Vilnius marketplaces in the first half of the 19th c.

In the early 19th c., Vilnius’ commercial space was shared by competing stores and shops (in 1817 there were 636 of them in the city), large and small marketplaces, and traders who would come to the city during fairs. The marketplace played an important role in the city’s economic structure, as most townspeople went here to buy necessity goods – food, firewood and animal feed. In the first half of the 19th c., Vilnius had, with municipal permits and under administrative oversight, four functioning marketplaces: the largest ones operated beyond the Aušros, Rūdninkų and Trakų gates, while the others – beyond Pilies gate, in Užupis suburb, and in the centre of the Jewish quarter in the triangle-shaped so-called Stiklo square. In addition to the large marketplaces, smaller and more specialised ones operated as well: for buying hay – by St Jurgis Church, bread – Užupis, firewood – by Panerių road, wheat – beyond Aušros gate (the latter two were seperate from the large marketplaces) and other ones