Address
3A Arsenalo St, LT-01100, Vilnius.
General information: +370-5-2121813.
E-mail: tdm@takas.lt 

The museum is housed in the old Arsenal at the foot of Gediminas Hill. This striking white building was built in the early 17th century in the renaissance style on the site of the former city wall, part of which can be seen in the basement.

Information for visitors
Opening times
Tuesday to Saturday 11.00–18.00
Sunday, National Holiday Eve 11.00–16.00.
Museum is closed on Monday and on national holidays.

Admission Charge
Admission charge – Lt 6; 
Pupil, student and OAP – Lt 1,5;
Guides tours – Lt 50.
Child under 7, disabled, ICOM member – free.
Access
The Museum is fitted for visitors with mobility impairments.

Exhibitions

Current Exhibitions:

• An Exhibition to Commemorate the Millennium of Lithuiania "Linthuania in Ancient Historical Sources" (since July 5, 2009 till October 4, 2009).

• An Exhibition to Commemorate the Millennium of Lithuania "Wawel in Vilnius. From the Jagiellonians to the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth" (since July 5, 2009 till October 4, 2009).

• An Exhibition to Commemorate the Millennium of Lithuania "The Art of the Balts" (since July 5, 2009 till October 20, 2009).

• The Archaeological Findings of the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (till September 15, 2009).

Archive Exhibitions:

• Exhibition of acquisitions and donations to the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (since July 6, 2005)

• Grand Guke of Lithuania and King of Poland, Alexander. Dedicated to the 500th Anniversary since the death of Grand Duke-King (July 6, 2006 – July 6, 2008).

• Exhibition 'The Abduction of Helen. Vilnius, 1636' (June 21 – November 9, 2008)

• The exhibition 'Nord Korean Hidden Treasures Revealed'

• 'Oriental Art from the Collection of Algimantas Miskinis’

• Exhibition of the 17^th –18^th-century banners of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the collection of the Swedish heritage agencies (since July 15, 2006 till October 15, 2006)

• International exhibition 'The Royal Lazenki', dedicated to the 15^th anniversary of the restoration of the Lithuanian–Polish diplomatic relations (till 30 September, 2006)

• Exhibition of Textile and glass icons by Ukrainian craftsmen from the Volyn Province Museum (since 6 Septemeber, 2006 till 30 September, 2006)

• "Ecclesiastical Textile of Lithuania (16^th – 19^th c.)

• "Estonian State Decorations" (till April 17, 2006)

• "Foreign Awards Presented to the Presidents of the Republic of Lithuania (till February 15, 2006)

• Exhibitions of photographs of "The Holy Trinity Chapel of Lublin. Where East meets West" (till October 9, 2005)

• Exhibition of Ukrainian national costume from collections of Volyn Regional Museum (September 7, 2005 – September 14, 2005)

• The Exhibition " The Culture of Old Believers of Baltic States“

• Exhibition of the Painting "St Casimir“ by the Florentine artist Carlo Dolci (1616–1687) from the Galleria Palatina Palazzo Pitti (Italy) at the Exposition of the Lithuanian Sacred Art.
  (10th November, 2004 – 19th December, 2004)

  • Virtual exhibition "The creative of Carlo Dolci".

• The International Exhibition "Saint Augustine. The 1650 Anniversary from Birth“ (14th October, 2004 – 15th December, 2004).

• The Exhibition "Vita Sancti Casimiri. The Life of Saint Casimir" (manuscripts, printigs, paintig, graphic art, sculpture, textile, jeweller's art) (4th March, 2004 - 10th October, 2004);

• Art Exhibition "Christianity in Lithuanian Art" (December 18, 1999 - October 30, 2003) dedicated to The Anniversary Christ’s Birth and the 750th Anniversary of the Baptism and Crowning of Mindaugas, King of Lithuanian.

The Old Arsenal
The history of Vilnius Lower Castle and its buildings is complex and spans several centuries. The Applied Art Museum or the eastern block of the Old Arsenal is one of the buildings of the Lower Castle. More detailed data on the buildings of the Lower Castle dates back to 16–17th centuries. The data on the periods of 13–14th centuries and earlier is derived mainly from archeological investigations.
The 1972–1978 archeological investigations of the Old Arsenal revealed 5–7-meter-deep cultural layer. This layer was bound to contain the signs of six archeological periods, the lowest cultural layer edge having traces of the settlement from the late Neolithic period, the Bronze Age, which was washed off by tide waters of the rivers Neris and Vilnele. After some time the water lowered, and a considerable layer of marsh peat accumulated on the top of the former settlement. The site came back to more active life only by the beginning of the first millennium; it gained even more impetus during the 12–14th centuries. The cultural layer of the period contained living quarters and outbuildings, remains of craftsmen’s workshops, scraps of metal, bone and leather works; abundance of pottery made by throwing were discovered there, too. This data provides basis to conclude that in the first half of the 13th century craftsmen, mainly shoemakers, densely populated the northeastern part of the Lower castle area. It seems that in the 13th century the wooden settlement at the foot of the castle was fortified; a little mound and a moat encircled it. The investigations of the Arsenal revealed remains of three subsequent layers of timber road. The road was made of wooden boards and reinforced by logs at the sides. The cobble road leading across all Lower Castle territory towards the gate of the castle was laid in the middle of the 15th century - early 16th century on the top of the 11-12th c. wooden road.
The wooden housing seems to have been pulled down not earlier than the middle of the 15th century, and instead the eastern masonry wall of the Lower castle had been built, 2.7 meters in height and 9-10 meters in width. The bottom of the wall was mostly large stone masonry. At the confluence of the rivers Neris and Vilnele the eastern wall terminated in a square brickwork tower. The brickwork was mostly of flying Flemish bonding (two stretches between each header in the same course). The fragments of this tower can be seen upon entering the museum on the right side of the stairs. After the fire, which most probably followed one of the encounters with the German knights in the second half of the 14th century, the walls of the tower were reinforced, and the tower itself enlarged. The eastern defensive wall was found to contain four-meter tall and three-meter wide pointed arch castle gate, which obviously led to the so-called Crooked castle (Curvum castrum). Today this gate receives the visitors of the exhibition.
 In the mid-15th century, a sumptuous masonry palace was constructed in the northeastern part of the Lower castle territory; marble inlays of different colors decorated its interior. In the middle of the 16th century, the Arsenal was built on the site of the palace and the remains of the Lower castle defensive wall. Sigismund the Old, the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland (1467-1548) was responsible for constructing the Arsenal. The construction project was supervised by Ulrich Hosius (mentioned in Vilnius about 1500–1535). The Arsenal was expanded and completed by Sigismund Augustus (1520-1572), the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. At that time the construction work was observed by Hiob Braitfus, the overseer of Vilnius castles, architect and engineer who had been active in Vilnius since 1557 and had organized production of weapons and gun powder in the town. At that time the Arsenal was comprised of eastern, northern and western blocks situated around a square courtyard. The eastern block was the main part of the Arsenal, it was a late Gothic two-storey building with a gable roof and two frontals at the ends. Both floors of the building had a spacious three-aisle hall. In the middle of the 16th century, the Lower castle Arsenal was the largest one in the Polish-Lithuanian state. In the second half of the 16th century, the Arsenal was re-constructed, and a Renaissance attic decorated in double arch niches was added to the eastern block. The eastern block is the surviving residue of the Arsenal. The Old arsenal was represented on the maps of Vilnius by Frans Hoogenbergh in 1545, T. Makowski in 1660 and Fiurstenhof in 1737. The Arsenal was depicted in several watercolors by Franciszek Smuglewicz (1745-1807), too. A part of the Old arsenal in front of Sereikiskes Park was depicted by the painter Józef Peszka (1769-1831). The Arsenal was badly damaged in the middle of the 17th century war with Russia. Until the end of the 18th century the building stood half in ruins. In 1780 Sapieha Kazimierz Nestor (1754-1798) allocated funds for the repair of the Arsenal. At that time the attic of the eastern block was pulled down and the ground floor was covered by a gable roof. In 1845-1848, the northern wall of the eastern block was equipped with firing apertures. In early 20th century, the northern block of the Arsenal was pulled down and a new building was constructed instead. The western block was destroyed by fire in 1944. Only fragments of the eastern block have survived until 1977. Archeological, historical and oceanographic data enabled the historian Evaldas Purlys to reconstruct the eastern block of the Old Arsenal and accommodate it to the needs of a museum. The architect Sigitas Lasavickas, and archeologists Albertas Lisanka, Irena Juciene have also investigated this significant building.
In 1987, the reconstructed eastern block of the Old Arsenal housed the first exposition of applied art of the 14-20th centuries. In 1996-1999 the museum featured exhibition “Baroque Applied Art in Lithuania”. This exhibition was a part of the European Council cultural routes program “Baroque Route in Lithuania”. The Museum of Applied Art featured the exhibition “The Battle of Grunewald” which had been tremendously successful. The focus of the exhibition was the famous battle piece by Jan Mateiko “The Battle of Grunewald”, painted in 1878. Prepared by Audrone Bliujiene.