by the balanced composition and the low viewpoint.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Series ‘Old Vilnius’, 1926, fascicle II