The Jesuits built the Church of St. Casimir, and Great Chancellor Leonas Sapiega is listed as its founder. Lithuanian magnates and King Sigismund III Vasa helped fund it. Jan Frankiewicz designed it. Construction began on May 12, 1604, the building was finished in 1616, and the interior was completed in 1618. It is dedicated to Saint Casimir, who was canonized in 1604.
The article calls it Baroque and among the earliest Baroque buildings in Vilnius. Its layout and facade were modeled on Il Gesù in Rome. A stepped lantern cupola with a crown, added in the mid-eighteenth century, is described as unique in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The church is 182 feet (55.6 meters) high.
In 1963 it was converted into a Museum of Atheism and reconsecrated in 1991. It is part of the Vilnius Old Town World Heritage Site.
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