[2] The Vilnius Castles were attacked several times by the Teutonic Order after 1390, but they did not succeed in taking the entire complex.

[citation needed] Today, the remaining Gediminas Tower is a major symbol of the city of Vilnius and of the nation itself.

[12] At times during the civil war, Vytautas supported the Orders' attacks on the castles, having struck an alliance with them in his quest for the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania.

[citation needed] At the time of the 1390 attack, the Complex consisted of three sections - the Upper, Lower and Crooked Castles.

The Teutonic Knights managed to take and destroy the Crooked Castle, situated on Bleak Hill (Lithuanian: Plikasis kalnas), but failed to capture the others.

During the 1394 attack, the Vilnius Castles were besieged for over three weeks, and one of its defense towers was damaged and fell into the Neris River.

[citation needed] The Upper Castle was reconstructed in Gothic style with glazed green tiling on its roof.

The state had made plans to host the coronation of the proclaimed king Vytautas the Great in the castle, which were disrupted by his untimely death.

In the 13–14th centuries defensive walls, towers and gateways were built from stone; these were reorganized and expanded several times.

[citation needed] The Grand Ducal Palace in the Lower Castle evolved over the years and prospered during the 16th and mid-17th centuries.

[14] The Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander, who later became King of Poland, moved his residence to the Royal Palace, where he met with ambassadors.

After his marriage to a daughter of Moscow's Grand Duke Ivan III, the royal couple lived and died in the palace.

[citation needed] Sigismund I the Old, after his ascension to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, conducted his affairs in the Royal Palace as well as in Vilnius Cathedral.

During the rule of Sigismund I the palace was greatly expanded, to meet new needs of the Grand Duke – another wing was added, as well as a third floor; the gardens were also extended.

[15] The palace reconstruction plan was probably prepared by Italian architect Bartolomeo Berrecci da Pontassieve, who also designed several other projects in the Kingdom of Poland.

Augustus carried on with palace development and lived there with his first wife Elisabeth of Austria, daughter of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

The plan was prepared by several Italian architects, including Giovanni Cini da Siena, Bernardino de Gianotis, and others.

[citation needed] After the Russian invasion in 1655, the state began weakening, with negative effects on the Royal Palace.

After the recapture of the city of Vilnius in 1660-1661, the palace was no longer a suitable state residence, and stood abandoned for about 150 years.

Soon after the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was incorporated into the Russian Empire, Tsarist officials ordered the demolition of the remaining sections of the Royal Palace.

[19] The Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) passed a law in 2000 resolving that the Royal Palace be rebuilt for ceremonies commemorating the millennium since the first mention of the name of Lithuania in 2009.

It has been proposed that King of Lithuania, Mindaugas, built the original cathedral in 1251 as the site of his baptism into the Christian rite.

[citation needed] In 1783, the cathedral was reconstructed according to a design by Laurynas Gucevičius in the neoclassical style, and the church acquired its strict quadrangular shape.

[24] The New Arsenal was established in one of the oldest castle buildings in the 18th century, by order of the Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Casimir Oginski.

In 2003, as part of the celebrations surrounding the 750th anniversary of the coronation of Mindaugas, the tower was made more accessible by the construction of a lift.

On 7 October 1988, during Lithuania's drive to re-establish its independence, 100,000 people gathered at the Castle Complex as the flag was re-hoisted.

The second floor exhibits flags that were used by Vytautas the Great's army during the Battle of Grunwald, along with authentic weaponry used from the 13th through the 18th centuries.