Veiveriai is a town in
Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, its population was 1,167. It is located about southwest of
Kaunas
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tra ...
on the road to
Marijampolė
Marijampolė (; also known by Marijampolė#Names, several other names) is a cultural and industrial city and the Capital city, capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake ...
.
History
The town was first mentioned in written sources in 1744,
[ but began growing a century later when a large postal station was established on the ]Kaunas
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tra ...
–Suwałki
Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki ...
road, part of a longer Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
– St. Petersburg route, in 1838–1839. Mail coaches would stop here to change horses and pick up passengers. The office was closed after the postal route was superseded by the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
, built in 1859–1861.[ During the Uprising of 1863, a battle occurred between local rebels (some 620 men) and Russians army on August 21, 1863. Poorly armed rebels were defeated and lost about 80 men before retreating.] After establishment of the teachers' seminary, Veiveriai grew as a center of education and culture. In the 1930s, during an economic crisis, the town was part of fierce protests against the government of Antanas Smetona
Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the m ...
. Two protesters were killed.[ After World War II, Veiveriai supported armed anti-Soviet resistance. In 1989 ''Skausmo kalnelis'' (Hill of Sorrows) was created where bodies of killed resistance fighters were buried. The hill was incorporated into the town's coat of arms, adopted in 2004.
]
Education
In 1866 Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the te ...
ist authorities established teachers' courses (in 1872 reorganized into the Veiveriai Teachers' Seminary
Veiveriai Teachers' Seminary was a seminary in Veiveriai, Suwałki Governorate, Congress Poland (now Lithuania). It was established as teachers' courses in 1866 and reorganized into a seminary in 1872. It prepared teachers for elementary schools in ...
) in the old post office building. The seminary trained teachers for elementary schools in the Suwałki Governorate
Suwałki Governorate (russian: Сувалкская губерния, pl, gubernia suwalska, lt, Suvalkų gubernija) was a governorate (administrative area) of Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") which had its seat in the city of Suwałki. It cove ...
and became and important center of the Lithuanian National Revival
The Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively the Lithuanian National Awakening or Lithuanian nationalism ( lt, Lietuvių tautinis atgimimas), was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century at the time when a major part of Lithuania ...
.[ During World War I, the seminary was evacuated into Russia, but never returned. Its former building was used to establish a secondary school in 1919. The school was named after Tomas Žilinkas, who taught at the teachers' seminary for 37 years and encouraged his students to read banned Lithuanian books.] As of May 2008, the school had 458 students and 45 teachers. In 1989 a music school was established in Veiveriai. In 1994 it was renamed after opera singer Antanas Kučingis
Antanas is a Lithuanian masculine given name derived from Antonius that is equivalent to Anthony in Lithuania. It may refer to:
*Antanas Andrijauskas (born 1948), Lithuanian philosopher
*Antanas Bagdonavičius (born 1938), Lithuanian rower and Olym ...
and expanded to include non-musical specialties. The school has 120 students and 17 teachers.
Religion
The first chapel in Veiveriai was built in the second half of the 18th century. In 1818 nobles of the Godlewski family built a wooden church, staffed by vicar
A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...
s from Zapyškis
Zapyškis ( pl, Sapieżyszki, yi, סאַפּיזישאָק ''Sapizishok'') is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania on the left bank of the Nemunas River. As of 2011 it had a population of 264.
History
The town is famous for its old ...
.[ Since 1846 Veiveriai, as a center of a parish, had its own priests. In 1853 Józef Godlewski built a brick ]Neo-Renaissance
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ...
church, named after Saint Louis. The church was reconstructed in 1930s when Mykolas Krupavičius
Mykolas Krupavičius (1 October 1885, Balbieriškis, Lithuania – 4 December 1970, Chicago, U.S.) was a Lithuanian priest and politician. He is best known for his involvement with the land reform in the interwar Lithuania.
In 1900 Krupavič ...
, alumni of the teachers' seminary, briefly served in Veiveriai.[
]
References
External links
Wejwery
in the Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland
The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries ( pl, Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich) is a monumental Polish gazetteer, published 1880–1902 in Warsaw by Filip Sulimie ...
(1893)
{{Kaunas County
Towns in Lithuania
Towns in Kaunas County