Vilniaus bazilijonų Švč. Trejybės bažnyčios unitų palaidojimų tyrimai 2016 m

LT2016 m. VU tęsė 2015 m. pradėtus archeologinius ir antropologinius tyrimus Vilniaus bazilijonų Švč. Trejybės bažnyčios rūsyje, kur buvo laidojami unitų tikėjimą išpažinę garbingi asmenys. Švč. Trejybės bažnyčią su varpine 1514-1516 m. pastatė Lietuvos didysis etmonas, Vilniaus kaštelionas ir Trakų vaivada, kunigaikštis ir karvedys, žymus Rusios ir Lietuvos giminės atstovas Konstantinas Ostrogiškis (1460-1530). 1607 m. į šią vietą atsikėlė unitų bazilijonai, o 1610 m. čia prisiglaudė ir bazilijonės. Vilniaus bazilijonų vienuolynas tapo unitų bažnyčios ir bazilijonų Švč. Trejybės provincijos centru. 2015 m. vykdant archeologinius tyrimus bažnyčios rūsyje (8,7x5,8 m dydžio, 4,32 m aukščio iki pusiaucilindrinio skliauto viršaus), buvo ištirti ir fiksuoti 53 karstai su palaidojimais ir dar apie 50–60 individų pavienių kaulų (ATL 2015 metais, 2016, p. 237– 247). Detalūs 2015 m. archeologinių, antropologinių ir istorinių tyrimų rezultatai publikuoti (Spectrum, 2016, nr. 1(24), p. 23–27). [...] [p. 265-266].

ENIn 2016, VU continued the archaeological and anthropological investigation, begun in 2015, of the basement of the basilian church of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius and the burials of honourable Uniates there. In 2015, 53 coffins with burials and the isolated bones of another roughly 50-60 individuals were excavated and recorded in this basement, which is 8.7 x 5.8 m and 4.32 m high at the top of its barrel vault ceiling. The purpose of the 2016 investigation in this basement was to study the burials unearthed there, to establish the former level of the basement floor, to determine the depth of the basement wall foundations, and to prepare the basement for the future reburial of the unearthed coffins and burials. The church of the Holy Trinity and its bell tower were built in 1514-1516 by Grand Hetman Konstantinas Ostrogiškis (1460–1530) of Lithuania. In 1607, Uniate Basilians moved to this location and in 1610 Basilians took shelter there. The Basilian monastery in Vilnius became the seat of the uniate church and the basilian province of the Holy Trinity. The coffins unearthed and studied in 2016 had been buried in the basement sand at a depth of 0.5-1 m below the basement’s dirt floor. All of the burials were oriented with their heads to the W, i.e. towards the altar. The coffins were made of planks roughly 2-2.5 cm thick and 20-30 cm wide. Only a small fraction of the coffins had a lid that had survived in better condition. The coffins were without any decorations or inscriptions.The 2015 investigation showed that those individuals had been interred during 1717-1788. The individuals investigated in 2016 should be dated to the period up to 1717. Except for the burial of one female (a nun?) and an empty child’s coffin, the coffins contained males, the majority of whom were monks, who were identified by the discovered epitrachelions (stoles) (in coffins 54, 65) and paramandyas (in coffins 55, 60, 63, 64, 65, 69). The coffins discovered in 2015-2016 contained 39 paramandyas, 7 epitrachelions, the remains of many leather collars, 8 crucified Christ figurines, and 14 crosses. Thus the majority of the individuals were basilian monks and 14 of the coffins investigated in 2015 had inscriptions giving the surname of the individual within.