The main city of Lithuania is one of the smallest capitals in Europe. It is located at the confluence of the Vilnia and Neris rivers, in the very southeast of the country. Interestingly, Vilnius is the only European capital where 100% of the water supply comes from underground sources.
The population of Vilnius is about 600,000 people (more than 60% of them are Lithuanians).
Long ago, the area where modern Vilnius now stands was covered with dense forests — filled with countless birds and wild animals. Duke Gediminas, the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, loved to hunt in these lands. During one such hunt, Gediminas spent the night in the forest and had an extraordinary dream: he was chasing a giant iron-clad wolf, shooting arrow after arrow, but couldn’t kill it!
Upon waking, Gediminas asked an old pagan priest to interpret his dream. The elder said briefly: here, on the hill, at the very mouth of the Vilnia River, he should build a castle — as strong and unassailable as the iron wolf he saw in his dream. The ruler obeyed, and thus, centuries ago, the city of Vilnius was founded. Today, tourists can still climb the legendary Hill of Gediminas and see the ruins of the Upper Castle.
