Published: 20230713
After her visit to the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Olena Zelenska, the wife of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski, shared a heartfelt post on social media:
“The early Lithuanian grand ducal palace was completely destroyed in 1801 when the state was occupied by the Russian Empire. The palace began to be resurrected with the state’s independence. Gradually, year after year, it arose from the ashes together with its country.
The grand building opened its doors to visitors again in 2013 and 2018. Today, it is a grand-scale reconstruction project of independent Lithuania, at the heart of which is the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.
As of 2022, it has an audioguide in Ukrainian – part of my project seeking the Ukrainianisation of leading world monuments. Each Ukrainian can personally see and hear in their native language how strongly our countries – Lithuania and Ukraine – are related. To see how much we have both experienced. And how close we are today.
The palace itself is by its example proof that resurrection from the ashes is possible, reconstruction is real, and where memory and values persist, there is always a future”.
