Ignalina ( pl, Ignalino) is a city in eastern

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), 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. Lithuania ...

. It is known as a tourist destination in the

Aukštaitija National Park __NOTOC__ Aukštaitija National Park is a national park in north-eastern Lithuania, about 100 km north of Vilnius. Established in 1974, it is the oldest of the five national parks in Lithuania. At first it was named Lithuanian SSR National ...

. Ignalina is also famous for the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in nearby

Visaginas Visaginas () is the centre of Lithuania's youngest municipality, located on the north-eastern edge of the country. It was built as a town for workers engaged in the construction of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Visaginas is the only town in L ...

Legend

It is said that Ignalina has got its name from two lovers Lina, daughter of duke Budrys, and Ignas, captive of the crusaders, whom people cursed and drowned in Ilgis Lake. Lina and Ignas are quite popular Lithuanian names.

History

Archeological findings and artefacts - mounds show that people lived in the territory of Ignalina already in 9th century. It is supposed that the territory of Ignalina earlier belonged to the ancient land of Nalšia, which was mentioned in 1229–1298. The toponyms and hidronyms demonstrate that it was inhabited by the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

tribe Selonians. Even though there is archeological evidence that people lived in Ignalina area in the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

, Ignalina was mentioned only in 1840. It started to grow only after the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway was built in 1860. It is regarded as one of the new industrial cities. After World War I, the area was disputed between Poland and Lithuania. It was occupied by troops of Lucjan Żeligowski, and internationally recognized as part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

in 1923. Nonetheless, Lithuania continued to claim this territory. Before September 1939, Ignalina (Ignalino) was situated in the Wilno Voivodeship. Following the invasion of Poland, Ignalina became the capital of Ignalina eldership. More than half of the population was Jewish, 1200 people before the Holocaust. During World War II, in 1941, Jews were imprisoned in a ghetto and exploited through forced labour. They are later murdered in mass executions. In 1950 city become a capital of Ignalina District Municipality in Vilnius County. In 1995 Ignalina District Municipality become a part of

Utena County Utena County ( lt, Utenos Apskritis) is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the country's most sparsely populated county. The capital and the largest city in the county is Utena, which is from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. On 1 July 201 ...

Sports

Lithuanian Winter Sports Center is located in Ignalina near Šiekštys or Žaliasis ''(Green)'' Lake. During the winter Sports Center offers

mountain skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

, ski equipment rental services, ski lifts,

freeskiing Freeskiing, or new school skiing, is a specific type of alpine skiing, which involves tricks, jumps, and terrain park features, such as rails, boxes, jibs, or other obstacles. This form of skiing resulted from the growth of snowboarding combin ...

instructors. In the summer there are boats or water bikes rental, tracks for roller skates, mountain bikes. Also, there is the shooting range, Sports and Entertainment Center, “Žuvėdra” amusement park. In Ignalina, there are organizing pedestrian, hiking, bicycle and car routes in the interesting places. In the summer there are popular

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

, boat or water bikes trips. Ignalina used to be the main ski jumping venue in Lithuania until the 1970s when this sport was discontinued in the country.

Nature and geography

Ignalina located in the

. It is a town above 9 lakes. Ignalina is surrounded by woods and waters. Town takes pride in nine lakes named Gavys, Gavaitis, Ilgys, Šiekštys, Mekšrinis, Paplovinis, Palaukinis, Agarinis and Gulbinis. In the Ignalina District Municipality there are more than 200 lakes.

Places of interest

In Ignalina and around the town there are more than 130 interesting places to visit. For example, Ignalina Regional Museum, Paliesius Manor, Monument to Ignas and Lina, Palūšė St. Joseph's Church, Bell Tower, and Chapel, which is a Cultural Monument built in the second half of XVIII century, Beekeeping Museum in Stripeikiai, which is the only beekeeping museum in Lithuania, etc. In some places there are organizing educational programs and special showcases, such as the baking of Šakotis in the restaurant "Romnesa“.

Festivals

In Ignalina, there are traditional festivals including the opening and closing of the summer season, the biannual festival "Ežerų sietuva", spring and autumn fairs, etc.

Education institutions

Ignalina Česlovas Kudaba Progymnasium Ignalina Česlovas Kudaba Progymnasium is a day, self-learning secondary school in Ignalina, Lithuania. It provides primary and middle school education programs in the Lithuanian language. It is named after Česlovas Kudaba, traveler and signato ...

* Ignalina gymnasium * Ignalina school-kindergarten "Šaltinėlis" * Ignalina Mikas Petrauskas music school

Notable people

* Jonas Kindurys (b. 1946), architect, diplomat *

Arūnas Bubnys Arūnas Bubnys (born November 7, 1961) is a Lithuanian historian and archivist. He started his studies at Vilnius University in 1985. In 1993 he received a Ph.D for the thesis ''Lietuvių antinacinė rezistencija 1941–1944 m.'' ( en, Lithuanian A ...

(b. 1961), historian *

Mantas Strolia Mantas Strolia (born February 28, 1986) is a Lithuanian cross-country skier since 2005. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he finished 18th in the team sprint and 46th in the individual sprint events. At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championsh ...

(b. 1986), skier * Algimantas Šalna (b. 1960), biathlete * Ričardas Griaznovas (b. 1973), biathlete * Igoris Ščekočichinas (b. 1980), biathlete * Tomas Kaukėnas (b. 1990), biathlete *

Diana Rasimovičiūtė Diana Rasimovičiūtė (born 25 February 1984, in Ignalina) is a Lithuanian biathlete. Her event is the biathlon (10 km pursuit and 7.5 km sprint). She placed 18th in the 7.5 km sprint, 27th in the 10 km pursuit and 66th in the ...

(b. 1984), biathlete *

Modestas Vaičiulis Modestas Vaičiulis (born 11 April 1989) is a Lithuanian cross-country skier since 2007. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he finished 18th in the team sprint and 54th in the individual sprint events. Vaičiulius returned to represent Li ...

(b. 1989), skier * Aurelija Tamašauskaitė (b. 1999), swimmer * Valdas Ozarinskas (b. 1961), architect

Twin towns – sister cities

Ignalina is twinned with: * Büren, Germany * Østfold, Norway * Prachatice, Czech Republic *

Serock Serock is a town at the north bank of the Zegrze lake in the Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central P ...

, Poland

References

External links

City official website

Česlovas Kudaba progymnasium official website

Mikas Petrauskas music school official website

Gymnasium official website

School-kindergarten "Šaltinėlis" official website
{{Utena County Cities in Utena County Cities in Lithuania Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Ski areas and resorts in Lithuania Sventsyansky Uyezd Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939) Holocaust locations in Lithuania Ignalina District Municipality