From Riga to Vilnius

As we descend from the hill, we will continue our tour of the imposing cathedral and the “bell tower” next to it. Towards evening, we will visit the cemetery where the graves of the “Vilna Gaon”, “Hager Tzedek” (Count Valentin Pototsky), writers, revolutionaries and members of the Jewish underground fighting the Nazis.
Accommodation in Vilnius.

We will visit the impressive castle, museum and Karaite cemetery reflecting centuries of Karaite life in Lithuania. Trakai is a center of the National park and you will be impressed by the rare beauty and calamity of the place. From there we will continue to visit the partisan camp in the Rodniki Forest. It is absolutely unique experience to see the dugouts at the very spot where Aba Kovner and other Jews hid and fought in 1943 and 1944.
Accommodation in Vilnius.

Next we will visit the remains of the second Jewish cemetery, and end the day in the most famous printing press in the Jewish world, not the “Widow and Ram print”, the place where the “SHS Vilna” was designed. Shabbat service at the Choral Synagogue “Taharat Hakodesh” in Vilnius (Vilna).
Accommodation in Vilnius.

One can notice on the wall the plague memorializing the visit and speech of Theodor Herzl. Opposite it there is a monastery where Jews were hidden by a local priest. Here we will speak about the Righteous Among the Nations in Lithuania. “Gaon Street” is just a 5 minute walk from here. We will enter the medieval jewish quarter of Vilna. Will spend some time talking about the historical route of Lithuanian Jews. Next is a “Jewish Street” and the former courtyard of the “Schulhoeff”, which is the famous synagogue and public buildings complex. Adjacent to it, is the house of the famous Jewish sculptor Mordechai Antokolsky. Now we are crossing the German street and find ourselves in the area of the large Ghetto. We will “meet” Dr. Zemach Shabad and Deborah Esther, few of the mythical figures of Vilnius Jewry and its charity traditions. We will march in Vilnius (Vilna) Jewish ghetto to learn about the fate of Jerusalem of Lithuania and its inhabitants. An important role in our story will be devoted to the United partisan organization.
Accommodation in Vilnius.

Here we will discuss extensively the world of the Lithuanian Shtetl, and visit the surviving wooden synagogue, a unique phenomenon in Europe as a whole. In the afternoon we will arrive in Kaunas, and begin our tour of the city. It will include the old town square; streets named after writer Abraham Mafu and Ludwig Zamenhof, the father of Esperanto. Not far from here you will see the house where the poet Lea Goldberg grew up, the building where the Hebrew Gymnasium was housed. Will finish the day in the “Ninth Fort”, designed to serve as a fortress for the protection of the area and in effect served as a death camp.
Accommodation in Kaunas.

From here, head north-west, passing through picturesque small towns until we reach the Baltic coast. We will cross the Bay of Kursiai on a ferry, and will visit the Neringa Peninsula Nature Reserve, especially the famous hiking trail called the “Witch Forest.”
Accommodation in Klaipeda.

From here we will continue to Telz and visit the famous Yeshiva building.
Our next stop is the town of Sauliai, the largest and most important city in the north of Lithuania. Here we will see the Frankel family’s palace, who was one of the Jewish “nobility of the finances” and the leather processing and shoe factory owner. Next we head north, stopping at The Hill of Crosses, a unique and unusual memorial site that also serves as a pilgrimage place for pilgrims from all over Europe. After a short drive we will cross the border into Latvia and arrive in Riga in an hour.
Accommodation in Riga.

The Great and Small Guilds’ houses and the economic history of the city. German merchant added an extra gate to the city wall and it was called The Swedish gate. Next to it one can see the Beer-brewers street. Cat’s house was erected in the early nineteen hundreds and it is surrounded by a superstitious legend. The complex of “Three Brothers” – architectural development of three houses built in different centuries. The House of the “Blackheads” – a merchants’ guild famous for being single and rich. St. Peter church is an impressive Gothic monument distinctive for its 124 meter tower. Riga is world wide famous for its outstanding collection of Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture. Developed and built in the streets of Riga at the very beginning of the 20th century.
Accommodation in Riga.

This area became a house for the first Jewish settlement in Riga. Memorial ruins of the Great Synagogue. The Wall of Righteous among the Nations. Jewish School founded in the 19th cent. Ghetto territory – the Small Ghetto and Reich’s Juden Ghetto. Synagogue on Moscow street, Hospital Bikur Holim, Old Jewish Cemetery. Visit to Rumbula and Bikierniki Memorials, where Nazis murdered thousands of Jews from Latvia, Germany and Czechoslovakia. Salaspils – the memorial site of a concentration camp.
Late night Flight back home.