Uzupis

Believe us when we tell you, if you’ve been to Vilnius, but not visited Uzupis (Užupis) – you have not been to Vilnius at all. A Vilnius borough, located ‘behind the river’ that has mentions of in historical texts that back to the 16th century. Ever since, ‘behind the river’ name has stuck to Užupis (the literal meaning in Lithuanian). The district is surrounded by the river Vilnia, which used to have a powerful watermill and the people who lived nearby historically took mostly to trades, which included, leather-crafts, paper production, beer and spirit making. You can say it was the first industrial neighborhood. It’s no wonder then, that it was never chick or luxurious. It all began to change in 1997, when the bohemian souls organized to declare this God forsaken district, an independent republic. During this tour, you will learn what it means to be the citizen of Uzupis, what are the future perspectives and as the saying goes – ’what is the world coming to? ‘