Bernardinai Garden, formerly known as Sereikiškės Park, is located in the very centre of Vilnius, between the tower of Gediminas Castle, the Vilnelė River and the Bernardinai Monastery. A special feature of the park is the botanical exposition commemorating the 18th century Botanical Garden of Vilnius University, one of the largest gardens in Eastern Europe. The oldest oak tree in Vilnius, which is 400 years old, grows next to the entrance to the park on the side of St Bruno Street.
Short history
The history of the Bernardine Garden dates back to the 15th century, when the Bernardine monks invited to Vilnius built the St Bruno's Botanical Garden. The monks of Vilnius, who were invited by the Bernardines to build the St. Anne's, St. Francis and St. Bernardine churches and the monastery complex, cultivated the marshy and spring-fed area and planted gardens with ponds, canals and fertile vegetable gardens. Later, there was an apiary and an orangery. In the rest of the Vilnia bend was the castle farm yard, later called Sereikiškės suburb, with dams, mills and workshops.
2013, after more than a year of reconstruction, the park was restored to its authentic 19th-century setting, replicating the late 19th-century style of park design: a system of open and closed spaces with green meadows, a central square designed by artist Alexander Strauss, a rose garden, and a 20th-century rock garden with a pond. The park's main rose garden has a fountain that plays and illuminates, the botanical garden's plant range has been expanded with a water plant display in the pool, and the rock garden is to be renovated. During this period, the park has been restored to its old name of Bernardines Garden.
