Restoration uncovers about 140 burials beneath Kaunas church
Saturday 17th October 2026 on 16:15 in
Lithuania
Archaeologists have found about 140 burials beneath and beside the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Kaunas during restoration work, LRT reported. The discoveries also include coffin remains and masonry structures missing from existing plans.
About 100 people’s remains have been found inside the church and around 40 more outside its walls, according to the Kaunas Archdiocese. The investigations began in September, and the scale and historical context of the finds are not yet fully clear.
Among the discoveries may be the remains of a child believed to have been about eight years old. Archaeologists suspect the child was buried with amber beads, fragments of which were found at the bottom of a coffin. Stairs uncovered during floor reconstruction lead to an unknown space, raising the possibility of another crypt beneath the church.
The church’s underground areas also contain remains of cellars from residential buildings that stood on the plot before the Dominicans arrived. The archdiocese says all human remains found in and around the church are to be reburied in a purpose-built memorial crypt in its basement.
After a Soviet-era reinforced concrete floor installed for a cinema was removed this year, the church’s full historic interior became visible for the first time in decades. Work is also restoring an earlier floor level, renovating the basements and planning heating, ventilation and other systems for visitors.
The church was built in the 17th century as a Dominican church dedicated to Corpus Christi. It was later converted into an Orthodox church and, during the Soviet period, a cinema called Santaka. The building was returned to worshippers in 1990.
The current project is estimated to cost about 1.17 million euros, with 70 percent funded by European Union investment and the rest by the Kaunas Archdiocese. The new archaeological finds could require additional research and funding. Work on the church and its surroundings could take up to five years.