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Over 5 million cultural properties - exhibits valuable in archaeological, historic, artistic, ethnic, religious, scientific, memorial and other aspects - are kept in the collections of Lithuanian museums. Lithuania has 105 museums and the majority of this number has their affiliates. Lithuania has three national museums, such as the Lithuanian National Museum, the Lithuanian Art Museum and the National Art Museum by M.K. Ciurlionis. Besides, Lithuania has plenty of municipal, county, regional, public, private, community museums, museums owned by separate institutions, over 90 galleries and exhibition halls.

2009 is the year of the Millennium Anniversary of the first mention of the name of Lithuania in historical annals. Reconstruction of the Monarchs' Palace is a step within the programme to commemorate the Millennium Anniversary of Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Monarchs' Palace in Vilnius Lower Castle was a political, administrative and cultural center of the time. Its history dates back to the 13th century. Within its ruins, archaeologists discovered the specimen of the oldest brickwork in Lithuania. Once, the Lithuanian Monarchs' Palace was famous for its rich library, well-known in all Europe, art collections and jewelry treasury. Opera was played here for the first time in the country's history. The reconstruction works of the Monarchs' Palace will be finished in 2009 - right before the Millennium Anniversary of Lithuania. The reconstructed Palace will be a center to represent Lithuanian statehood, culture and education.

Working in close cooperation with the Polish Institute and cultural institutes of other European countries and diplomatic missions functioning in Lithuania, the Lithuanian National Museum of Visual Arts has prepared and implements the programme for the presentation of the Monarchs' Palace in other European countries, which includes meetings and scientific discussions with researchers, experts and heads of museums and other cultural heritage protection institutions situated in historical residences of other states in Europe. The implementation of the programme was commenced in October 2003, by the meeting with Hellmut Lorenz, the Expert of the Restoration Project of the Royal Palace in Berlin and Professor of the History of Architecture, the University of Vienna (Austria).

The programme is due to be completed by 2008, on the eve of completion of restoration work on the Lithuanian Monarchs' Palace. The programme is of educational and scientific character. First of all, it will present a description of activities of museums and other cultural heritage institutions situated in other historical residences of European monarchs to explain to the Lithuanian public at large the sense and significance of activities of such institutions functioning in modern societies. The programme also aims to present European practices of historical functioning, restoration, full or partial reconstruction of royal, ducal and other representative residences, preparation of permanent topical expositions and temporary exhibitions, implementation of educational programmes and contemporary ways of work with visitors thereof, organization of representative events on the State level, as well as cultural and musical projects and information programmes for persons taking part in the preparation of the Lithuanian Monarchs' Palace Reconstruction Project, researchers, interior and exposition designers.

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