During the archaeological excavations in the territory of the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius,

the remains of leather footwear dating back to the late 13th century was discovered. These

were only the cut-off lower parts of the footwear, a pair inserted one into the other and stored

in a box together with other exceptional artefacts of that time. The footwear was made of expensive

dyed goat leather. The luxurious leather items of footwear were reconstructed on the basis

of various conducted artefact tests and studies. Based on the construction properties, it can be

assumed that they were intended for indoor wear. Artefacts of analogous construction are only

rarely discovered. Known examples were discovered during the excavations in Velikii Novgorod,

Tver, Hrodna and several other locations to the east of the Baltic Sea. The artefacts from these

territories date back to the late 11th to early 14th centuries.