Vilnius · Old Town · Lithuania

Gates of Dawn

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easy

9/10

best: morning

spiritual, historic, mysterious

A local would say...

The Russian empire demolished the city walls but refused to touch this gate — the icon inside made them nervous.

The only surviving gate of the nine original gates in Vilnius' 16th-century city walls, housing a chapel with a miraculous black-and-gold Virgin Mary icon that is one of the holiest in Polish Catholicism, attracting the faithful from across Central and Eastern Europe. When the Russians destroyed the old city walls in the 18th century, they deliberately left this gate standing, fearing bad luck if they touched the icon's resting place. Four remarkable baroque churches cluster in the immediately surrounding streets.