Laisvės alėja

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Laisvės Alėja in winter

Laisvės Alėja (literary Liberty Boulevard or Liberty Avenue) is a prominent pedestrian street in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania. It stretches between the St. Michael the Archangel's Byzantine style church to the Central Post Office and Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum around the Kaunas Old Town, the oldest section of Kaunas. For a long time it was main commercial district of Kaunas.

Stretching for 1,6 km, Laisvės Alėja is still the longest pedestrian street in Eastern Europe ^[1]. Motor vehicles cannot travel lengthwise up or down Laisvės Alėja, but can cross this pedestrian street at intersections with other streets where vehicle traffic is allowed. This boulevard is separated into two walkways by a median strip lined with linden trees.

Construction around Laisvės Alėja originally took place during the latter half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, however some construction continued even afterwards. Because of at the time built Kaunas Fortress all the buildings were limited to 2-3 floor size, with a few exceptions like St. Michael the Archangel's church built in 1895 in a place of a fountain.

In 1982, Laisvės Alėja was reconstructed according to plans of architects V. Palauskas and V. Paleckienė, and completely transformed into pedestrian area (as it was planned as early as in 1953).

Both Kaunas State Musical Theatre and Kaunas State Drama Theatre are located along the street, as well as the Kaunas Red Cross Hospital.