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City

Kaunas

The interwar capital of modernism and devils.

10 museums
All museums ↓
📷 Vilensija · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Kaunas, Lithuania's second city, has a medieval old town, a long pedestrian avenue and hundreds of 1930s modernist buildings.

The story of Kaunas

Walk Laisvės alėja, the avenue of freedom, from the white Church of St Michael to the old town and Kaunas Castle where the two rivers meet. See Čiurlionis at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, laugh at the thousands of devils in the Devils' Museum, and visit the Sugihara House, the Japanese consulate of 1940. Look up at the modernist facades, from the Central Post Office to the villas of Žaliakalnis hill.

  • 2022Kaunas is a European Capital of Culture
  • 2023Modernist Kaunas on the UNESCO list

Kaunas through time

The big moments, and where to see them today.

  1. 1920Kaunas becomes the temporary capital.See it: Vytautas the Great War Museum
  2. 1940Sugihara writes visas for refugees.See it: Sugihara House

What to do in Kaunas

  1. 01

    M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art

    The largest collection of Čiurlionis' paintings.

    Kaunas2 hours
  2. 02

    Devils' Museum

    More than 3,000 devils from around the world.

    Kaunas1 hour
  3. 03

    Sugihara House

    The consul who saved thousands of lives.

    Kaunas1 hour
  4. 04

    Vytautas the Great War Museum

    Lithuania's fight for freedom, under a carillon tower.

    Kaunas1 to 2 hours
Getting there

Getting to Kaunas

Almost every museum is easy to reach by public transport.

Getting around Kaunas

Lines and timetables change. Check the operator’s website before you travel.

On the map

Route ↗
Hidden story

Visas for life

A Japanese consul in Kaunas saved thousands of Jews.

Read the storyClose

In the summer of 1940, Chiune Sugihara, Japan's consul in Kaunas, wrote transit visas by hand, day and night, against his government's orders, for Jewish refugees from Poland and Lithuania. He is said to have still been writing visas from the train window as he left. Thousands of people escaped through Japan. His consulate is now a small museum.