90 ISSN 1392-0561. INFOrMACIJOS MOKSlAI. 2008 45 Lithuanian code: Captures of history in Vilnius cityscapes Viktorija Žilinskaitė Department of Information and Communication Faculty of Communication Vilnius University Saulėtekio al. 9, Vilnius LT-10222, Lithuania, E-mail: Viktorija.Zilinskaite@kf.vu.lt The article analyses the monuments that capture history in Vilnius cityscapes. Monuments for historical personalities and events are material for the construction of identity. Supported by knowledge of history books and tourist guides they construct identity both for inhabitants and visitors. On the other hand, they are spotlights pointing to history moments, reminding about some and keeping in silence other events and personalities. Like in other countries that experienced change of powers and occupational totalitarian regimes, citys- capes of Lithuanian towns, especially of its capital Vilnius, experienced destruction of Lithuanian monu- ments and erection of symbols of occupational powers. After restoration of Lithuanian Independence, the Lithuanian capital, as well as other cities and towns, is going through the processes of re-Lithuanisation. Key words: urban representation, visual culture, symbols of history, cultural heritage Monuments as mirrors of power Monuments were symbols of power long before the contemporary world has gone through processes of visualisation accele- rated by visual media, such as tV or the Internet. According to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (Orwell, 2005) the rewriting of history follows any change in power structures. A change of political power is generally followed by a change of symbols in the territory. Some of those up-buildings or depositions just demons- trate power and attitudes towards previous regimes or personalities, others are built or ruined for identity construction reasons. For a long time the analysis of symbolic places, buildings or monuments had been carried out by historians of art. the rea- sons were matter-of-course. Construction of new identities for places with a changed power (assimilation of occupied countries, formation of loyalist attitudes, extermina- tion of previous identities, etc.) was car- ried by the political power with no public discussion. “A city (usually Rome) built on the ruins of its past, with history accumulating but not quite adding up, is a constant analogy for the unconscious in Freud” (Highmore, 2005: 4), states Ben Highmore in his Ci- tyscapes. We may say that each country or city that has ever been occupied stands on its partially unconscious history. “A place is a geographical space that is defned by