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May The Force Be With You…in Vilnius

With nearly 700 years of history, Vilnius is home to many legends – some more outlandish than others. One such legend maintains that Vilnius’ founder and first Grand Duke – Gediminas – might also be a distant relative of Darth Vader. The idea stems from the observation many make of the monument to Gediminas located at Vilnius’ Cathedral Square – it bears an uncanny resemblance to the primary antagonist in the original Star Wars trilogy.

For years, many have brushed this claim off as a ridiculous conspiracy, but that all changed during the celebrations marking Vilnius’ 696th anniversary. A Festival of Lights took place throughout Vilnius’ Old Town and someone had the bright idea of swapping the sword on Gediminas’ statue for a lightsabre. With the Jedi weapon in-hand, you could almost hear Darth Vader’s signature heavy breathing echo across the square.

Now, despite this seemingly irrefutable evidence, historians in Vilnius are still hesitant to confirm that Gediminas and Darth Vader might indeed be distant intergalactic cousins. First off, there are some timeline gaps that need to be sorted out. For instance, we know Vilnius is 696 years old because Gediminas wrote a letter in 1323 that makes the first mention of the Lithuanian capital. But does that fit with Anakin Skywalker’s timeline? That’s for the geeks to decide. All we know is that you don’t need to travel to a galaxy far, far away to at least get a glimpse of a Darth Vader lookalike. It stands as yet another quirk worth discovering in a city that has also been very open about identified as the g-spot of Europe.

May the Force be with you…in Vilnius. Pack your bags (and your lightsabre) and decide for yourself. Jedi-minas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, awaits.

May The Force Be With You…in Vilnius