Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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 ...

. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

on the banks of the

Nevėžis The Nevėžis (; ) is the List of rivers of Lithuania, sixth longest river in Lithuania and one of the main tributaries of the Neman (river), Nemunas. The long Nevėžis flows entirely within Lithuania. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372

Livonian Chronicle Livonian Chronicle may refer to one of the following chronicles: *'' Livonian Rhymed Chronicle'' in poetic Middle High German **By anonymous (1180–1290) **By Bartholomäus Hoeneke (1340s) *''Livonian Chronicle of Henry The ''Livonian Chronic ...

of Hermann de Wartberge, its population was 23,051. The Kėdainiai Old Town dates to the 17th century and many of its historical buildings were preserved. The town is the administrative centre of the

Kėdainiai District Municipality Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle ...

. The geographical centre of the Lithuania is in the nearby village of Ruoščiai in the eldership of Dotnuva. In a ring of five miles, the St Jurgis church is surrounded by smaller villages – Lančiūnava, , Labūnava, Josvainiai, Dotnuva, Kalnaberžė.

Names

The city has been known by other names: ''Kiejdany'' in Polish, ''Keidan'' (קיידאן) in

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 ...

, and ''Kedahnen'' in German. Kėdainiai other alternate forms include Kidan, Kaidan, Keidany, Keydan, Kiedamjzeÿ ("j" /e/), Kuidany, and Kidainiai.

History

The area was the site of several battles during "The Deluge", the 17th century war between the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

and Sweden. In 1655 a short-lived treaty with Sweden, the Union of Kėdainiai, was signed by two members of Radziwiłł family in their Kėdainiai castle. While little remains of the Radziwiłł castle, the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

of the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

church (1631) houses the family mausoleum, including the

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

s of Krzysztof Radziwiłł and his son Janusz. Scottish

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

arrived in the late 16th and 17th centuries, encouraged by the conversion of Anna Radziwill; the community exerted considerable influence in the city and persisted until the mid-19th century. The grouping of the buildings around the town square still include the imposing homes of merchants known as the "Scottish Houses". These include; the George Anderson House, the John Arnot House, the George Bennet House, the James Gray House, the Steel Property, and the surviving basement of the Alexander Gordon house. A local custom called on all visitors to bring a stone to be used in the town's construction. The 1st Lithuanian National Cavalry Brigade was stationed in the town in 1790.

World War II

In 1940, the town was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union. During

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, Kėdainiai was occupied by the German Army in the summer of 1941. On August 28, 1941, the entire Jewish community of Kėdainiai, a community which had inhabited the area for 500 years, were killed under the direction of German Special Police Battalions, with the aid of the local Lithuanian population. The Jewish population prior to the Holocaust was 3000.

Soviet occupation

During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, it was home to Kėdainiai air base, a major Soviet military airlift facility. For many years, Kėdainiai was known for its chemical and food processing industries. The Kėdainiai chemical plant, Lifosa, began operations in January 1963. Publicized as a milestone in the industrialization of Lithuania, it emitted significant quantities of

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

and was the subject of ecological protests in the 1980s.

Independent Lithuania

Following years of stagnation, old enterprises have come back to life, and new ones have been established, contributing to its status as an economic stronghold.

Demographics

Transportation

Kėdainiai is accessed by Via Baltica highway from

and

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

, and by rail from

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

and

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

. It is also served by

Kaunas International Airport Kaunas Airport () is List of the busiest airports in the Baltic states, the second-busiest civil airport in Lithuania after Vilnius Airport and the fourth-busiest in the Baltic states. The airport is located in the central part of the country, ...

, the second largest airport in Lithuania, located in

Karmėlava Karmėlava is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania. In 2011 it had a population of 1,395. The town of Karmėlava is located north east of Kaunas and near the second-busiest civil airport in Lithuania, Kaunas International Airport ...

Culture

The Kėdainiai Regional Museum, established in 1922, now operates four branches: a Multicultural Centre, the mausoleum of the Dukes Radziwill, the house of Juozas Paukštelis, and the Museum of Wooden Sculptures of V.Ulevičius. Since the city is known as the

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a ...

shot a music video for their single " Things We Lost in the Fire" in the location. A small Polish minority of 329 (0,61%) people live in Kėdainiai district municipality, but only 30 people participate in ''Stowarzyszenie Polaków Kiejdan'' (The Kėdainiai Polish Association), the elder people; their cultural activities involve public celebrations of Polish Day of Independence and Day of the Constitution of Third of May, as well as organizing a festival of Polish culture. Since 1994 a School of Polish Language exists.

Education

* Jonušas Radvila College (''Kėdainių Jonušo Radvilos studijų centras'') * Kėdainiai Atžalynas gymnasium * Kėdainiai Šviesioji gymnasium

Sport

Basketball club BC Nevėžis, which participate in

Lithuanian basketball league Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

. Football club FK Nevėžis, named after the nearby river plays in second-tier league

I Lyga The LFF Pirma Lyga, TOPsport Pirma Lyga, or Pirma Lyga, is the second tier of professional Lithuanian football championship. Format Organized by the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF), I Lyga is contested by 16 teams, with the top team gain ...

. Other football teams include FK Lifosa and FK Nevėžis-2, the reserve team of Nevėžis.

Mayors of Kėdainiai

Notable citizens

* Jonušas Radvila (1612–1655) - Lithuanian nobleman, magnate * Antanas Mackevičius, a priest and a leader of the 1863 uprising *

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz ( , , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish language, Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the ...

, Polish writer, Nobel Prize winner. Born in Šeteniai village *

Mikalojus Daukša Mikalojus Daukša (other possible spellings include ''Mikalojus Daugsza'', and ''Mikolay Dowksza''; after 1527 – 16 February 1613 in Varniai, Medininkai) was a Lithuanian language, Lithuanian and Latin language, Latin religious writer, transla ...

, Lithuanian writer, translator * Martin (Moshe) Kagan, a leader of the anti-Nazi resistance group

HaShomer HaTzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...

* Ezekiel Katzenellenbogen, rabbi and prolific author * Avrohom Eliyahu Kaplan (1890–1924), prominent Orthodox rabbi. *

Moshe Leib Lilienblum Moshe Leib Lilienblum (; October 22, 1843, in Keidany, Kovno Governorate – February 12, 1910, in Odessa) was a Jewish scholar and author. He also used the pseudonym Zelophehad Bar-Hushim (). Lilienbloom was one of the leaders of the early Zioni ...

, Jewish scholar and author * Viktoras Muntianas, Lithuanian politician, former Speaker of the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

* Juozas Paukštelis, author * Juozas Urbšys, Lithuanian diplomat. Born in Šeteniai village * Shlomo Zalman Zoref, re-established the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

community in the Old City of Jerusalem in 1811 * Bernard G Richards (b. March 9, 1877 Dov-Gershon Rabinovich in Keidan, Lithuania - d. 25 June 1971 in the US) author and Jewish leader.

Twin towns – sister cities

Kėdainiai is twinned with: * Brodnica, Poland *

Fălticeni Fălticeni (; ''; ;'' ) is a town in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia. According to the 2021 census, Fălticeni is the third largest urban settlement in the county. It was declared ...

, Romania *

Kohtla-Järve Kohtla-Järve () is a city and Municipalities of Estonia, municipality in northeastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of ...

, Estonia *

Łobez Łobez (; ) is a town on the river Rega (river), Rega in northwestern Poland, within the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the capital of Łobez County, and has a population of 10,066 (2019). The name The name Łobez comes from the Old Polis ...

, Poland *

Melitopol Melitopol is a city and municipality in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River, which flows through the eastern edge of the city into the Molochnyi Lyman estuary. Melitopol is the second-largest city ...

, Ukraine *

Sömmerda Sömmerda () is a town near Erfurt in Thuringia, Germany, on the Unstrut river. It is the capital of the Sömmerda (district), district of Sömmerda. History Archeological digs in the area that is now Sömmerda, formerly Leubingen, have uncove ...

, Germany *

Svalöv Svalöv () is a locality and the seat of Svalöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 3,633 inhabitants in 2010. It is around north of Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after ...

, Sweden * Telavi, Georgia

Gallery

Kedainiai7. 2007-05-06.jpg, City Hall and Monument of Janusz Radziwiłł The old-town of Kėdainiai001.jpg, Kranto II street in the old town Senoji street Kedainiai.JPG, Senoji Street in the old town Kedainiai15. 2007-05-06.jpg, Kėdainiai Old Town Kėdainių senamiestis2.jpg, Kėdainiai Old Town Kedainiai14. 2007-05-06.jpg, Didžioji street Nevezis009.JPG, Nevėžis river in city center Kėdainiai (Kiejdany) - new synagogue.JPG, Kėdainiai new synagogue Kiejdany orthodox church.jpg, Holy Transfiguration Church

References

*
kedainiai.lt

- Kėdainiai tourist and business information center

Article on Kedainiai's Jewish community

JRK Center
College of Janusz Radziwiłł ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Kedainiai Cities in Kaunas County Cities in Lithuania Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Kovensky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Lithuania