A Republic Beyond the River That Cannot be Owned

On the edge of Vilnius Old Town, across the Vilnelė, there is a place that was once one of the city's most neglected corners and today has its own Constitution, anthem, flag for every season, a currency backed by a glass of beer and citizens from Tokyo to Balbieriškis. This is the Republic of Užupis: a collective work by an artists' community, proclaimed on April 1 and constantly renewed, expanded and loved ever since.

Is it a state or a joke? The answer is "yes". Užupis chose April Fools' Day for its independence celebration, so you are never entirely sure where irony ends and real affection for the place begins. That ambiguity is the point: without paradox, Užupis would not be Užupis.

This page is three doors into the same Republic. One leads to understanding what kind of country this is. Another leads into how it happened. The third leads to what to see when you visit. Choose any door.

The Republic of Užupis has everything a real state needs, only without bureaucracy or taxes. Forty-one articles of the Constitution begin with the right to live by the Vilnelė and end with three commands: Do not defeat. Do not defend. Do not surrender. A president who proclaimed the state, and citizens who appointed him president. A parliament that meets in the Užupis cafe and is therefore known as the Barlament. A volunteer government. And citizenship that each person grants to themselves.

Užupis is more than five hundred years old, while the Republic is younger. Mills and paper workshops worked here; Jewish merchants and craftspeople lived here; the Bernardine Cemetery stood here. In Soviet times it was a "street of death", neglected and unsafe. In the 1990s artists moved into cheap apartments - and one April 1 they declared independence. Since then the chronicle has grown: the descent of the Angel, Wind Days, White Tablecloth Day and the disbanding of an eleven-person army.

Užupis fits into sixty hectares, but it contains the Constitution Wall in many languages, the trumpet-blowing Angel, nine bridges over the Vilnelė, a mermaid who lures visitors from around the world and the cafe where everything began. Here you will find a map, places to visit and the essentials for planning a walk.

People in Užupis like to describe themselves through facts, some true and some mythological. Where the line lies is for each visitor to decide:

• The Constitution is engraved on plaques in more than thirty languages and translated into more than fifty.
• The Republic's currency, the EuroUžas, is the most stable in the world and the only one backed by beer.
• Citizenship can be granted or revoked only by the citizen themselves - and by no one else.
• Every member of the Republic's government is a volunteer.
• There are no taxes in Užupis.
• Užupis has a metro line to Žvėrynas, opened on April 1, of course.
• Grand Duke Gediminas is buried in Užupis. You do not have to believe that one.

The old home page preserved short phrases that work as a summary of Užupis self-understanding. They are worth keeping as a future quotes or manifesto block:

• We learn not to be wealthy, smart or happy - we learn to be together.
• Humans have not invented anything wiser than sharing.
• The only one, therefore not lonely.
• Užupis without paradox is Užupis without selfhood.
• One can live in Užupis, one can love Užupis, but one cannot possess Užupis.
• Užupis is the centre of the universe's province.
• Death can be overcome only by creative work.
• Freedom without responsibility is impossible.
• Standards are not outside, but inside.
• At home, there is no word stranger.
• There are places that belong to nobody, and places where you belong.

"Užupis is so small that there is room here for everyone."

A citizen of the Republic of Užupis must visit Užupis at least once in life. Everything else is up to you.