Marijampolė (; also known by several other names) is the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Marijampolė County Marijampolė County () is one of the ten counties of Lithuania, counties in Lithuania. It is in the southwest of the country and roughly corresponds to the historical region of Suvalkija, Sudovia. Its Capital (political), capital and the largest ...

in the south of

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 ...

, bordering

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 ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...

, and

Lake Vištytis A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

. The city's population stood at approximately 48,700 in 2003. Marijampolė is the seventh-largest city in Lithuania and the sixteenth-largest city in the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. It is the cultural centre and largest settlement of the

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Suvalkija Suvalkija or Sudovia ( or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithuanian. It is located sout ...

(Sudovia). Marijampolė has been a regional center since 1994. The city covers an area equal to . The

Šešupė The Šešupė (); ; ; ) is a 298 km long riverŠešupė
''VLE'' that flows through Poland (27 km), Lithuania (158 ...

River divides the city into two parts, which are connected by six bridges. The city is known for the international art and architecture symposium ''Malonny'', an event which focuses on street art, murals, and public installations, transforming Marijampolė's urban spaces into an open-air art gallery.

Names

The city has also been known as: מאַריאַמפּאָל (

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 ...

); Marijampolis, Mariampol; Starapole; Pašešupiai; Marjampol; Mariyampole; and Kapsukas (1955–1989).

History

The settlement was founded as a village called "Pašešupė", after the nearby river of Šešupė. As such, the town was first mentioned in 1667. In the 18th century, the village, at that time belonging to the Catholic Church, grew to become a market town and its name was changed to Starpol or "Staropole", after a new village built for Prienai

starost Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

's guards in the vicinity in 1739. The settlement was destroyed by a fire in 1765. After the disaster, Franciska Butler (née Ščiuka), the wife of the contemporary starosta of Prienai, financed a new church and a monastery for the Congregation of Marian Fathers. Following the foundation of the monastery, a new town was built in the area. It was named "Maryampol", after the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

(''Marya-''), with the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

suffix ''-pol'' denoting a town. On 23 February 1792, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania

Stanisław II Augustus Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

granted the "townlet of Mariampol" with

Magdeburg Law Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

and a privilege of market organisation. Following the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, the town was briefly part of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. However, after the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, it was transferred to

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

("Russian Poland"). In the 19th century, the town continued to grow, mostly thanks to a large number of Jewish and German settlers. In 1817, the town became the seat of a separate

powiat A ''powiat'' (; ) is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture (Local administrative unit, LAU-1 ormerly Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-4 ...

within the administrative system of the kingdom. In 1827, the town had 1759 inhabitants. By 1861, the number had grown to 3718, of which 3015 were Jewish. A fire consumed many wooden homes in 1868. As a result, many houses were rebuilt of stone.Translation of the Marijampolė chapter fro
Pinkas Hakehillot Lita
/ref> Following the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

and the Russian suppression of the former

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

lands, the powiat of Maryampol was seriously diminished. Also, around that time, the monastery gained prominence as it was the only monastery owned by the Marians that was not closed down by the tsarist authorities. As the surroundings of the town were primarily inhabited by Lithuanians, the town became the centre of the Lithuanian national revival. The proximity of the

n border made the smuggling of books in Lithuanian language, banned in Imperial Russia, easier. Among the most notable Lithuanian scholars and writers active in Mariampol at that time were

Kazys Grinius Kazys Grinius (, 17 December 1866 – 4 June 1950) was the third President of Lithuania, holding the office from 7 June 1926 to 17 December 1926. Previously, he had served as the fifth Prime Minister of Lithuania, from 19 June 1920 until his r ...

Jonas Jablonskis Jonas Jablonskis (; 30 December 1860, in Kubilėliai, Šakiai district – 23 February 1930, in Kaunas) was a distinguished Lithuanian linguist and one of the founders of the standard Lithuanian language. He used the pseudonym ''Rygiškių Jonas'' ...

and

Vincas Kudirka Vincas Kudirka (; – ) was a Lithuanian poet and physician, and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian national anthem, "". He is regarded in Lithuania as a national hero. Kudirka used the pen names V. Kapsas, Paežerių Vi ...

. Following

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 ...

, the town became part of the

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

, and the name was standardized to its current form ''Marijampolė''. 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 ...

, Marijampolė was occupied by the Soviet Union. During 1940–1941,

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

authorities

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

several hundred inhabitants of Marijampolė. In 1941,

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

occupied the town. On 1 September 1941, between 5,000 and 8,000 Jews from Marijampolė, Kalvarija and elsewhere, along with people from other backgrounds, were murdered by Germans and Lithuanian policemen. Their bodies were placed in

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of exec ...

s near the

Šešupė The Šešupė (); ; ; ) is a 298 km long riverŠešupė
''VLE'' that flows through Poland (27 km), Lithuania (158 ...

River. During the war, the town was heavily damaged and almost emptied. On July 31, 1944 Soviet army once again entered the city. The following year, the Soviet counter-intelligence agency

SMERSH SMERSH () was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin. The form ...

repressed about 500 people from Marijampolė. During the first years of Soviet occupation in 1944–1953, Soviet deportations from Lithuania to Siberian

gulags The Gulag was a system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Soviet secret police that was in charge of running the forced labor camps from the 1930s to the early 195 ...

included somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 Lithuanians from Marijampolė county. In late postwar years, the city was rebuilt and repopulated with inhabitants from other parts of Lithuania. About 98% of Marijampolė's inhabitants are ethnic Lithuanians. On 9 April 1955,

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

authorities of the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

renamed the town "Kapsukas" after a Lithuanian Communist politician,

Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas Vincas Mickevičius, known under his pen name ''Kapsukas'' ( – 17 February 1935), was a Lithuanian Communism, communist political activist, Opinion journalism, publicist, and revolutionary. As an active member of the Lithuanian National Reviv ...

.
archived 22 March 2008 fro
the original
at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

. The old name was restored in 1989, the year before Lithuania declared its

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from the Soviet Union. Marijampolė has been the administrative centre of the county since 1994. In 2018, on the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of Lithuania, the city of Marijampolė became the cultural capital of Lithuania. The Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel synagogue in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

was founded by immigrants from Marijampolė. Other Jewish migrants from Marijampolė settled in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, United Kingdom.

Transport

Marijampolė is accessible by railway via the Kaunas-Šeštokai-Alytus line. The town is located at the crossroads of two major highways: The Via Baltica connects

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

with Central and Southern Europe, and the

European route E28 European route E28 is a west–east intermediate road in the international E-road network. Beginning at the Bundesautobahn 10 (''Berliner Ring'') near Berlin, Germany, it runs west–east for a length of to Minsk, Belarus. The section betwee ...

runs between

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany, and

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus.

Industry and economy

Marijampolė is connected to its partners by business, sport, education, tourism, and other ties. Marijampolė's local means of mass media include a local television station, a local radio station, the newspapers "Marijampolės laikraštis", "Suvalkietis", "TV savaitė", "Sugrįžimai", and magazine "Suvalkija". Culturally, Marijampolė enjoys one cinema and a municipal drama theater. Marijampolė is a regional centre of light industry enterprises, construction, transport and trade. It has also become home to one of the largest second-hand car markets in Europe.

Education

Marijampolė has a strong educational system with state education institutions. The city is the seat of Marijampolė University of Applied Sciences, as well as nine pre-school institutions, six nursery schools, one primary school, 12 lower secondary schools, nine secondary schools, four gymnasiums, a youth school, an adult education center, five additional training establishments, three non-state education institutions, a music school of Christian Culture, the Gymnasium of Marijonai, and the ''R. Vosylienė'' languages school.

Marijampolė Municipality

Marijampolė has a City Council with 27 members. The members of the City Council represent different Lithuanian political parties. The Marijampolė Municipality is adjacent to the

Vilkaviškis District Municipality Vilkaviškis () is a city in southwestern Lithuania, the administrative center of the Vilkaviškis District Municipality. It is located northwest from Marijampolė, at the confluence of and rivers. The city got its name from the Vilkauja ...

in the west, Kazlų Rūda Municipality in the north, Kalvarija Municipality in the south, and the Prienai District Municipality and Alytus District Municipality in the east. The town of Marijampolė and its six surrounding communities make up the territory of Marijampolė Municipality. They are: Gudeliai, Igliauka, Liudvinavas, Marijampolė, Sasnava, and Šunskai communities. Marijampolė Municipality covers of land; 72% of which is agricultural land; 12.3% is covered by forests; 4.2% is towns and villages, 2% is industrial enterprises and roads, and 6.9% is areas used for other purposes.

Twin towns — sister cities

Marijampolė is twinned with: *

Bergisch Gladbach Bergisch Gladbach () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district). Geography Bergisch Gladbach is east of the Rhine and abo ...

, Germany *

Kokkola Kokkola (; , ) is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Central Ostrobothnia. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Kokkola is approximately , while the Kokkola sub-region, sub-region h ...

, Finland *

Kvam Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settl ...

, Norway *

Lesja Lesja is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lesja. Other villages in the municipality include Bjorli, Lesjas ...

, Norway * Mayo County, Ireland *

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by #Etymology, alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the capital of Piotrków County and the second-largest city in the Łódź Voi ...

, Poland *

Reșița Reșița (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had a population of 58,393 in 2021. It administers six villages: Câlnic (''Kölnök''), Cuptoare (''Kupt ...

, Romania * Rogozno, Poland *

Suwałki Suwałki (; ; or סוּוואַלק) 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. A relatively young ci ...

, Poland * Valga, Estonia * Valka, Latvia * Viborg, Denmark

Notable people

* Ovidijus Vyšniauskas, a Lithuanian musician. The first Lithuania representer at Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. * Violeta Urmana, opera singer, an honorary citizen of the city. * Moshe Rosenthalis (1922–2008), Lithuanian-Israeli painter. * Darius Songaila, basketball player. * Saulius Brusokas, male weightlifter and strongman competitor. *

Sue Perkins Susan Elizabeth Perkins (born 22 September 1969) is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in ''Mel and Sue'', she progressed into radio a ...

, British comedienne; great grandmother from Mariampolė. * Vytautas Kašuba, Lithuanian-American sculptor.

Gallery

File:Marijampolė - panoramio (1).jpg, Old Town File:Marijampolė, Jono Pauliaus II koplyčia.JPG, Pope John Paul II Parish Chapel File:Vytautas of Marijampolė.jpg, Monument for

Vytautas the Great Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...

File:Marijampolė Šv arkangelo Mykolo mažoji bazilika (Large).jpg, St. Michael's Small Basilica File:Marijampolės Šv. Vincento Pauliečio bažnyčia.JPG, Church of Saint Vincent de Paul File:Mariampol-synagoga.JPG, Marijampolė Synagogue File:Marijampolės ev. liuteronų bažnyčia.JPG, Marijampolė Evangelical Lutheran Church File:MariampoleNádraží.JPG, Marijampolė Railway Station File:Parkas Marijampolėje 3.JPG, Marijampolė park of "Poetry" File:Miesto dienos 2013 - panoramio.jpg, City days 2013 File:Piligrimų namai "Domus Beati" - panoramio.jpg, The House of Pilgrims ''Domus Beati'' File:Marijampolės Rygiškių Jono gimnazija.JPG, Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium File:Marijampolės Sūduvos gimnazija, stadionas.JPG, Marijampolė Gymnasium stadium File:Paminklas J. Jablonskiui - panoramio.jpg, Monument for

File:Paminklas Tautai ir kalbai, Lietuvos 1000-mečiui paminėti - panoramio.jpg, Monument for the millennia of Lithuania

Notes and references

External links

Homepage of the city

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marijampole Cities in Marijampolė County Capitals of Lithuanian counties Cities in Lithuania Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Historic Jewish communities in Lithuania Holocaust locations in Lithuania