In the book of the well-known poet, philologist and professor of Yale university Thomas Venclova the capital of Lithuania appears as multilayered as its 700-year history. The fantastic alloy of languages, traditions and religions coexisting on the territory east of Elba, irrespective of political borders, has generated particular aura of the city. The author narrates about Vilnius, nowadays the center of a young state, ready for a challenge which is called «Europe».