St. Paraskeva Church

St. Paraskeva Church is the oldest Eastern Orthodox church in Lithuania, located in the capital Vilnius. It is one of only two fully Lithuanian-language parishes of the Orthodox Church in Lithuania.

The first Orthodox church of St. Paraskeva was constructed at the request of Grand Duke Algirdas's first wife, Maria Yaroslavna of Vitebsk, who was subsequently buried there in 1346. According to tradition, the church was built on the site of a temple to the pagan god, Ragutis. This church was completely destroyed by fire in 1557 and rebuilt three years later, but burned down again in 1611. Although ruined, it was given to the local Eastern Catholics. In 1655, it was given back to the Orthodox Church and renovated.