Tverai ( sgs, Tverā) is a
small town in
Rietavas municipality,
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 situated on
Aitra River, tributary to
Jūra, about 17 km east from
Rietavas and 14 km from
Varniai. Tverai, with population of about 560, is a capital of an
elderate.
History
Tverai is identified with Tviriment Castle, mentioned in 1251 by the
Hypatian Codex. The castle was the fortress where
Vykintas
200 px, Monument to Duke Vykintas in Tverai
Vykintas (died ) was Duke of Samogitia and a rival to the future King of Lithuania, Mindaugas. In 1236 he probably led the Samogitian forces in the Battle of Saule against the Livonian Order. The Or ...
, Duke of
Samogitia and victorious leader of the
Battle of Saule, defended himself against
Mindaugas, crowned as
King of Lithuania in 1253, during a civil war for power in the early
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Vykintas was defeated and Mindaugas became the undisputeded monarch.
During World War II, a group of Jews were murdered in summer and fall of 1941.
References
Jewish Lithuanian history
Towns in Lithuania
Towns in Telšiai County
Rietavas Municipality
Telshevsky Uyezd
Holocaust locations in Lithuania
{{TelšiaiCounty-geo-stub