Krakės (formerly ''Krakiai'', pl, Kroki, russian: link=no, Кроки) is a small town in

Kėdainiai district Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23,667. Its old town dates to ...

, central Lithuania. It is located on the Smilgaitis River. In the town, there are Catholic church of St. Matthew the Evangelist (built in 1907), Mikalojus Katkus gymnasium, library, medicine station, St. Catherine women convent, Krakės Agriculture Cooperative with former culture center, swimming pool and shop (built in 1983, architect K. Žalnierius). There is the Vytautas Ulevičius museum of wooden sculptures. Krakės is on the eastern boundary of the Nevėžis Plain, on the Krakės Ridge (altitude 95–100 meters). Roads go to Betygala, Grinkiškis,

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23,667. Its old town dates to ...

, Bokštai, Gudžiūnai and Josvainiai. The Krakės-Dotnuva Forest is 2–3 km away from the town.

History

The first mention of Krakės is from the 14th century. The Krakės Manor was a property of Samogitian bishops between 1421 and 1842. The first church of Krakės was built at 15th century. Krakės is mentioned as a town in 1579. A women monastery of St. Catherine Order was established in Krakės in 1615 and run till 1945 (the wooden monastery burnt at that time), then reestablished in 1997. A market privilege was granted to Krakės in 1790. During 1863, Krakės was important center of the January uprising, on 28 April there was a battle against Russian imperial army. In 1863 and 1914 Krakės was devastated by fires. On 2 September 1941, 1,125 Jews from Krakės, Baisogala,

Dotnuva Dotnuva (formerly pl, Datnów, russian: Датновъ, Датново, Датнов, german: Dotnau) is a small town with a 2003 population of 775 in central Lithuania, 10 km northwest of Kėdainiai, in the Kėdainiai district municipality. ...

, Grinkiškis, Gudžiūnai and Surviliškis were murdered at Peštinukai village, about 1.5 kilometers from Krakės. The members of the Einsatzgruppen who committed this crime were Germans from

Rollkommando Hamann ''Rollkommando'' Hamann ( lt, skrajojantis būrys) was a small mobile unit that committed mass murders of Lithuanian Jews in the countryside in July–October 1941, with an estimated death toll of at least 60,000 Jews. The unit was also responsible ...

and Lithuanians collaborators. During the Soviet era Krakės was a center of ''

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

'' and ''

selsovet Selsoviet ( be, сельсавет, r=sieĺsaviet, tr. ''sieĺsaviet''; rus, сельсовет, p=ˈsʲelʲsɐˈvʲɛt, r=selsovet; uk, сільрада, silrada) is a shortened name for a rural council and for the area governed by such a cou ...

''. Krakės ''kolkhoz'' was one of the leading ones in all

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

Demography

Images

1. Krakių ž. ū. bendrovė, buvęs baseinas.JPG, Former ''kolkhoz'' swimming pool Krakių kapinės, stogastulpis.JPG, Krakės cemetery 1. Krakės. Bažnyčia.JPG, Krakės church V. Ulevičiaus, muziejus Krakėse.JPG, V. Ulevičius museum

References

Kėdainiai District Municipality Towns in Kaunas County {{KaunasCounty-geo-stub