Gediminas Avenue

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Gediminas Avenue (Lithuanian: Gedimino prospektas) is the main street of Vilnius, where most of the governmental institutions of Lithuania are concentrated, including the government, parliament, and ministries. Nowadays it is also a popular shopping and dining street. It is partially a pedestrian street in the evenings when the traffic is prohibited.

Named after the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas, the street terminates at river Neris near Seimas on one end and at the Cathedral Square on the other. It connects the Old Town with Žvėrynas.

[edit] History

The street, built in 1836, was initially known as St. George Avenue, Mickiewicz Street (Polish: ulica Mickiewicza), when Vilnius was under the Polish rule (1920-1939) and Adolf Hitler Street during the Nazi Germany occupation. At the beginning of the Soviet occupation it was called Stalin Avenue, later renamed to Lenin Avenue. The avenue carries its present name since 1989.

[edit] See also

• Former Jabłkowski Brothers department store in Mickiewicz Street in Vilnius