Walking tour

One of the activities that filled most of a day recently was a guided walking tour of the city of Vilnius. Our guide spend 2 hours+ walking us around the "Old Town" part of the city- that is the section that was built more than a couple of centuries ago. Lithuania was the last country in this area of the world to "be baptized" so, in an attempt to catch up, they built lots of churches. From nearly every intersection of the narrow little cobblestone streets you can see a minimum of one church. (Streets and sidewalks throughout the city, even new construction or repair, is either stones or cement paving blocks set in sand. Out in the countryside there are a few very major paved roads and little dirt roads leading directly off the paved road to take you into the villages.) Most of the churches are really ornate but many of them have been neglected. They are working at restoring them as quickly as finances permit. During the Soviet regime, many churches were simply used as warehouses. The damage done to them was not purposeful destruction, just abuse and neglect. As I looked at faded frescoes and chips out of pillars and worn floors and dirty walls and statues, I felt sad at the misuse of this architectural beauty. It also made me wonder how it happens. I mean, I understand the concern of totalitarian or opppressive governments that people would be more loyal to their religion than to the government. But why destroy historical art? It also made me wonder about people in every day life who show lack of respect for things that are precious to others. I was impressed with our little grandchildren as we visited churches and cathedrals on our trip up to Helsinki. They were very quiet and solemn in the churches, even though they knew they were not their churches.