Užupis is a district of Vilnius, located in the Old Town, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. Its name means "on the other side of a river"; that river is the Vilna River which gave Vilnius its name. The region has been popular with artists for some time, and is often compared with Montmartre in Paris. Now the ruins there are becoming very expensive. "More expensive than an egg of a bishop", as we say in Spain. The district houses art galleries, artists' workshops, and popular cafés. The district declared itself an independent republic (the Republic of Užupis) in 199. Uzupis (in Polish: Zarzecze) is a place to love during the sunset. To walk during the daytime. And, just in case, to run at night.
The area unilaterally declared its independence on April Fool’s Day 1998, which is celebrated annually at the somewhat ramshackle Angel of Uzupis Statue. Is a bohemian place whose Constitution ends: "Don’t conquer. Don’t defend. Don’t surrender". Copies of the 41 articles of the Republic's constitution, in three languages, can be found affixed to a wall on Paupio street in the area. Some of these articles would be unremarkable in a constitution; for instance, Article 5 simply reads "Man has the right to individuality.". Others are more idiosyncratic. A typical example can be found in Articles 1 ("Man has the right to live by the River Vilnelė, while the River Vilnelė has the right to flow by man."), 12 ("A dog has the right to be a dog.") and 37 ("Man has the right to have no rights."), each of which makes an unusual apportionment of rights. There are a number of paired articles, such as Articles 16 ("Man has the right to be happy.") and 17 ("Man has the right to be unhappy.") which define man's right to either do or not do something, according to his desire.
Owen Lipsett, from Philadelphia wrote more about this corner of the world.
Congratulations to Ævar Guðmundsson, from Iceland, for this great photo. It was taken near a hostel were I slept in my last trip to Vilnius, a place I recomend.
Posts
