Šventaragis Valley is a valley at the confluence ofNeris andVilnia Rivers inVilnius,Lithuania. According to a legend recorded in theLithuanian Chronicles, it was whereLithuanian rulers were cremated before theChristianization of Lithuania in 1387.Maciej Stryjkowski further recorded that it was the location of a pagan temple dedicated toPerkūnas, the god of thunder. While the legends are generally dismissed as fiction by historians, they have been studied and analysed from the perspective of pre-ChristianLithuanian mythology byVladimir Toporov,Gintaras Beresnevičius,Norbertas Vėlius,Vykintas Vaitkevičius, and others.[1][2]
Duke Šventaragis (from the legendaryPalemonids dynasty) selected a beautiful location in a valley at the confluence ofNeris andVilnia Rivers and ordered his son Skirmantas to establish a temple where he would be cremated after his death.[3] He also ordered other Lithuanian dukes and nobles to be cremated here. Some years later, Grand DukeGediminas was on a hunt and stopped in the valley. There he had a dream about a howlingIron Wolf which pagan priestLizdeika interpreted that Gediminas should built the capital of Lithuania at this location. Thus, Gediminas became the founder ofVilnius.[3] The legends, as recorded by theLithuanian Chronicles, do not mention any kind of temple at the location.[4]
These legends were retold and elaborated upon by various historians, includingMaciej Stryjkowski andTeodor Narbutt, and became very popular. In his work, published in 1582, Stryjkowski elaborated that the valley has a temple dedicated toPerkūnas, the god of thunder, maintained aneternal flame, and was located whereVilnius Cathedral stands today.[5] Narbutt, citing the dubiousChronicle of Rivius, provided a description of the temple's measurements and the rituals performed within.[6]
There is a continued academic debate whether the legends were rooted in a historical fact that there was a pagan temple in Vilnius.[4] A pagan temple, demolished and replaced by a Catholic church, was mentioned in a 1388 papal bull ofPope Urban VI. However, the papal bull is vague in its wording and the descriptions of KingJogaila's actions are similar to those in theBook of Deuteronomy (12:3–4).[4]
In 1980s, archaeological research byNapaleonas Kitkauskas and Albertas Lisanka uncovered remnants of an earlier square structure under the present-dayVilnius Cathedral. Historians proposed that it was the remnants of a cathedral built by KingMindaugas after his conversion and coronation in 1253. They further argued that, after Mindaugas' assassination, this cathedral was converted into a pagan temple.[7] However, in 2010, Gediminas Vaitkevičius published a monograph in which he dated the remnants to 1300–1320 based on artifacts found at the site. This dating is supported by theLetters of Gediminas (written in 1323–1324) that mention a newly built church.[4] Kitkauskas rejected Vaitkevičius' arguments.[5]
54°41′08″N25°17′25″E / 54.68556°N 25.29028°E /54.68556; 25.29028