Kaunas's Christ's Resurrection Basilica rises on Žaliakalnis, or Green Hill. After Lithuania regained independence in 1918, the idea arose for a church thanking God for that freedom. Karolis Reisonas won the design competition in 1928, and the first cornerstone, from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, was laid in 1934. Funding came mostly from individual donations.
Walls and roof were largely finished by 1940, and then work stopped. The Nazis used the building as a storeroom, and in 1952 the Soviets turned it into a factory. Consecration came in 2004 and the building was completed in 2005.
The style is Functionalism and Art Deco, in concrete and brick. The main tower is 230 feet (70 meters) tall, and an elevator reaches the roof. It is the largest basilica in the Baltic states and part of UNESCO's Modernist Kaunas site.
Comments