Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports, Vilnius

The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports, also known as the "Sporto Rūmai," is an abandoned building located in the northern bank of the Neris River in Vilnius. This building was completed in 1971, and it served as a large sports hall with a capacity for 4,400 spectators, catering typically to sports such as basketball and volleyball.

The Palace of Concerts and Sports was built during the post-Stalin era, and it was constructed in the Brutalist architectural style that had been popularized by Western nations. This building was one of the many cultural centers built throughout the Soviet Union after World War II, serving both to distract Soviet soldiers and civilians from the horrors of the recent war and instill a sense of shared pan-Soviet nationhood.

This building played a significant role in Lithuania's efforts to achieve independence from the Soviet Union. In October 1988, the palace hosted the inaugural congress of Sąjūdis, a reformation movement, and in January 1991, it provided the venue for a public funeral of 13 Lithuanians who were killed by Soviet soldiers during the nation's struggle for self-determination.

Although the Sports Palace remained in use after the collapse of the Soviet Union, its arena had been converted to a complex of privately leased shopping and exhibition spaces by the late 1990s. In 2004, the building was closed for good after being deemed unsafe, and new, modern sports venues began to appear in Vilnius. The cost of renovating the Soviet-era Palace of Concerts and Sports no longer seemed justified by its potential usefulness.

Despite its abandonment, the Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports is still a memento of the district's history. The area was once the location of Piramónt Cemetery, the oldest Jewish cemetery in Vilnius, but was destroyed in 1949 and 1950 as the Soviets laid the foundations for their new sporting facilities. The adjacent car park has been converted into a memorial lawn in respect of the Jewish cemetery that was destroyed to make room for the building. In July 2006, the building was added to a registry of architectural heritage sites, highlighting its cultural significance and historical value.