๐ฑ๐น Lithuania ยท Lietuva
For two centuries Lithuania was the largest state in Europe and the last pagan one. Its capital is a Baroque city of some forty churches on a river bend, and its most recent history was defended by unarmed crowds around a television tower.
Lithuania's collection needs 3 more rounds before it opens. These are live today.
Lithuania is gentle glacial country โ moraine hills, lakes, pine โ with one very Baroque capital. Vilnius has more curved pediments and plastered church faรงades than anywhere north of Italy, and they are almost all seventeenth and eighteenth century.
Architecture
Twin-towered plastered church faรงades in white, ochre or pink are Vilnius Baroque, 1600โ1790. Red-brick Gothic with intricate patterned bonds is St Anne's and its neighbours, 1500. Flat-roofed panel districts on the hills west of the centre are 1965โ1985.
Landscape
Lakes in chains between low wooded hills are Aukลกtaitija in the north-east. A long sand spit with high dunes and no cliffs is the Curonian Spit. Rye and flax fields with wooden crosses at crossroads are central Lithuania โ the crosses are a tradition in their own right.
Period tells
Polish and Lithuanian together on older signage reflects Vilnius before 1939. Soviet-era shop typography and Cyrillic beside Lithuanian is 1945โ1990. Wooden roadside crosses and shrine posts date from the nineteenth century onward and were banned, then rebuilt, under Soviet rule.
A starting shortlist, oldest first. Every one of these makes a round that Lithuanians can nail and everyone else has to work out.
Traditionally Novogrudok / Vilnius regionMedieval
The only coronation in Lithuanian history, and a brief Christian interlude in a state that stayed pagan for another 130 years.
Vilnius, on the NerisMedieval
Letters sent to Hanseatic cities offering merchants and craftsmen land and freedom of religion โ the city's founding document.
Vilnius old townEarly modern
A Jesuit academy that made Vilnius the intellectual capital of the Grand Duchy โ its courtyards are still the campus.
Signatories' House, VilniusModern era
Twenty signatures on 16 February re-created a state that had been off the map since the partitions.
Karoliniลกkฤs, VilniusModern era
Unarmed crowds surrounded the broadcast tower against Soviet tanks; fourteen people were killed and the broadcast kept going.
Lithuanian history touches medieval & renaissance and the 20th century. Each of those eras has a timed round of its own โ the same centuries, but questions drawn from every country in the library, so you find out whether you can date the rest of the period as confidently as you can date Lithuania.
Medieval & Renaissance
Lithuanian moments here: Mindaugas crowned king (1253), Gediminas invites Europe to Vilnius (1323), Vilnius University founded (1579).
20th century
Lithuanian moments here: Lithuania restores independence (1918), The January Events at the TV Tower (1991).
Dates, order and places from the moments above. Answers are printed underneath โ cover them with a hand if you want to test yourself, or read them out for a quiz round.
1.Mindaugas crowned king โ what year?
Answer1253
The only coronation in Lithuanian history, and a brief Christian interlude in a state that stayed pagan for another 130 years.
2.Gediminas invites Europe to Vilnius โ what year?
Answer1323
Letters sent to Hanseatic cities offering merchants and craftsmen land and freedom of religion โ the city's founding document.
3.Vilnius University founded โ what year?
Answer1579
A Jesuit academy that made Vilnius the intellectual capital of the Grand Duchy โ its courtyards are still the campus.
4.Lithuania restores independence โ what year?
Answer1918
Twenty signatures on 16 February re-created a state that had been off the map since the partitions.
5.The January Events at the TV Tower โ what year?
Answer1991
Unarmed crowds surrounded the broadcast tower against Soviet tanks; fourteen people were killed and the broadcast kept going.
6.Which came first in Lithuania โ Mindaugas crowned king or Gediminas invites Europe to Vilnius?
AnswerMindaugas crowned king, in 1253.
Gediminas invites Europe to Vilnius follows in 1323, 70 years later.
7.Which came first in Lithuania โ Vilnius University founded or Lithuania restores independence?
AnswerVilnius University founded, in 1579.
Lithuania restores independence follows in 1918, 339 years later.
8.Where in Lithuania would you drop the pin for Mindaugas crowned king?
AnswerTraditionally Novogrudok / Vilnius region
The only coronation in Lithuanian history, and a brief Christian interlude in a state that stayed pagan for another 130 years.
9.Where in Lithuania would you drop the pin for Gediminas invites Europe to Vilnius?
AnswerVilnius, on the Neris
Letters sent to Hanseatic cities offering merchants and craftsmen land and freedom of religion โ the city's founding document.
10.How far apart are the oldest and newest Lithuanian moments in this collection?
Answer738 years
From Mindaugas crowned king in 1253 to the January Events at the TV Tower in 1991.
You don't need a photograph or a map reference. Name a moment โ "Mindaugas crowned king, Traditionally Novogrudok / Vilnius region" โ and the builder fills in the year, drops the pin, writes the factoid and paints a 360ยฐ scene you can stand inside. Publish it and it joins this collection for everyone.
Step 1
One line is enough โ an event, a place, a year you half-remember. Or let the AI draft five moments around a theme.
Step 2
The year, the exact coordinates and a one-sentence factoid come back filled in. Everything stays editable.
Step 3
A 4K 360ยฐ panorama of that place in that year, ready to spin around inside the game.
๐ฑ๐น Put your own scene on /play/lithuania
Credits cover the AI: 1 to auto-fill a moment, 3 to draft five at once, 25 for each 4K panorama. Your map stays yours โ you choose whether it's public, unlisted or private.
Moments Lithuanians want to see in the game. Vote them up โ the top of this list gets built next.
Each round drops you into a 360ยฐ scene from Lithuania's past. Look around for clues โ architecture, clothing, technology, landscape โ then place the scene on the world map and pick the year. You score up to 5,000 points a round: closer in distance and closer in time both pay. Five rounds make a game.
No. You can play Lithuanian rounds straight away with no sign-up. Signing in saves your XP, keeps your character progressing through history, and puts you on the leaderboards.
The collection spans 1253 to 1991 โ from mindaugas crowned king through to the january events at the tv tower. New moments are added as the community suggests them.
Yes, completely free. There is no paywall on rounds, the daily challenge, or the leaderboards.
Yes โ that's how the collection grows. Suggest any moment Lithuanians would recognise instantly, like mindaugas crowned king. Approved suggestions get built into playable 360ยฐ rounds and credited on the page.
Daily Challenge
Five fresh rounds every day, same for everyone.
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Short quizzes across eras, empires and events.
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Panorama collections built by other players.
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