Lukiškės Prison opened in 1904 and operated until 2019 — 115 years of continuous use as a place of detention. The massive brick complex on the edge of the new town has been through Russian imperial, German, Soviet, and Lithuanian hands, and the list of people held here reads like a compressed history of the region's catastrophes. After its closure, the complex was gradually converted into a cultural centre with bars, a hostel, creative studios, and event spaces.
Tours of the prison are available and are well worth taking: the cell blocks, exercise yards, and punishment rooms are still intact and give a powerful sense of what the place was. In the evening the bar in one of the courtyards is a popular spot with a memorably unusual setting. Check the events programme, as concerts and art shows are held in the former prison's large internal spaces.