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Slapta meilė (Secret Love) is a cultural start-up: a platform devoted to history and a contemporary, romantic design gift brand for Vilnius and Kraków, created around the facts and myths of the dramatic 16th-century royal love story of Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwiłł.

In the 16th century (1543–1551), Vilnius and Kraków were stunned by a forbidden and unrepeatable love story. Because of the scandal and drama it caused, it became the most romantic Vilnius legend of all time – a legend of secret royal love.

Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his beautiful subject Barbara Radziwiłł fell in love. In those days royal marriages were economic and military alliances between countries. States joined forces with partners who would help them defend themselves and grow, so royal offspring were matched according to the interests of their countries. The future king dared to follow his feelings and secretly married the woman he loved.

Once he became King of Poland, Sigismund Augustus ensured that Barbara was recognised as his lawful wife and crowned Grand Duchess of Lithuania and Queen of Poland. In Vilnius the star of Barbara Radziwiłł began to shine – a star that for more than four centuries has fascinated people with its mystery and charm.

In 2022 Julija Janus began gradually building a professionally designed platform – an online showroom – inviting various producers, makers and researchers in history, art history, design, technology and anthropology to collaborate. The growing collection of design products and services is called Slapta meilė.

Slapta meilė is the name of the audio guide written and produced by Julija Janus (designer, interdisciplinary artist, placemaker). This travel audio guide, written and voiced as if it were Barbara Radziwiłł’s diary, leads you through Vilnius Old Town to places directly connected with the famous Renaissance love story.

In 2021 the website slaptameile.lt was created, hosting the audio guide voiced in four languages. It is accessible from any mobile device and linked to Google Maps, so it is easy to find all the stops of the audio tour. The tool can be used both by professional guides and by independent travellers.

The Showroom (a room for displaying products) is the cultural start-up’s display room for collaborations. It looks like a shop, but when you choose a product or service you like, the black buy button takes you straight to the online shop of that product’s maker or service provider.

All products are created on the basis of the facts and myths of the 16th-century love story of Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwiłł. Although the products come from different makers and are sold in different online shops, the Slapta meilė Showroom is the only place where you can see them all together as a collection.

All the products are united not only by the intimate 16th-century royal love story but also by the same mysterious packaging, based on painter Miglė Kosinskaitė’s full-length portrait of the royal couple, the original of which can be seen in Vilnius, at Stiklių g. 6, in the entrance hall of the “Lokys” restaurant.

Would you like to create or make a gift – a product, service or experience connected with the events and people of this story? Write to us at [email protected] with the word PARTNERYSTĖ in the subject line.

If you represent a producer or service provider, you must have an online shop.

If you are a designer or maker, your email must include your product design experience (as a CV) and clear sketches or visualisations.

“Slapta meilė” products can be sold individually, together as a collection or in ready-made gift sets. In any case, if you would like to sell them, email us at [email protected] with the word PARDAVIMAI in the subject line, and we will help you get in touch with our partners in the way that suits you best.

Barbara Radziwiłł (1523–1551) came from the Radziwiłł family, one of the richest and most influential noble families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and of Europe. According to her contemporaries, Barbara was a very beautiful woman – tall, slender and fair-haired. Her parents gave her a good education; she spoke Lithuanian, Ruthenian and Polish. Legends circulated about her looks, her clothes, her court, her love of hunting, dancing and bathing, and her passion for jewellery, exotic food and cosmetics.

At 17, Barbara was already married to Count Stanislovas Goštautas, a descendant of another of Lithuania’s most powerful families. After the count’s death, at just 21, Barbara became the beloved of the future king, Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and four years later, in August 1547, they married in secret. When the marriage was announced, a scandal broke out – it was fiercely opposed by the Polish nobles and by the queen mother, Bona Sforza.

The opposition arose because in the 16th century geopolitical, military and economic alliances between countries were achieved in two ways: by conquest or by royal marriage. At the time it was vital for Lithuania and Poland to secure the support of Central European countries – the German lands and the Austrian empire of the day – against Russian aggression. This was pursued through marriage contracts. The secret marriage of the future ruler of Lithuania and Poland to one of his subjects wrecked the planned foreign policy strategy.

Barbara became a martyr to her own love and marriage. She was accused, openly and behind her back, of debauchery, witchcraft and contagious diseases. Sigismund Augustus had to take every precaution to protect his beloved from rumours, from news of the slander against her and from the real danger of physical harm. Even after Augustus became king, he found it very hard to protect his beloved from the hidden and open bullying at the royal court.

On 7 December 1550, in Wawel Cathedral (Kraków), Barbara Radziwiłł was recognised and crowned Queen of Poland.

Barbara was the daughter of one of the most powerful families in Lithuania. She had Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Polish blood. Her father, Jerzy Radziwiłł, was commander of the Lithuanian army, Grand Hetman and Court Marshal. Barbara first married at the age of 17. She became the wife of Count Stanislovas Goštautas, a descendant of another powerful family, the Goštautas. Women of Barbara’s standing were raised to manage a large estate and to bear and bring up children. She, too, hoped to give birth to an heir to the throne and was deeply distressed after several miscarriages.

Barbara cared about beauty, in herself and in her surroundings; she loved bathing, the bathhouse, massage, hunting, riding and dancing. The queen’s favourite flowers were lavender, roses and pansies, and her attendants decorated her rooms with arrangements of them. She collected jewellery, which she loved as much as Grand Duke Sigismund Augustus did. The two lovers would each enclose a precious, exceptional piece of jewellery in their letters to one another.

In her portraits Barbara Radziwiłł wears clothes made mostly in the fashion of Germany and, less often, of Italy and Spain. Gowns of brocade, damask, satin and silk; bodices embroidered with gold and silver thread; ermine and sable furs; openwork hats decorated with roses; berets in the Central European style; gilded silver crowns, peignoirs, black sheer ribbons; sashes embroidered with pearls of the same colour, pearl headbands, hoods and tiny caps of sheer fabric. The lovely noblewoman favoured green and white, and above all red, but she followed fashion, so she also wore contrasting tones and white and black clothes. She wore garments decorated and embroidered with precious stones. Embroidered pearls were especially fashionable then, and all of Barbara’s clothes were adorned with them. Her pearl coronation veil caused a sensation in Europe; it is believed that after Barbara’s death it was bought through agents by the Queen of England.

Literary sources show that the lovers sometimes displayed their unity by matching their clothes.

By the rules, food was served to the queen and her courtiers twice a day. Between nine in the morning and noon everyone sat down to breakfast, and dinner was eaten between three and six. The everyday dish was hogweed soup, made from specially fermented stems, young leaves and shoots of the plant. Hogweed soup was popular at Western European courts too: similar soups were eaten, for example, by the Tudors in England. Barbara’s table was also always groaning with meat. Every day the servants paid merchants as much as 50 gold coins for various meats – the annual salary of a mid-ranking official (such as the king’s apothecary). Beef and veal dominated, mutton less often, and the queen hardly ate pork, unless you count bacon, liver and cracklings. The cooks had to prepare dozens of birds every day: chickens, ducks, geese, capons, sometimes peacocks, as well as all kinds of game – from tiny songbirds to wild pigeons and partridges. On fast days meat was replaced by fish: pike, tench and salmon. In addition, servants brought several baskets of dairy products to the kitchen of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania every day: butter, cheese, curd, milk and sour cream. Small round cheeses were made from sweet cream, and curd fritters became one of Barbara Radziwiłł’s favourite dishes. She was a fan of bigos – a traditional Polish cabbage stew with chopped meat. The range of vegetables in her kitchen was hardly different from what a Lithuanian likes today: peas, horseradish, spinach, onions, turnips, buckwheat, parsley, parsnips and cabbage.

Judging by surviving documents, Barbara Radziwiłł’s cooks ordered unbelievable quantities of eggs every day. Some of them undoubtedly went into the dough for gingerbread. Barbara loved it so much (especially with jam) that her table was laden with freshly baked treats twice a day. The cooks also baked bagels and made sweets with rose water. Barbara Radziwiłł’s favourite fruits were oranges and pears. The oranges served at her table every day cost one gold coin apiece at the time. With her meals Barbara usually drank wine, although the servants also made sure to buy mead and beer.

After secretly marrying Barbara, Grand Duke Sigismund Augustus, about to leave Vilnius for a long time and wishing to protect her from poisoners, ordered a set of exceptionally clear glass tableware.

Purifying quartz naturally was extremely difficult, and glass usually had a greenish tint. The duchess’s special set of clear glassware was kept in a dedicated locked chest. A trusted person unlocked it before Barbara ate.

At 28, just five months after her coronation, Queen Barbara died. Rumour had it that the poison of the queen mother, Bona Sforza, had reached her. Researchers say the cause of her death was cancer of the reproductive organs. It is yet another mystery lost to time, as the Radziwiłł family was known for its health and stamina, and its descendants lived long lives. According to her contemporaries, Barbara was a very lively, active, sporty young woman. Although this story happened almost five hundred years ago, the power of the romantic myth keeps growing, and Barbara Radziwiłł is recognised as the all-time megastar of Lithuania and Vilnius.

King Sigismund Augustus was building a church on the grounds of the Lower Castle in Vilnius, intended as the burial place for himself and Queen Barbara. But it was never finished. Queen Barbara Radziwiłł’s remains were brought from Kraków to Vilnius and solemnly buried in Vilnius Cathedral, beneath the very chapel where Grand Duke Sigismund Augustus is believed to have married her in secret. According to witnesses, the King accompanied her remains, carried in a special carriage drawn by four black horses. In every settlement Sigismund Augustus dismounted and walked behind the carriage on foot.

For a time the location of the queen’s remains was forgotten. In 1931, after the great flood of the Neris, the foundations and walls of the Basilica had to be reinforced. At the time the Lithuanian capital was ruled by Poland. By chance, during the repairs, workers found the remains of Alexander, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, and of both of Sigismund Augustus’ wives – Elizabeth of Austria and Barbara Radziwiłł.

After the remains were examined, they were buried in a special mausoleum in the crypts of Vilnius Cathedral, which is now open to visitors.

Sigismund Augustus (1520–1572) was the last ruler of the Jagiellonian dynasty. In 1544, at the age of 24, he settled in Vilnius as Grand Duke of Lithuania and took all power in Lithuania into his own hands. After his father’s death in 1548, Sigismund Augustus became ruler of Lithuania and Poland.

Until the age of 17 the young prince was looked after and spoilt by his mother, Queen Bona Sforza. Surrounded by his mother’s ladies-in-waiting, Augustus learned languages, philosophy, art and the secrets of love.

He sowed a different way of thinking in the state, based on humanist ideas, along with new fashions, and the years of his and his father’s reigns are called the golden age of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Romantics remember this ruler above all as the hero of an immortal royal love story, who made the name of Barbara Radziwiłł and her family famous for ever.

He was married three times but had no children. His first and third wives were sisters, the Habsburg princesses Elizabeth and Catherine. His second wife was Barbara Radziwiłł.

Having become the de facto ruler of Lithuania, Sigismund Augustus established a splendid court in Vilnius and, at the foot of Castle Hill, completed the Renaissance palace of the grand dukes begun by his father. During his reign Vilnius became one of the most beautiful cities in Eastern Europe, where many Italian builders, craftsmen and humanist scholars lived and worked. Sigismund Augustus gathered many works of art here and a rich library, which he later donated to the Jesuit college.

Other important economic and political changes are also inseparable from the name of Sigismund Augustus, the best known being the Volok Reform, conceived by his mother Bona Sforza, and the Union of Lublin.

Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, professed the Catholic faith but was also sympathetic to Reformed ideas.

During Sigismund Augustus’ reign, the Reformation movement (16th–17th centuries) spread in Lithuania and Poland more than in any other period. For political and personal reasons (Barbara Radziwiłł’s brother and cousin were Calvinists), Sigismund Augustus tolerated the movement for a time, but, especially towards the end of his reign, he supported the Catholics and did not stand in the way of their fight against the Reformation.

The Union of Lublin (Polish: Unia lubelska) was the union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. The most important external factor behind the union was the 16th-century wars in the region. In wars over Lithuania’s Ruthenian lands with the strengthening Grand Duchy of Moscow, many territories were lost, and the state’s finances and society were exhausted.

When the Livonian War began in 1558, the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had to fight on two fronts. In 1560 Russia took a large part of Livonia. On 25 February 1564 the Russian army took Polotsk and prepared to attack Vilnius. Defence required the support of Poland, which agreed to help only if a union was formed. On 13 March 1564 the Diet in Warsaw adopted a protocol providing for the union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Kingdom of Poland.

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, a city of rulers and the country’s main and most important centre of culture and science. The name Vilnius comes from the River Vilnia, which flows through the city. Unofficially, the place where two rivers meet, the Vilnia and the Vilija (today the Neris), has been inhabited since the 2nd century BC. Officially, the city traces its origins to the letter of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the rulers of all European countries, announcing the founding of the capital in 1323.

The city lies on low hills and is famous for its UNESCO-protected Old Town, its romantic atmosphere and its abundance of green parks. Today the Lithuanian capital is a modern, contemporary yet cosy and welcoming city, full of culture and creativity. It is a city where sculptures speak, music plays, online start-ups and games are created, and the air smells of good food and adventure. You can arrive in central Vilnius by boat, take off from a lawn in a hot-air balloon, pick wood anemones in spring in a forest in the middle of the city, or count the stars from any of the greener hills in the city centre.

The brightest and most famous romantic story of Vilnius is the 16th-century legend of the love between the future king Sigismund Augustus and the beauty of Vilnius, the noble young widow Barbara Radziwiłł.

It created Vilnius’ romantic code for ever – familiar to every local and felt by every visitor.

The royal love story of Vilnius is a legacy of the Renaissance and the city’s cherished invisible diadem. More than one person of royal blood had their fate decided in Vilnius.

In October 1562, Catherine, the sister of Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, married John Vasa, Duke of Finland, in Vilnius.

Six years later Catherine and John became the rulers of the Kingdom of Sweden, and their descendants ruled Lithuania and Poland in the 17th century. Catherine married in Vilnius at the age of 36, to a prince 11 years her junior.

As they travelled to Finland, the army of the Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible tried to stop and abduct Catherine, because he too wanted to marry the Polish princess, but King Sigismund Augustus had refused to give his sister to the Russian ruler.

The newlyweds managed to escape the tsar’s army’s ambush, and after a very difficult, adventure-filled journey lasting two months the couple finally reached Turku, then the capital of Finland.

John’s brother, King Eric XIV of Sweden, fell mentally ill. The Swedish nobles united, rose up and deposed Eric. In 1569 Catherine and John were crowned queen and king in Uppsala Cathedral.

Uppsala is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, 71 km from the capital, Stockholm. It was known as Östra Aros until the 13th century, when it took the name Uppsala. Today Uppsala is one of the four largest cities in Sweden and is famous, among other things, for its history, its universities and its magnificent cathedral.

Uppsala is the seat of the Archbishop of Sweden, and for hundreds of years Swedish kings and queens were crowned here. Although construction of the cathedral began in 1270, it was consecrated only in 1425, almost 200 years later. King Eric XIV was murdered in its castle, and his successor was Catherine Jagiellon’s husband, John III. Catherine Jagiellon is buried in Uppsala Cathedral.

Kraków is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Located on the River Vistula in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the 7th century. Until 1596 Kraków was the official capital of Poland and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, economic, cultural and artistic life. Its Old Town, one of the most beautiful in Europe, together with the royal Wawel Castle, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From a Stone Age settlement the city grew into Poland’s second most important city. Kraków is Poland’s main national academic and artistic centre.

Wawel Castle in Kraków was for a long time the castle of the Polish kings, and King Sigismund Augustus is buried there.

On 13 February 1549 Sigismund and Barbara arrived in Kraków, then the royal city of Poland. At Wawel, Augustus spoilt Barbara with a luxurious lifestyle and expensive gifts. Although she had enormous influence over Sigismund Augustus, she took no interest in politics, unlike her ambitious cousin Mikołaj “the Black” Radziwiłł and her brother Mikołaj “the Red” Radziwiłł. While they worked with Augustus to secure the Polish crown for her, she made no gestures to win the support of the nobles or the favour of the people. When a compromise was proposed – to recognise Barbara as Sigismund Augustus’ wife but not to crown her Queen of Poland – Sigismund Augustus refused. In the summer of 1549, to protect himself against a possible armed revolt, Sigismund Augustus formed an alliance with King Ferdinand of Hungary. Seeking a papal instruction allowing Barbara to be crowned, Sigismund Augustus issued a decree banning heresy – a controversial step in a country with many Eastern Orthodox believers. He also tried to threaten, bribe or otherwise persuade the Polish nobles not to oppose the marriage. His mother, Queen Bona Sforza, one of the best-known opponents, was removed from the royal court and sent to Masovia.

On 7 December 1550, in Wawel Cathedral (Kraków), Barbara Radziwiłł was recognised and crowned Queen of Poland.