History of the Old Arsenal

According to the archaeological investigations, it is considered that the castle arsenal had already been erected in the 15^th century, i.e. during the times of Grand Dukes of Lithuania Vytautas and Casimir. Later, the arsenal fell into a state of disrepair and was reconstructed only in 1507, when Sigismund the Old became the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Vilnius Castellan Ulrich Hosius supervised the construction works. During the reign of Sigismund Augustus, Vilnius Castellan, engineer and architect Hiob Braitfus continued the construction works of the arsenal. The eastern block of the arsenal was built at the beginning of the 16^th century incorporating a part of the old defensive wall, whereas the northern and western blocks of the arsenal were erected in the middle of the 16^th – the beginning of the 17^th centuries. The dimensions of the then Vilnius Castle Arsenal can be traced from the 1560 report of a Venetian messenger stating that Sigismund Augustus had 180 heavy cannons as well as numerous smaller nicely decorated artillery guns in Vilnius.

In the 18^th century the arsenal was named the Old Arsenal. The exterior of the arsenal buildings had remained practically unchanged until 1834, when the engineers of the Russian military headquarters made their inventories and performed reconstruction works. The eastern block of the Old Arsenal was transformed into an artillery warehouse of the tsarist army. The northern block was rearranged to house the barracks and a warehouse, whereas flats for officers were built in the western block of the arsenal. At the beginning of the 20^th century, the Old Arsenal was reconstructed and its major part was demolished during the World War II.

In 1987, a reconstructed eastern block of the Old Arsenal was adjusted to meet the needs of the Art Museum. In 1997, reconstructed northern and western blocks of the Old Arsenal were adapted for use as the National Museum of Lithuania.