Lower Castle Palace Park
Vilnius Lower Castle Palace Park. This park is a heritage park of many centuries of development and unique value to Lithuanian history. The Lower Palace garden was on the southern slope of the Castle Hill, to the south and Southeast of the Lower Castle Palace. Little is known of its structure, only that in 1536 it was taken care by gardener J.Hartulanus. There are mentions of alleys, lawns, flowerbeds, white marble sculptures and decorative bridges. At the time it could compete with the most beautiful Italian and French gardens. In time, however, the park deteriorated. After the Lower Castle Palace was torn down at the end of the 18th c. its territory was included into the area of the czar military fort then under development. When the military citadel was set up with ditches dug in the territory of the former park and a shooting range, the destruction of the green spaces of this territory was completed. After the czar fortress was shut down the Lower Castle Palace Park went to the city municipality and was incorporated into the complex of Castle Hill foot green spaces. In about the same spot a square much liked by citizens called Veršynas (Calf-tender) was set up.
Radvilų Garden
Former Radvilų Garden at the Lower Palace was located by River Neris west of Vingrės stream. It was set up in the 16th c. by Radvilų Palace called the Palace of Barbora Radvilaitė. The garden spread Southeast of the palace and was linked to the Lower Castle palace by a closed bridge-shaped gallery which was a unique thing. The legend has it that Žygimantas Augustas used to visit Barbora Radvilaitė by this gallery. Until the beginning of the 18th c. this was a renaissance park, the style of which the Radvilas remembered from the time of their studies in Italy. The Southeast part of the garden displayed four regularly-shaped ponds with swans raised there for that special purpose. When in the beginning of the 19th c. the palace deteriorated, the garden gradually vanished with it. At the end of the 19th c. the territory was owned by various owners and was gradually developed.
