Vilnius's Tilto Street: Legends and archaeological data

Abstract

Since the 15th century, present-day Tilto Street and the surrounding area in Vilnius have long been an integral part of the suburb of Łukiszki, which has experienced many changes over several centuries. It was the west road leading to the castles, the site of the camp of the late 14th-century Crusader army that attacked Vilnius, and was close to the site of the Radziwiłł Palace of the late 15th–16th century. This wet, swampy northeastern part of Łukiszki was not very hospitable for habitation, its significance coming from its natural situation and topography, i.e. its location near the confluence of the Neris and Vilnia Rivers, as well as its roads leading west. In addition, a hypothesis has been raised in the historiography that it may have been part of the Swintoroha Valley, a legendary centre of pagan worship. This entity, its likely location, and even its very existence raises many questions, which, in the absence of written sources, archaeological data can help to answer. Recent decades have seen an increase in archaeological research in this part of the city. Particularly useful has been the project in the vicinity of the former Radziwiłł Palace, in the northeast of the suburb, which yielded information that provided a very good reflection of the period when this area was an integral part of the Radziwiłł estate and supplemented and corrected the knowledge historical sources have provided about the development of Tilto Street and the surrounding area, which is especially important in recreating the area’s earliest history, on which written sources have shed little light.