On the occasion of the 700th birthday of Vilnius, the geographical system of the history of Vilnius ”Vilnius DNA“ was opened to the public, which for the first time provides digitized large-scale topographic plans of the city from different periods, information on geographical objects of the present and the past, historical events, and personalities and signs commemorating them.
“The essence of Vilnius DNA is the reconstruction of historical topographies created using large-scale maps and topographical plans of the city from five different periods. Currently, the Vilnius DNA portal offers a variety of ways to explore the city’s history and changes – from historical plans and maps, to streets and their names, to personalities immortalized in the city, to old photographs with postcards, to historical events.
According to the company’s cartographic experts, the best available large-scale maps have been selected for the database, together representing the city in different historical periods: 1808 – before the Tsarist period, 1845 – in the middle of the Tsarist period, 1911 – at the end of the Tsarist period, 1938 – between the wars, and 1977 – in the late Soviet period.
It took two years to collect, analyze and transfer the archival information into the database. The paper maps were digitized and then oriented in a modern coordinate system, identifying them with today’s maps. Together with the database of this information, the Vilnius DNA portal has been created, where anyone interested in the history of Vilnius can access the objects stored in the database, filter and analyze them in different sections, and view the links between different objects.
The portal is designed for mobile devices and smart device screens of different sizes, and the different objects are linked to each other, which can be used to create a route for a walk around the city. It also features an interactive ‘time travel’ function, where you can scroll through historical periods and see how the city’s streets and buildings have changed over time by scrolling through special bars on the screen.
Those interested in Vilnius-related personalities will also find information on 712 such people – from Grand Dukes of Lithuania to contemporary artists, scientists and politicians – and their places of commemoration: plaques, monuments, sculptures, other artistic or small architectural objects that have been identified through public data sources, both by the city and by private initiatives.
“Vilnius DNA also includes 50 medium-scale maps and old photographs and postcards of the city from the collections of the Vrublevskiai Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (LAS).
Vilniaus DNA
