Rasos – the oldest cemetery of Vilnius, established in 1801 in the South-Eastern part of the city as a parish cemetery of the Missioners church. Lithuanian army, deceased during the fights for the independence in 1919-1920, and Polish legionaries found the final place of rest in Rasos cemetery. During the 19th and the first half oh the 20th century Rasos became the fashionable place of eternal rest for citizens of wealth and distinction. The cemetery is enrolled into the List of Immovable Cultural Properties of Lithuanian Republic. There are 164 architectural, historical or artistic monuments of Rasos cemetery in The List. The patriarch of Lithuania Jonas Basanavičius, famous Lithuanian engineer Petras Vileišis, the signatories of the Act of Independence of 1918, February 16. Famous Lithuanian painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, many other artists, writers, scientists, professors of Vilnius University, the mother of Polish president Joseph Pilsudsky and his heart had been buried in this cemetery. Nowadays the cemetery of Rasos reflects the continuation of the traditional sepulchral art, and is a real book of remembrance of those, who lived in Vilnius for last two centuries.
