The most important building in the Town Hall Square is Town Hall. Construction began in 1542. The stately building is filled with a Gothic, Baroque, and early Classicist spirit; a tall, slender tower like a swan’s neck sprouts in the sky the main facade. Town Hall is often referred to as the White Swan because of its shape and colour. Its 53 meter-high tower is the tallest in the Old Town. The current Town Hall is not the first in Kaunas. The preceding one was destroyed by fire and then rebuilt. Through various centuries, the purpose of the Town Hall changed: this is where the city’s markets, fairs, and trials took place; 9 wax melting furnaces, a prison, and warehouses were operated under the Town Hall building cobblestones.
The Kaunas City Museum is now located in the town hall (www.kaunomuziejus.lt). Its collections include city’s history, science and industry, culture and art, audio-visual and archeology departments. At the entrance of the town hall, you can see the wax melting furnace – this is a unique 15th century building. From 2025 civil marriages traditionally registered here will return to the White Hall. The Tourism Information Center has also returned to the City Hall.
It is symbolic that the museum unveiled a commemorative plaque to Władysław Starewicz, a puppet animation pioneer, often called the European Walt Disney. Starewicz worked in the building for a while. A memorial plaque to him is held by insect sculptures depicting the director’s three main cartoon characters: a stag-beetle, an ant, and a grasshopper.
