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Vilnius is one of the cities in The Central Europe, laying the farthest east, which experienced a strong interaction between the Eastern and Western cultures. In 1994 the historical centre of Vilnius (old town) was globally acknowledged due to its exceptionality and was included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO. Vilnius’ old town is the largest old town in The Eastern Europe, covering 359,5 ha.

From 14th to 18th centuries the city produced a huge impact on the architectural development throughout the whole region. The city boasts a well-preserved example of a street network and urban structure, characteristic to The Middle Ages. The city landscape has preserved a rich variety of the buildings with plenty of houses in Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism styles. One marvels at the mesmerizing panorama and perspectives.

The streets and buildings reflect the signs of living, once led by Lithuanians, Jews, Poles, Russians, Germans, Belarusians, Caraites and Tatars. Here peace reigns among the representatives from different confessions such as Catholics, Greek-Catholics, Orthodox, Evangelic-Lutherans, Evangelic-Reformists, Jews and Muslims. The historic centre of Vilnius (the old town) stands for a proof of harmony between a human being and nature.

Numbers and main information

Vilnius, as the capital of Lithuania, is the home of the President, the Seimas, the Government and the Supreme Court. Diplomatic missions, educational, cultural, financial, research, and healthcare institutions are based here.

Population: 526 356 inhabitants

Ethnic Composition: Lithuanians 59.4%, Polish 23%, Russians 10.3%, Others 7.3%

Location/ Territory: The capital city Vilnius occupies an area of about 400 sq. km of which 20.2% approximately is developed and the remainder is green belt (43.9% approx.) and water (2.1% approx.).

State Language: Lithuanian

State Religion: Roman Chtholicism

Government: Mayor

Currency: Euro

Local Time: GMT + 2 hours (EET), GMT + 3 hour (summer time)

Working Hours: Governmental institutions work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday. Shops are usually open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. on weekdays and until 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Shopping malls are open all week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Food stores are usually open between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., some supermarkets are open till 12 at night.

 

Main historical facts

1009 Lithuania is first mentioned in written sources, the Quedlinburg Annals, as the place (Litua) on whose borders with Rus’ a Catholic missionary, St Bruno was ‘hit on the head by angry pagans and departed to heaven’.

1253 Grand Duke Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania. Now the 6th of July is Statehood Day. Commemorates the coronation of the country’s only king, King Mindaugas.

1323 During Grand Duke Gediminas’ reign Vilnius is first mentioned as the capital of Lithuania.

1387 Grand Duke Jogaila (King Władysław II of Poland since February 1386) began the baptism of his pagan Lithuanian subjects as Christians of the Roman Rite, formed a dynastic union with the Kingdom of Poland and granted Vilnius the rights of a city.

1410 The joint forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania led by Grand Duke Vytautas and the Kingdom of Poland led by King of Poland Jogaila, defeated the Teutonic Order in battle at Grunwald [Tannenberg, Žalgiris].

1495 The first goldsmith and sewing shops were established. Vilnius starts to develop as a centre of trade, industry and culture of Eastern Europe.

1522 Francis Skoryna established the first printing press in the city. The city became one of the most famous book-printing centres in Europe.

1569 Following the Lublin Union thereby a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (the Republic of the Two Nations) was established, Vilnius lost its importance as an administrative capital.

1579 The Collegium, an institution of higher education, was founded by the Jesuits in Vilnius and was upgraded to the level of Academy, by the Pope. It was the first university in the Baltic countries and became the most important cultural centre in the region.

1795 After the third Partition of the Republic of the Two Nations, Lithuania was annexed by Russia and the name Lithuania was applied to a Russian imperial province. Many city-dwellers were either killed or deported to the eastern regions of the Russian Empire.

1831 After the uprising against the Russian administration had been suppressed, Vilnius University closed down, Catholic churches were turned into Orthodox churches, monasteries were closed down or turned into barracks.

1862 The railway line Sank-Petersburg – Vilnius – Warsaw was built; an iron foundry and tobacco factory were opened; the first brewery was established.

1896-1902 Vilnius became a centre of national revival.

On the 16th February 1918 the Council of Lithuania proclaimed the restoration of an independent Lithuanian state.

1920 Lithuania lost part of the territory, including her historic capital, Vilnius, to Poland. The capital of Lithuania was transferred to Kaunas.

1939-1940 on the basis of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact with Germany, the Soviet Union compelled Lithuania to sign a mutual assistance treaty, which allowed Red Army units to be stationed on Lithuanian territory. As a result of this alliance, Lithuania regained Vilnius but was incorporated into the Soviet Union.

World War II. During the Second World War, the Old Town of Vilnius suffered greatly. Fortunately, the majority of the most valuable buildings and monuments survived.

On the 11th of March 1990 the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania declared the restoration of Lithuania’s independence.

In May 2004 Lithuania became a member of the European Union and NATO, and Vilnius became the capital of the Member State of the EU and NATO.

Where to Eat in Vilnius

 

Lithuanian cuisine features the products suited to its cool and moist northern climate: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialities. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Eastern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has much in common with other Eastern European and Jewish cuisines. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by a variety of influences during the country’s long and difficult history.

As the whole event will be held in the heart of the city, you can find many places to grab a meal. There are many cafés and restaurants. However we have compiled a list of few places that we think should be enjoyable if you wish to try the Lithuanian cuisine (places marked with asterisk are recommended more than others):

• Prie Katedros brewery*
• Fortas
• Stiklių aludė

And of course - no trip to Lithuania is complete without tasting the Lithuanian beer, regarded as one of the best beers in the world. It is still a mystery, when the first mug of beer was made in Lithuania, however the first mention of breweries in Lithuania dates as far back as 10th century. Beer was made in almost every homestead, recipes passed down from generation to generation and the hops fields were specifically protected by state law.

Currently there are more than 70 private breweries across Lithuania (not counting the big ones) and they make more than a 100 different types of beer, which can be found unusual by some people due to the use of unique ingredients like clovers and peas, and strange hop varieties. Below you can find a few places to enjoy genuine Lithuanian beer:

• Alaus namai* (wide variety of beers)
• Šnekutis* (even wider variety of beers)
• IPA brewery*
• Stiklių aludė
• Bambalynė (beer only)
• Alynas (beer only)
• Prie Katedros brewery

For those of you who want to keep their head clear (which is not recommended) you can always order another drink with deep traditions - Gira (Kvass). Gira is a fermented beverage commonly made from black or regular rye bread. The colour of the bread used contributes to the color of the resulting drink. As it is a fermented beverage, there is some alcohol in it, however the content is low (0.5–1.0%).

We gave a short list of possible dining and tasting options. However, Vilnius is a nice place to find a wide variety of food. Here is a nice dining guide for you: https://www.likealocalguide.com/vilnius/eating.

 

Places to eat around venue
For those who would like to grab something to eat during lunch break, there are a few places near the conference venue. There is the shopping center Europa, which has a number of cafes and restaurants as well as a pizza place. It is just across the street from the conference venue. The second place is even closer - the shopping center VCUP, that houses a number of dining places as well (ranging from pancakes to Chinese food).
And don't forget, the hotel we will be having the conference serves lunch as well, so if you don't feel like going outside, you can always grab a meal there.

The GES Data Archive is the principal mechanism for Consortium members to access the Survey data, including both the results of astrophysical analyses and the spectra themselves. This workshop will include a brief description of the contents, design and organisation of the archive. However, it will concentrate on practical step-by-step examples of querying the archive to obtain:

• lists of the stars and spectra in the archive,
• the astrophysical parameters and abundances derived from analysis of the spectra,
• lists of atomic and molecular lines to be used in astrophysical analyses,
• and copies of the spectra themselves.

The workshop will be hands-on with plenty of time for discussion (including a coffee break!) and for participants to try examples for themselves.

The registration for the workshop is now open.  The closing date is Friday 13 November 2015, but please note that places are limited so early registration is encouraged.

Pre-requisites for the participants
All participants must have registered as users of the archive and should come prepared with the information necessary to log on (username, password and community).

Participants should bring their own laptop computer which should have wireless enabled. Access using a tablet (such as an Apple iPad) is possible but not recommended. Access from a smart-phone is definitely not recommended.

The only software that is really necessary on the laptop is a Web browser. Firefox is recommended but most browsers should be ok.

It would be useful, but not strictly necessary, if the laptop could also have installed tools for viewing FITS tables and other types of FITS files.
The following are recommended:

• FITS tables: TOPCAT
• FITS files: fv

(Preferably both will be installed.)

Participants need no prior knowledge or experience (though some familiarity with the SQL database query language and the FITS astronomical data format would be useful). The workshop will be limited to 20 participants.

The rules for the selection of the final participants are that if more than one person from a given institute registers to attend, the first to sign up will get priority if the workshop is oversubscribed, as we will try to maximise the number of institutes represented (with the hope that when participants get home they will be willing to assist other users at their institution). Otherwise places will be allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis.

Participants who have been allocated a place on the workshop will be contacted by Friday 20 November 2015.

Contacts
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