True Lithuania: Everything You Need to Know About Lithuania
Lithuania is Vilnius, the 15th century capital of what was then Europe's largest country.
Lithuania is four seasons of lush forests, countless lakes and magnificient coastal dunes of Neringa, sculpted by wind, not by "Private property" signs.
Lithuania is the inspiring Hill of Crosses, a unique-in-the-world place where millions of people have been building Christian symbols despite any persecutions.
Lithuania is the geographic centre of Europe where numerous ethnicities and religions live together for hundreds of years. There are centuries-old religious buidings of more than 10 communities as distinct as Roman Catholicism, Sunni Islam, Judaism and the Russian Old Believer sect.
Lithuania is a robust economy where the scars left by the Soviet Union may be investigated without ever having to do without modern western amenities.
Whether you are a potential tourist, an expatriate or someone interested in culture and history, you will definitely find many things of interest in this website.
If you wish to know more about Lithuania you will find the extensive history, architecture, sports, religion and other sections very useful.
True Lithuania is written by a Lithuanian people who are avid travelers. Therefore they not only understand their homeland but also know what is relevant for foreigners.
The website is broken down into sections on different issues:
*Advices consist of practical help for everyday life in Lithuania: how to arrive and leave, how to get around, where to shop and what to eat.
*Cities is a major source of information of Lithuania’s largest cities with articles on their history and every district.
*Culture describes Lithuanian art, architecture, as well as the many different ethnicities and faiths that formed Lithuanian culture.
*History&Today includes everything a foreigner nees to know about Lithuania’s history, political scene, economy and society.
*Lifestyle helps you to understand Lithuanian passion for various sports and musical styles as well as other pastimes.
*Regions lets you learn about the famous sites of Lithuania listed by region.
*Sights lists articles on various objects worth to see listed by type (towns, resorts, museums, etc.).
Click on each section or subsections to learn more. The subsection articles are more extensive.
Should you have any questions, you are always welcome to ask them as comments to the respective articles. Similarly, you are always welcome to add your opinion on the places in question or simply share your memories.
All information in this website is created and copyrighted © by Augustinas Žemaitis, including texts, design and photos (with the exception of historical pictures or quotations), unless noted otherwise. To use this information or ask questions please contact the author at tour.baltic [eta] gmail.com . Reuse of this information in other places without author’s permition is forbidden.
Our TOP 10 of Lithuania
Map of Lithuanian ethnographic regions. Numbers mark the top 10 sights. See below for explainations.
1.Vilnius city, a vibrant capital with its extensive old town and countless baroque church spires.
2.The Curonian Spit, a 98 km long narrow Baltic Sea peninsula covered by sandy dunes and pine forests where fishermen huts and upscale hotels exist side-by-side.
3.Hill of Crosses, a unique-in-the-world place where millions of people erected millions of these Christian symbols.
4.Kaunas city, a boomtown in 1880s-1930s when it served firstly as major Russian fortress and then as the seat of Lithuania's government. Kaunas medieval district is more intact than that of Vilnius and the 19th century military buildings still surround the city center, while the Baroque Pažaislis monastery crowns the suburbs.
5.Trakai town with its impressive island castle, many lakes and Karaim ethnic minority.
6.Rumšiškės open-air museum inspired by Stockholm's skansen. Old wooden buildings have been moved here from all over Lithuania and the main ethnic holidays are celebrated the tradtional way.
7.Plokštinė Soviet missile base, a unique opportunity to enter the shafts where nuclear missiles once waited to be launched.
8.Druskininkai 19th century mineral springs resort, revitalised by a large indoor alpine skiing arena and a water entertainment park. Grūtas park, where all the demolished Soviet statues ended up, is not far away.
9.Palanga seaside resort with its lively Basanavičiaus street. But the calmness is never far away in a large manor park, centered at a palace that now houses a major amber museum.
10.Visaginas town built by Soviets in 1980s for nuclear power plant workers - but the plant has since closed down. This somewhat eerie town is what Pripyat (near Chernobyl) would have looked if not for the disaster.
October 29th, 2012 - 01:39
Dear Sir:
I am trying to locate information, documents and / or photos of two (2) of my aunts that worked and lived in Lithuanian. The first is Josephine Magdalene Rakauskas who was born in 1894 and at 18 years in 1912 joined the Sisters of Saint Casimir and became Sister Anna Marie). In 1920 she was one of a group of Sisters led by Mother Maria Kaupas (Sisters Anna Marie, Angela, Immaculata and Catherine) to establish an order of the Sisters of St. Casimir in Kaunas. They did establish a home/monastery in the building know as the Camaldolese Monastery, now know as the Pazaislis. Sister Anna Marie returned to the U.S. remained a Sister of St. Casimir until her death in 1989 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
The second aunt was Marijona (Mariona) E. Rakauskaite who was invited in 1920 by the Lithuanian National Opera in to sing with that group. She made her debut with the LNO in 1923 in George Bizet’s opera Carmen in the title role as Carmen. Mariona was a companion of Liudas Truikys the noted opera theater set designer. There is a museum in Kaunas dedicated to them.
I enjoyed you we site and foud it most interesting and I learned many mor things about Lithuania, land of my ancestors. I am hoping to visit Lithuania and Italy as they are the homes of my Lithuanian and Italian ancestors. I am lucky to have such a rich cultural heritage.
Sincerely, Alfred F. Tenuta, Jr., adopeted name (birth name Peter Paul Rakauskas,
Jr.)
CW3 Army of the United States, Retired
northshore37@sbcglobal.net
October 30th, 2012 - 20:02
Thank you for comment. I think your quest at locating the information certainly won’t be that hard if you will come to Lithuania and visit the said museum as well as the Pažaislis monastery (current nuns there have no connection to the historical ones I think but they would lead you on the right direction). This is by the way the article on the Žaliakalnis borough of Kaunas where the museum is located at and where most of pre-WW2 Kaunas artists lived at (and now there are several memorial museums and many memorial plaques).
December 25th, 2012 - 01:56
This is a truly good website. Keep it up!
Nusiunčiau draugei iš Amerikos, kuri labai domisi Lietuva, tai šis tinklalapis pats tas! Ačiū.
April 3rd, 2013 - 18:06
I can’t seem to find this village anywhere. It was called both of these names, Kuloryny and Kulesgny.
Also I cannot find Lidzianka on a map.
Is there a Ledrianka in Lithuania?
Any help would be appreciated!!
Thanks!!!
April 4th, 2013 - 16:56
Hello. Vilages by these names indeed does not exist in Lithuania, these names are not Lithuanian. However throughout Lithuanian history Lithuania was occupied by various powers and in different languages the names of the same localities were different. Some names (Kuloryny, Kulesgny) sound like they might be Slavic versions of some Lithuanian names. Which part of Lithuania they should be in? Also take note that Lithuania once encompassed much larger area than it does today. What was once regarded to be a Lithuanian land may now as well be in Belarus, Ukraine, Poland or Russia. For instance, a google search finds “Ledianka” (one letter difference from Ledrianka) in Ukraine.
April 20th, 2013 - 12:51
Hello Augustinas! I have enjoyed your site so much and really appreciate the effort you have put into it. I plan to travel to Lithuania in about a year and a half to search out my ancestors and your site will be my main guide. I want to see the land of my ancestors. My grandmother, Anna Abartus (or Abartis) (born in 1895) left in about 1910 to escape from the Russians. She had aided her father, known as Red Beard Abartus who was a revolutionary in hiding, and was therefore known to the Russians and so she had to escape. She went to Canada. I think she was only 15 or 16 at the time and met my grandfather Leon Buta, from Lithuania as well. With everyone in my family gone now, I only have snippits to follow. Have you ever heard of such a story? Many kind regards, Brenda
April 20th, 2013 - 20:49
Hello Brenda. I have not heard such story myself. It would help you if you’d know locations (towns) from where your forefathers immigrated from as you could talk to people there, check the church archives. If by “revolutionary” you mean “communist/bolshevist” then chances are that your great grandfather would be mentioned somewhere in Soviet history books (in general there were few communists in Lithuania but the Soviet propaganda (after the 1940 occupation) sought to show it as if there were many, therefore almost every single one was mentioned). However, take note that names might be memorized differently in Lithuania. Before 1918 independence there was no universal Lithuanian orthography meaning that immigrant names would be transcribed rather randomly in America (see e.g. this article). E.g. Anna and Leon are not Lithuanian names (Ona and Leonas are). Abartis and Buta (Būta) are Lithuanian surnames and they are quite uncommon therefore you may tell your story to people with these surnames you could find online (e.g. Facebook).
April 24th, 2013 - 11:04
Thank you Augustinas! My great grandfather was definitely not a communist!!! He was a teacher who refused to stop teaching in the Lithuanian language when it was forbidden to do so by the Russians. The only story I know of regarding location is that he was hiding in the hills on the Russian controlled side and in the closest town, the divide was down the middle of a street so that Lituanians could go to the shops on both sides but not out the back of the shops on the Russian side, if that makes sense… My grandmother braved the divide and got through to warn her father but she was seen by the Russians and so had to escape overseas. That’s the story. Thank you for telling me about the fact that the surnames are uncommon…I hope I can find where my grandmother lived. I have a photo of the family after she left as they all stood before a thatched roof home. Funny, isn’t it, the attraction to roots. Kind regards, Brenda
April 24th, 2013 - 19:56
I truly apologise for the wrong interpretation, I took the wrong impression that in English language the word “revolutionary” is used primarilly for various radical militant far left politicians, e.g. F. Castro. If your given year of emigration is correct and this was not World War 1 then there are fewer possible locations as this was probably on boundary of Russian-occupied Lithuania and German-contolled Lithuania Minor, and there were two nearby cities/towns on both sides? In theory it could also be the boundary of Russian-occupied Lithuania and Russian-occupied Latvia as in Latvia there were less restrictions on languages despite the Russian Imperial rule (but this is probably less likely).
April 26th, 2013 - 03:16
Yes, I used the wrong word. Perhaps resistance fighter would be more appropriate
Yes, my dates are correctly set before WWI. Do you know the names of the towns where I could start looking based on my story?
I don’t even know where to look for a map that would show me the borders of the occupations that you have noted….
You are kind to help.
April 27th, 2013 - 00:33
Click here for a map of interwar Lithuania. The territory marked “Rytprūsiai” was East Prussia both before and after WW1 (until WW2 when it was annexed by Russia). Also three regions immediately north of “Rytprūsiai” used to be part of Germany until WW1 but were part of Lithuania in 1923-1939. These are the regions centered in Klaipėda, Šilutė and Pagėgiai. I wouldn’t dare to guess exact towns as I don’t know exact size, but K. Naumiestis/Širvinta may have been possible (sadly Širvinta is no more: it was completely destroyed by Russians in World War 2 an not rebuilt; K. Naumiestis still exists).
April 28th, 2013 - 12:41
that is very sad…I have no idea what all of you went through. I was protected in Canada
Thank you Augustinas
April 29th, 2013 - 10:31
Some in formation about Širvinta is here.
http://memoiresenlituanie.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/kudirkos-naumiestis/
May 3rd, 2013 - 07:26
Thank you for sharing the link. I can’t read French personally so can’t comment on the website though