Klukowski’s Café

Widely known and loved in the Muslim world since the 15th century, coffee was not popular in Europe until the 1600s. After the Battle of Khotyn (1673) against the Ottomans in today’s Ukraine, the commanders of the Lithuanian army are believed to have brought some Turkish coffee back to Vilnius. Indeed, there are more legends linking war, Turks, and coffee. In 1683, after the Battle of Vienna when the legendary Hussar army sealed the outcome of the battle, an unknown soldier is said to have found as many as 300 bags of coffee among the Ottoman supplies. He took them and opened a café in Vienna.

Yet it took more time for Vilnans to become fascinated by the smell of roasted coffee beans. The first illegal café was operated at least in 1787, when neighbors filed a complaint to a local court of law against Simon and Barbara Klukowski who had fitted an illegal signboard to the house to advertise the coffee they were selling. The Klukowski House, now number 5 or 7 on St John’s Street, is where, quite likely, Vilnius’ earliest café was.

Learn more about coffee culture in old Vilnius by clicking on this link.

Address: Šv. Jonų str. 5/7