- Lithuania’s only gothic church of basilica dimensions.
- Contains a renowned painting of Our Lady of Sorrows.
- An image of Mary the Most Gracious Mother attracts many pilgrims.
- The main church of the Lithuanian ecclesiastical province between the two world wars.
- Pope John Paul II prayed here on September 6, 1993.
Kaunas Cathedral Basilica is one of Lithuania’s oldest and largest sanctuaries, and the country’s only gothic church of basilica form. The building‘s monumental and rather severe appearance is the result of a mixture of gothic and renaissance architectural traits. In fact, the style of the current basilica is transitional between gothic and renaissance. Pilgrims are drawn by a 16th century painting of Our Lady of Sorrows as well as a 17th century image of the Most Gracious Virgin Mother, both associated with special graces. Buried in the crypt, the side chapel and the churchyard of the Cathedral are numerous eminent clergymen, including bishops M.Valančius, M.L.Paliulionis and G.F.Cirtautas, archbishops P.Karevičius and J.Skvireckas, prelates J.Mačiulis-Maironis and A.Jakštas-Dambrauskas, and Cardinal V.Sladkevičius.
