Kalvarija () is a town in southwestern

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 ...

, located in the Marijampolė County, close to the border with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is the administrative seat and largest town of Kalvarija Municipality.

Etymology and names

Variants of the name include Kalvarijos, Kalvariya, Kalwarja,

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

: קאלװאריע (Kalvarye), Kalwaria ( Polish), Kalvarien ( German), Calvaria, Kalvaria, Kalwariya, and Kalwarya. The town is named so because it was established in the 17th century as a shrine commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus.

History

In 1705, the first wooden church was built. In 1713, local Jews received permission from King August II to build a synagogue and Jewish craftsmen were first permitted to practice their crafts without having to be members of the craft guilds. In 1791, Stanisław August Poniatowski recognized that Kalvarija had the right to call itself a town and confirmed the municipality's coat of arms. 1840 saw the construction of a new Catholic church, which still stands today. Kalvarija developed rapidly when the new St. Petersburg–

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

road was constructed toward the end of the 19th century. By the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Kalvarija had over 10,000 inhabitants; the destruction of two-thirds of the town during the war caused the population decline. The city was the site of a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

in 1915, during

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Kalvarija was under German occupation from 22 June 1941 until 1 August 1944. It was administered as a part of the '' Generalbezirk Litauen'' of '' Reichskommissariat Ostland''. In 1941, a mass execution of 38 Jews of the city was perpetrated by Gestapo soldiers and Lithuanian policemen.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Kalvarija is twinned with: * Alpago (formerly Pieve D’Alpago) in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

* Kalwaria Zebrzydowska in

Ráckeve Ráckeve ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српски Ковин, Srpski Kovin) is a town on Csepel Island in the county of , Hungary. Its residents are mainly Hungarians, Magyars, with a minority of Serbs. The Serbian Kovin Monastery, the oldest in Hungary and ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

References

;Notes

External links