Elektrėnai () is a city of about 11,000 inhabitants in

Vilnius County Vilnius County () is the largest of the 10 counties of Lithuania, located in the east of the country around the city Vilnius and is also known as Capital Region or Sostinės regionas by the State Data Agency, Lithuanian statistics department and ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

; since 2000 it has been the capital of the

Elektrėnai Municipality Elektrėnai () is a city of about 11,000 inhabitants in Vilnius County, Lithuania; since 2000 it has been the capital of the Elektrėnai Municipality. It is situated between the two largest cities in Lithuania – Vilnius and Kaunas. History H ...

. It is situated between the two largest cities in Lithuania –

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

History

Historically, two villages were located in the area; one of those was Perkūnkiemis (Lithuanian: ''

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

's yard''). Elektrėnai is one of the newest towns of Lithuania, having been established during the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

in the early 1960s as the living space for workers of the nearby power plant. It was expanded in the 1980s and early 1990s as a residence for builders and workers at the nearby

Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant (the KPSP) is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant located near Kruonis, Lithuania, east of Kaunas. Its main purpose is to provide grid energy storage. It operates in conjunction with the Kaunas Hydroelectri ...

. The name of the new town was derived from word ''elektra'' (English: ''electricity'') – a borrowing to

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

. ''Gintarėnai'' (''gintaras'' – Lithuanian word for

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

) was another name considered, but was rejected before the start of the construction. Most of the buildings in Elektrėnai are large block housing projects built during the Soviet period, with no historical buildings. The town, however, is close to

Elektrėnai Reservoir Elektrėnai Reservoir (), located south of the city of Elektrėnai, Lithuania, is the third-largest artificial lake in Lithuania. It was created in 1961 by damming the Strėva River. It supplies cooling water to the 1,800 MW Elektrėnai Power ...

, an artificial lake that was created to cool the

Elektrėnai Power Plant The Elektrėnai Power Plant or Elektrėnai Complex () is a gas- and fuel-oil-fired 1,055 MW electricity generating station near Elektrėnai, Lithuania, about west of the capital, Vilnius. It is operated by Ignitis gamyba AB, a subsidiary of I ...

. The water is several degrees warmer than water at the other nearby lakes.

Ice hockey

Elektrėnai is well known for its

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

tradition. For a rather long period of time Elektrėnai was the only city in Lithuania with a well-equipped skating rink. Two

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

players:

Darius Kasparaitis Darius Kasparaitis (born October 16, 1972) is a Lithuanian–American former professional ice hockey defenceman. He mainly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, and New Yo ...

and

Dainius Zubrus Dainius Gintas Zubrus (born June 16, 1978) is a Lithuanian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL), the first Lithuanian to have played 1,000 games in the NHL. Drafted 15th overall in the 1996 NHL ...

were born in Elektrėnai. Its local ice hockey team is Energija. Inhabitants of Elektrėnai make up a considerable part of the national ice hockey team.

Gallery

File:Elektrėnai2018.jpg, Entrance to Elektrėnai from the motorway File:Elektrėnai, pakrantės tiltas.jpg, Elektrėnai Pier Bridge File:Elektrėnai Swimming Pool.jpg, Swimming pool File:Elektrenu bazne by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg, Church of St. Virgin Mary, Queen of Martyrs in Elektrėnai File:Elektrenu kompleksas 2 by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg,

in 2023 File:Elektrenu marios 2 by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg, Elektrėnai Reservoir and the Power Plant File:Elektrėnų tiltas.jpg, Elektrėnai Pier Bridge at night File:BurlentesElektrenuose1024.jpg, Windsurfing in Elektrėnai Reservoir

References

External links

City of Elektrėnai – History

Virtual Tour of Elektrėnai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elektrenai Cities in Lithuania Cities in Vilnius County Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Elektrėnai Municipality