Tyzenhaus palace, Vilnius

Tyzenhaus Palace is an 18th-century mansion that has undergone numerous transformations throughout its history. Originally, there was an International Gothic building on the site in 1579, but it fell into disuse and ruin. Around 1765, Antoni Tyzenhaus, a treasurer of Lithuania, starost of Grodno, and a close friend of the Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski, purchased the parcel and ordered the construction of a new, classical style palace in the early 1770s.

The house was most likely constructed by a Venetian architect named Giuseppe de Sacco. After Tyzenhaus went bankrupt and was dismissed in 1777, the palace fell into disuse once again. It was sold to General Fitinhof's widow in 1785, who ordered its reconstruction and refurbishment the following year, likely carried out by German-born architect Martin Knakfuss. The new simplistic façades were added, and a Silver hall was built, making it one of the biggest aristocratic residences in Lithuania, with 30 halls and 16 smaller rooms. In 1807, it was refurbished again by Mikołaj Szulc, modernizing the interior and adding a new staircase to the palace.

Unfortunately, the palace fell into disuse once again in the 19th century and was parceled between various shops and stores. In the early 20th century, it was bought by E. Bortkiewicz, who ordered the reconstruction of the second floor. After the city of Vilnius/Wilno became a part of Poland in 1922, the 2nd and 3rd floors were reconstructed to house a Hotel Sokołowskiego. However, the building was heavily damaged during the German bombings of Wilno in the Polish Defensive War and Operation Ostra Brama in 1944, leaving only the cellars, ground floor, and outer walls preserved.

The palace was rebuilt in 1945 and reconstructed by Soviet authorities to house small apartments due to the shortage of living space in Vilnius caused by the destruction of residential buildings. A fourth floor was added, but it is invisible from the outside. After Lithuania regained its independence, most of the flats that were carved out of the palace currently serve as either offices or shops.

The palace has three floors on the street side and four floors on the courtyard side, with the courtyard, fully enclosed by the building and accessible through two gates. The building has a trapezoid form with a tall attic on the street side, and its two-level gothic cellar is currently unused. The rooms on the sides of the building facing the street have windows opening on both the street and courtyard. The walls facing the courtyard are narrower, and other exposures of the palace face other courtyards. The palace's attic has been put to commercial use since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and sculptures can be seen immediately beneath the attic on the street side, with many different bas-reliefs.