The Verknė (known as Galaverknė in the upper reaches; ) is a stream in

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 a right tributary of the river

Neman Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms Lithuania–Russia border, the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its s ...

(Nemunas); their confluence is north of

Birštonas Birštonas (, ) is a balneological resort and a spa town in Lithuania situated south of Kaunas on the right bank of the Nemunas River. Birštonas received its town rights 1529 and was appointed a town in 1966. The town is the administrative ce ...

. Its spring is near Rūdiškės in the

Trakai District Municipality Trakai District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It has significant Polish minority population in Lithuania, with more than quarter of the population claiming Polish ethnicity. Elderships Trakai District Municipality is ...

where it is known as the Galaverknė and passes a chain of smaller lakes. Having left the Vilkokšnis lake, the stream is known as the Verknė.

Aukštadvaris Aukštadvaris () is a town in Trakai district municipality in Lithuania on the Verknė river. According to 2011 census, it had population of 977. Aukštadvaris features Malewski Palace, built in 1837 by Antoni Malewski, which remained with th ...

with a population of 977 (2011) is the only relatively large settlement along the river. The Verknė passes the Prienai District Municipality and forms the border of the

Birštonas Municipality Birštonas Municipality is one of 60 municipalities of Lithuania __NOTOC__ Lithuania is divided into three levels of administrative divisions. The first-level division consists of 10 counties ( Lithuanian: singular – ''apskritis'', plural ...

near its mouth. In 1960, the Verknė was impounded to create two reservoirs with

hydroelectric power station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also mo ...

s. The larger of the two is Aukštadvaris Reservoir (; the smaller one being Jundeliškės Reservoir.

Tourism

The Verknė is one of the cleanest streams in Lithuania and is popular with kayakers and good for beginners. The first tour was made and described by the

hydrologist Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

Steponas Kolupaila. The stream is part of two regional parks with several protected areas: Aukštadvaris Regional Park () and Nemunas Loops Regional Park (). The parks were established in 1992. A series of 12 hillforts (''piliakalnis'') is located near the Verknė. Most of these forts were built or expanded between the 10th and 14th centuries. In Žydkaimis near the Vilkokšnis lake, a Jewish community was active in agriculture since the mid-19th century, even though this was banned in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. The community was supported in the 1930s by ORT. In 1936, the Jews owned 63% of the land in the village, despite emigration.''A Jewish village in aid of Jewish farmers''.
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Basin

Total watershed is . The average discharge is with a maximum of . The main tributaries are Alšia and Obeltis.

Tourism

Basin

Right tributaries

Left tributaries

References

Further reading