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Regional leaders gather in the Baltic state of Lithuania to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of its first mention in historical records.
Two kings, one queen, several presidents, a papal legate and thousands of other people celebrated the 1,000th anniversary on Monday (July 6) of the first mention of Lithuania in historical records.
Bringing a dash of royalty to the spectacle, the celebrations in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius were attended by Danish Queen Margarethe, Norway's King Harald and Sweden's King Carl Gustaf alongside Queen Silvia.
The presidents of Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, Latvia, Finland and Iceland, the prime minister of Estonia and Russia's culture minister added to the line up.
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus greeted the leaders at the Presidential Palace before a flag-raising ceremony and military parade.
The millennium day of pageant, parades and speeches was in stark contrast with the actual historical event which prompted the first mention of Lithuania.
"In the year 1009, St Bruno otherwise called Boniface, archbishop and monk, in the 11th year of his conversion, was struck in the head by pagans at the Russian and Lithuanian border and went to heaven with 18 of his people on March 9," said an extract from an 11th century manuscript, quoted on the state-run website dedicated to the celebrations.
Adamkus told a crowd of onlookers outside the palace that the emergence of the name of Lithuania witnessed the historical beginnings of a political community and a national of self-awareness.
Later a plaque was unveiled at a new building which is known as the the Palace of the Valdovu (Rulers). The half-completed building stands on the grounds where ruins of an old palace were discovered in the 1980's.
Lithuania joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. Like neighbours Latvia and Estonia, it is in economic crisis, though the millennium day went ahead regardless.
"We are very happy because the millennium was not met by our parents and the second millennium will not be met by our children," said one woman who had joined the crowd witnessing the celebrations, Jadvyga Paliuniene.
"Therefore we are the most happy people because we are celebrating this millennium," she added.
The event was celebrated on the same day as Lithuania marks the 1253 coronation of its first and only king.
Lithuania regained its independence after the 1991 collapse of the former Soviet Union, but in the middle ages it was a powerful regional force. As Lithuanians proudly say, the country once stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
It was the last pagan nation in Europe, only accepting Christianity in 1387. It fell under the control of the Russian tsars from 1795, was independent between 1918-1940, but was annexed by the Soviet Union until 1991.