Molėtai (; ; ) is a city in north eastern

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 ...

surrounded by lakes. One of the oldest settlements in Lithuania, it is a popular

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

for the inhabitants of

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 ...

. According to the 2013 census, it had 6,302 inhabitants. Known for the famous fisherman’s day. The town is located about north of Vilnius and south of

Utena Utena () is a city in north-east Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Utena district and Utena County. Utena is one of the oldest settlements of Lithuania. The name of the city is most probably derived from a hydronym. The name of the ...

History

It was first mentioned as a private property of the bishop of Vilnius in year 1387. On 29 August 1941, 700 to 1,200 Jews were murdered in a mass execution perpetrated by an

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...

of Lithuanian "nationalists". The victims of the massacre were commemorated in a march to the site, and a memorial was unveiled there, on the 75th anniversary, in 2016.

Economy

Molėtai hosts a factory of Teltonika, a Lithuanian

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

company, which employed 270 people in 2024. Molėtai Astronomical Observatory, which belongs to

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

, is located near the town. Lithuanian Museum of Ethnocosmology operates next to the observatory.

Gallery

File:Molėtai, ženklas.JPG, Molėtai sign File:Moletai001.JPG, Molėtai Church of St. Peter and St. Paul exterior File:Molėtų bažnyčia, viduje.JPG, Molėtai Church of St. Peter and St. Paul interior File:Molėtai, parapijos namai.JPG, Molėtai Church House File:Jonas nepomukas moletai.jpg,

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (; ; ) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was a saint of Bohemia (a western part of what is now the Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts st ...

sculpture File:Molėtai, arena.JPG, Molėtai Arena File:Molėtai, Jaunimo aikštė.JPG, Molėtai Youth Square File:Molėtai, paštas.JPG, Molėtai post office File:Molėtai. Globos namai.JPG, Molėtai Child Care Home File:Molėtai, savivaldybė.JPG, Municipality of Molėtai File:Molėtai, menų mokykla.JPG, Art School of Molėtai File:Molėtai, gimnazija.JPG, Molėtai Gymnasium File:Molėtai, pagr. mokykla.JPG, Molėtai Primary School

References

External links

Molėtai tourist information centrePlaces of interest

Virtual Tour of Molėtai
*
Town's homepage

The murder of the Jews of Molėtai
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 ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

website. Resorts in Lithuania Cities in Lithuania Cities in Utena County Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Holocaust locations in Lithuania Molėtai District Municipality {{UtenaCounty-geo-stub