The area occupied by the cemetery formed gradually, comprising plots which were bought in by the kahal of Vilnius. Acquisition of plots achieved an extraordinary pace during the middle of the 18th century. The Šnipiškės cemetery was not formed into a single area out of the small and scattered plots until 1790. In 1830 the cemetery was closed, burials forbidden, and the majority of the territory transformed into a fortress. A new area for the Jewish cemetery was allocated in the Olandų hills. Army barracks were installed in place of the cemetery at the beginning of 20th century and during the interwar period. A number of people who were significant for the Jewish community, had been buried in Šnipiškės Cemetery – Gaon of Vilna and legendary proselyte Count Walentyn Potocki included. After the cemetery was closed to further burials it was permitted to exhume and rebury Jewish corpses at a new cemetery in Olandų hills, which remained open until Soviet occupation when it was also closed. Some of the remains were relocated to the new, and still operational, Vilnius Jewish cemetery (28, Sudervė rd.).