Before the construction of the church and monastery, this part of town had very few buildings – the townspeople’s gardens and separate wooden houses prevailed. The new church opened in the middle of the 17th century. In 1645 the main altar was created (by the wood sculptor Anusas), paintings of St. Hyacinth and St. Vincent were installed (by the painter Pileckis). The St. Casimir side altar was also finished that same year. In 1646 the bell was cast in Vilnius cannon foundry and the bell tower constructed next to the church. In 1655, the Moscow army invaded Kaunas and devastated the church and monastery. More than a decade had passed after the war before the reconstruction work started. The construction of the church walls was finished in 1680, and in 1683 the monastery land plot was surrounded by a log fence. Later the interior works were started – in 1689 the vaults were created after the design by the architect P. Putini, who worked on Pažaislis monastery complex, and the façade was painted in various colours. The church was consecrated in 1700.
Mindaugas Bertašius