My native town
I live in Lithuania. In town that is called Kaunas. Kaunas is second city in Lithuania. Kaunas is almost exactly in the center of Lithuania. It is highlighted by the valleys of the Nemunas and the Neris – two longest rivers in Lithuania. There live 600 thousand people. I think Kaunas is the most Lithuanian town, because there are about 90 percents people who are Lithuanian. Archaeologists determined that there were people living at the crossing of the Nemunas and the Neris rivers already in the 3rd or 4th century. Kaunas had a big castle, but now we have just a small corner of it. Kaunas began to grow rapidly in 1410. By 1897, there were already 71 thousand people living in Kaunas. When capital of Lithuania Vilnius was occupied by Polish forces, Kaunas became the provisional capital of Lithuania. During this period, population in Kaunas increased to 150 thousand and many buildings of great architectural significance were built.We have two main parts of town. It is the Old town and the New town. At first I would like to speak about our Old town. The Old town is at the crossing of the Nemunas and the Neris. The Old town is interesting from many points of view. It is like a museum of architecture in the open air. I’ll go from rivers crossing through Town Hall (Rotušės square), and the surrouding streets. There are concentrated nearly all of the most significant old architectural monuments of the city. These monuments have been restored and adapted to modern-day needs. It is best to tour the Old town by foot, because many of the streets are blocked off into pedestrian zones. Most of buildings were wooden in Middle Ages, but nearly all of them burned down during one of the bigger fires. Then people build stone buildings, starting with town hall, for which the corner stone was laid in 1542. The first town hall was constructed over a period of almost fourteen years. The town hall is like a white swan in the Old town. Now this building serves as the wedding palace and the museum of ceramics. If you walk around the square you will see two valuable buildings as an architectural and a historical point to view. On one side you will find Jesuit church of baroque and in other side Maironis museum. If you are interested in medicine, you might also want to stop at the museum of medicine and pharmacy. Kaunas cathedral is huge stone building and it is the largest Gothic monument in Lithuania. Right next to town hall is building called Perkūnas house. It is one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in Lithuania. There is Vytautas church near the bank of Nemunas.
Now I would like to talk about the New town. The New town is located to the east of Old town and connected with it by Vilnius avenue, this region got his name more historically. The New town began to form in the middle 19th century, when Kaunas became the district center. Main street is Laisvės avenue, which was first outlined in 1871. One and half kilometre walkway begins from church of St. Michael the Archangel. The street is bordered by colourful buildings and various shop windows. Next to the church is the Art gallery, where you can see paintings painted by German-Lithuanian Mykolas Žilinskas. In Laisvės avenue you can also find the Drama theatre, Puppet theatre and hidden among the trees in a public garden Musical theatre. It was the first theatre built in Kaunas. Beside the theatre is Kaunas local administration building. Next to it is a statue of Vytautas Magnus, famous grand duke, who won the Žalgiris battle. There is a memorial stab in honor of Romas Kalanta, a student, who burned himself during anti-Soviet demonstration in public garden. In Vienybės square you can find Vytautas Magnus War museum, which is one of the richest historical expositions in Lithuania. There is M. K. Čiurlionis art museum in this square. On the other side of the street is A. Žmuidzinavičius museum, which has come to be known as the Devil museum, because of its popular collection of devil figures and representations. In the center of Vienybės square is the Lithuanian independence memorial. The Statue of Freedom, which commemorates the restoration of Lithuanian self-dependence. There is the Grave of Unknown Soldier in this square too.Now I would like to talk about part of town, where I live. It is called Žaliakalnis. There are a lot of parks in this district: Draugystės park and Ąžuolynas park are the well known. To the north of Ąžuolynas park is a zoo. It is the only in Lithuania. To the south of the park is Sports hall, where basketball team Žalgiris plays. Žalgiris is the pride of Kaunas. They won Euroleague cup this year. There is Kaunas Technological University in Žaliakalnis.Kaunas is one of the biggest industrial centers in Lithuania. The main branches of towns industry are machine-tool and metal working, food, chemical, building materials, printing and publishing, and various lights industries. There are many private enterprises too.Kaunas is the students city too. There are Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas Technological University, Medical Academy, Academy of Veterinary Surgery and Physical Training Institute.My native town 2
I live in Lithuania. In town that is called Kaunas. Kaunas is second city in Lithuania. It is highlighted by the valleys of the Nemunas and the Neris – two longest rivers in Lithuania. There live 600 thousand people. There are about 90 percents people who are Lithuanian. Kaunas began to grow rapidly in 1410. By 1897, there were already 71 thousand people living in Kaunas. When capital of Lithuania Vilnius was occupied by Polish forces, Kaunas became the provisional capital of Lithuania. During this period, population in Kaunas increased to 150 thousand and many buildings significance were built.Kaunas is one of the biggest industrial centers in Lithuania. The main branches of towns industry are machine-tool and metal working, food, chemical, building materials, printing and publishing, and various lights industries. There are many private enterprises too.