At first glance a simple public garden like any other, on closer inspection Kaunas’ Musical Theatre Garden is a veritable 20th-century history lesson packed into one small space. Dating back to the 19th century when Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire, the building at its southern side after which the park gets its name was the setting for a congress held on July 21, 1940 that set the scene for the incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union. A favourite location for Kaunas’ short-lived hippy community of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was here that the 19-year-old student Romas Kalanta set fire to himself on May 14, 1972. Today a well-tended memorial of cast iron sheets and 19 stones marks the spot where the incident took place. The park also happens to be the only place left in Kaunas to see the last remaining fragment of the city’s former defensive wall, and is home to eight tellingly male chauvinist statues of musical giants, among them a Righteous Among the Nations in the form of Kipras Petrauskas. It’s hoped that an outdoor café’s finally going to appear in the park this summer, although it’s more than likely that if you want to enjoy its relative tranquillity with a cup of coffee and a doughnut you’ll have to navigate the current roadworks and nip across the street to Spurginė for some takeaway sustenance.