Pažaislis Monastery

Founded in 1662 by the   for the Order of the  , the main construction continued until 1674 and resumed in 1712. The monastery was designed by Pietro Puttini, Carlo and , and Giovanni Battista Frediani. The interior stucco work is ascribed to Joan Merli and the frescos to Michelangelo Palloni. In 1755 the addition of the towers and the dome was funded by the king's chamberlain.

The monastery's church, decorated with highly polished marble, was damaged by the horses of Napoleon's army which was based in the complex. In 1832 the monastery was closed by the Russian authorities and later converted into an . The author of the national anthem , , was interred there in 1870. In 1915-1918 when the Orthodox monks had fled a German war hospital was established in the monastery. After 1920 the ruined monastery returned to Roman Catholics and was restored by sisters of the Lithuanian of . After , the authorities converted the church and monastery into an archive, a and finally an (in 1966). In 1990s the complex was returned by the newly independent Lithuania to the nuns of the convent and reconstruction work began.