Maybe you have heard about Lithuania. Then probably you know its capital Vilnius. But I bet you have no idea what Pilaite is. No, nothing much special for the strangers. But they who live in this one of the newest residential districts of Vilnius ...  

First dwellers moved in almost at the same time with our regained independence. The design and construction of the district comes to the last years of the Soviet era. The district wasn't finished at that time. So there is enough space for new construction and implementation of modern ideas. Today here you can see cumbersome grey block buildings along with light modern construction of new houses or shopping centres.

In previous times Pilaite was only an estate surrounded by several villages. The heart of the location was a castle on the mound. Obviously it would have been not very big but lovely. "Pilis" is "castle" in Lithuanian. Diminutive "Pilaite" reflects smallness, loveliness and something else very warm connected with fair-tales.

Nowadays almost no remains of the castle can be found. Only a mound surrounded by a ponded up rivulet Sudervele alludes to the romantic past.

One more distinctive feature is that Pilaite is separated from the city by some wasteland. So the district is like a satellite of Vilnius. "He is driving me to bushes" an Australian guest thought with some worry coming by taxi to the address in Pilaite. But citizens feel well living in this detached "small town" surrounded by nature.

Nature. Well, there is one small lake almost in a few steps aside from the blocks. Another one a little bigger is in the distance of 10 minutes walk. A nice wood adjoin living area too. Do you like swimming, sunbathing? Do you like jogging or skiing? Do you like walking in the forest with you spouse, children or your dog? You can enjoy everything here almost without any time for travelling to the place. The suitability of the area for recreation may be represented by the fact that somebody and other has been cherishing an idea to establish representative golf fields here.

More than a hundred years ago the water of the pond turned the wheels of the watermill. Newcomers to the district found only shabby ruins of the mill. A few years ago some enthusiasts decided to rebuild the watermill [pic]. They also brought various millstones, other strange implements and an open air museum of milling technic has been arranged.