Vilnius City Central Power Station

On 14 February 1903, the City of Vilnius was illuminated in a new way.  The gas and burning oil lamps used to illuminate the city streets were replaced with 198 electric arc lights. In fact, their bulbs were not the first electric bulbs in Vilnius. The city’s first building with electricity used to belong to M. Jelenskis – he installed the first private power station in the building at Gedimino pr. 19. Soon, his neighbour laid an overhead power line between Jelenskis’ house and the palace on the territory of the present-day building on Jakšto 9.

But let’s return to the city. After the construction of  the power station, the new water supply station was electrified and residents enjoyed the advantages of electricity. There were even discussions about an electric tram, but the war started and everything changed. In 1944, the power station was blasted by retreating German soldiers. Only the administrative building has survived, with the Electricity statue on its roof. When looking from the street, take a close look and you will see an electricity goddess trampling upon Prometheus, the Greek Titan god who stole fire and gave it to people. The original statue was removed during the Soviet era and was reconstructed according to the photos in 1986.