A republic with its own president, a mayor, an ambassador to Moscow and a small army of 12. Like any self-respecting republic Uzupio has its own constitution with 41 articles, somewhere between ironic and serious and some very forward-looking.
Everyone has the right to be happy. The right to Happiness, as also enshrined in the American Declaration of Independence. But in Uzupio there is also the right to be unhappy, and the right to die, even if it is not an obligation. The constitution, written in multiple languages, is hung on the walls of the neighborhood and there is also in Italian.
Uzupis (which in Lithuanian means on the other side of the river) is, as you may have deduced from its name, the district on the right bank of the Vilnia River, separated from Vilnius Old Town by 7 bridges.
Historically it is an area with a high density of Jews that, after the Second World War, was almost completely deprived of all its inhabitants…
The most immediate consequences were the degradation of the neighborhood and a series of uninhabited buildings that during the Soviet rule were filled with homeless, prostitutes and problematic people.
Uzupis thus became the most problematic neighborhood in the Lithuanian capital.
At least until 1990, the year of Lithuania’s independence from the Soviet Union.
Suddenly there was a reversal of direction and the low prices and the bohemian and dilapidated atmosphere of the district encouraged artists and intellectuals to buy real estate and move to this part of Vilnia.
This was the beginning of a process of redevelopment that led to the flourishing of art workshops, art galleries, bars and cafes, all characterized by a pleasant and particular atmosphere of Paris in the 70s.
Today the republic has a population of 7000, of which about 1000 are artists. Among them are painters, photographers, sculptors, writers, intellectuals etc.
The culmination of the renewal process was the creation of the Republic of Uzupis on April 1, 1997, thanks to the mind of the poet, musician and film director Romas Lileikis who, together with local residents, declared to the world the foundation of the Republic.
