1,5 hour tour of the most dramatic Royal Love Story and its remnants in Vilnius.
 
During the Middle Ages and Renaissance period in Lithuania, hunting served as a means to increase one’s prestige, particularly for rulers and nobles. It was a way for them to display their fighting skills, courage and endurance, whilst for the elderly, it was a way to exhibit their youthfulness and leadership skills.
 
When the Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus ruled over Lithuania in the 1600s, hunting became one of the most popular activities for a ruler to partake in. Incredibly, Sigismund Augustus once hunted continuously for more than half a year.
 
The hunting farm belonging to the Lithuanian noble family, Radziwiłł, was particularly well-known within Europe, even surpassing other hunting farms associated with monarchs at the time. The future Queen Barbara Radziwiłł grew up to be an excellent shooter. She rode extremely well and adored hunting. Barbara even had special hunting guns and saddles produced in order to match her height and needs.
 
Sigismund Augustus’s mother, Queen Bona, was a keen hunter. She was particularly fond of hunting with falcons. Rumors suggest that she even used to keep her prized falcon in her bedroom.
 
Countess Barbara was a young widow who lost her husband when she was just twenty years old. When she met the future King, Sigismund, she immediately felt a feeling that she had never experienced before.
As time passed, Sigismund married Barbara before engaging in a difficult struggle with the entire Lithuanian and Polish high society to crown his beloved Barbara. He eventually succeeded. The couple lived in Vilnius before moving to Krakow, Poland. Their greatest desire was to travel to different hunting residences in order to be away from the capitals and courts.