Kaišiadorys

Kaišiadorys
City

Coat of arms
Kaišiadorys

Location of Kaišiadorys

Coordinates: 54°52′N 24°27′E / 54.867°N 24.450°E / 54.867; 24.450Coordinates: 54°52′N 24°27′E / 54.867°N 24.450°E / 54.867; 24.450
Country  Lithuania
Ethnographic region Aukštaitija
County Kaunas County
Municipality Kaišiadorys district municipality
Eldership Kaišiadorys town eldership
Capital of Kaišiadorys district municipality
Kaišiadorys town eldership
Kaišiadorys rural eldership
First mentioned 1590
Granted city rights 1946
Population (2001)
  Total 10,002
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)

Kaišiadorys ([kɐɪʃɛˈdôːrʲiːs]; see Etymology below) is a city in central Lithuania. It is situated between Vilnius and Kaunas. Kaišiadorys is one of six Lithuanian diocese centres. It is home to the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ built in 1932. The Lithuanian Veterinary Institute is located there.

Etymology

Its name is unusual because of its Asiatic roots. Kaišiadorys was named after a Tatar noble, Khaishadar, who lived in the area during the 16th century.f

History

The city expanded when a railroad connecting Vilnius with Liepāja was built in 1871. During the First World War, the city was occupied by the Germans in 1915, and it became the capital of an administrative unit for the first time. In 1919 the first train departed from Kaišiadorys to Radviliškis. When Trakai and the rest of the Vilnius Region became part of Poland, Kaišiadorys became the temporary capital of the Trakai Apskritis.

On August, 1941, the Jewish population of the town and surroundings was murdered in mass executions perpetrated by an Einsatzgruppen of Germans and Lithuanian nationalists.[1][2]

Famous people

The first President of the re-established independent Republic of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas, was a pupil in Kaišiadorys in his youth; a secondary school there is named after him. One of the best European basketball forwards Ramūnas Šiškauskas was born in Kaišiadorys and started his professional career there. The first Lithuanian racing driver to compete at an international level, Kazimieras Vasiliauskas, is also from the town.

References

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