Legend says Vilnius was founded in the 1320s when Lithuanian grand duke Gediminas dreamt of an iron wolf that howled with the voices of 100 wolves - a sure sign to build a city as mighty as their cry.

Vilnius is an outstanding example of a medieval foundation which exercised a profound influence on architectural and cultural developments in a wide area of Eastern Europe over several centuries. In the townscape and the rich diversity of buildings that it preserves, Vilnius is an exceptional illustration of a central European town that evolved organically over five centuries.

On a site that had been intermittently occupied from the Neolithic period, a wooden castle was built around AD 1000 to fortify Gedimino Hill, at the confluence of the Neris and Vilnia rivers. The settlement did not develop as a town until the 13th century, during the struggles of the Baltic peoples against their German invaders. By 1323, when the first written reference to Vilnia occurs, it was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania founded by Prince Gedymin. At this time some brick structures had apparently been erected on a small island formed when the Vilnia changed its course.

Lithuania was the last great pagan state in Eastern Europe to be converted to Christianity, in 1387, when Grand Duke Jagaila was baptized. This opened Vilnius to the Western world, as in the same year it adopted the Magdeburg Statutes.

Over the next few centuries Vilnius developed into one of the great European cities. Trade and artisanal craft flourished, and there was notable freedom of religion, with Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish and Karaite communities all well-established. Moat, wall and tower atop Gediminas Hill protected 14th- and 15th-century Vilnius from Teutonic attacks. Tatar attacks prompted inhabitants to build a 2.4km defensive wall, and by the end of the 16th century Vilnius was among Eastern Europe's biggest cities. Three centuries on, industrialisation arrived: railways were laid and Vilnius became a key Jewish city.

Occupied by Germany during WWI, it became an isolated pocket of Poland afterwards. WWII ushered in another German occupation. After the retreat of the Nazis in 1944, Vilnius became a part of the SSR until 1990. Postwar Vilnius ushered in new residential suburbs populated by Lithuanians from elsewhere alongside immigrant Russians and Belarusians. Lithuania In 1994 its old town became a Unesco World Heritage site.

The current shape of the city retains its authentic qualities in the material attributes and continuous processes, traditions of the arts and life witnessing the often stormy history of the city and country and their political, economic and cultural evolution throughout the centuries.

Many of the buildings retain material layers from several periods, as with the introduction of new styles, the buildings have been rebuilt, incorporating the old buildings into the new ones. Buildings that suffered from the consequences of wars and fires, notably from World War II, were reconstructed using technical solutions typical for that time, whilst the traditional methods of restoration were used only for monuments and outstanding details. On the whole, the authentic attributes remain in the pattern of plots, structure and internal spatial arrangements of the buildings, distinctive elements of internal decorations and equipment, surfaces of the external walls and various decorations of the facades, doors, windows and roofs, pavements of the streets and squares, and details of the engineering and transport infrastructure, along with the surviving intangible heritage expressed through arts and traditions.

The successive reconstructions gave the town many buildings of special character, including the cathedral, town hall, arsenal, and the Tyzenhauzai, Rensai, Pacai and Masalskiai palaces. Many of the surviving earlier buildings were rebuilt or refurbished in the School of Vilnius Baroque style, which later left an imprint in the large area of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The identity of Vilnius has always been open to influences enhancing the social, economic and cultural activities of the thriving communities. These influences materialised in the works of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque, placed furthest eastward in Europe.

Those features gone and changed remain in the sources of history, diligent archaeological and historical research reports, the fine and applied arts, living traditions of music, theatre and hospitality. Some spaces, uses and activities have naturally changed with developing social and economic needs, yet the formulated significance of the property remains readily recognizable. Vilnius has retained its political role and economic and cultural importance in the country and the region, and its current shape represents its complex history excellently.