Nemenčinė

Nemenčinė (pronunciation , is a city in Vilnius district municipality, Lithuania, it is located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-east of Vilnius. Close to Nemenčinė forest was planted which forms a sentence Žalgiris 600 (commemorating the Battle of Grunwald) visible from the air.

Nemenčinė
City
Flag
Coat of arms
Nemenčinė
Location of Nemenčinė
Coordinates: 54°51′0″N 25°29′0″E
Country Lithuania
Ethnographic regionDzūkija
County Vilnius County
MunicipalityVilnius district municipality
EldershipNemenčinė eldership
Capital ofNemenčinė eldership
First mentioned14th century
Granted city rights1955
Population
 (2011 Census)
 • Total5,054
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

Names

Nemenčinė is the original name of the city reflected in historical documents and still in use today.[1] It derives from a Lithuanian word referring to the river Nemenčia.[1] Other versions of the name include Niemenczyn in Polish, Неменчын in Belarusian, Неменчине (or Нямянчине) in Russian, Nementschine in German and Nementchin (נעמענטשין) in Yiddish.

History

Lithuanian wooden castle and the mound stood in Nemenčinė in 10-14th centuries. The settlement started to grow around the castle. In 1387, following the Christianization of Lithuania, Jogaila established the first Christian parish in Nemenčinė and built a church there. In a 1434 document Andrius Sakaitis, one of the most influential Lithuanian nobleman families during the reign of Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV Jagiellon, listed Nemnečinė as his domain. In 1554, Nemenčinė after the Volok Reform got the rights of the town.

Fragment of a map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1613) and Nemenčinė (Niemenizijina), shown just north of the capital Vilnius (Vilna).

In 1613, the town was marked on the map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae, et Regionum Adiacentium exacta Descriptio printed in Amsterdam and financed by the Lithuanian magnate Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila Našlaitėlis.

On 20 September 1941, 403 Jews from the city were massacred in a mass execution. 128 men, 186 women and 99 children were shot by an Einsatzgruppen of Lithuanian Nazi collaborators. In 1971, a monument was erected on the execution site.[2]

Ethnic composition

The ethnic composition of Nemenčinė is as follows:[3]

Total population in 2011 – 5054

International partnership
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Lithuania

Nemenčinė is twinned with three towns in Poland: Węgorzewo (Ungura), Ełk (Lukas) and Suwałki (Suvalkai). It also has a partnership agreement with Poland's West Pomeranian Voivodeship, signed in Vilnius on 19 June 2009.[4]

People

References
  1. A. Vanagas. Lietuvos miestų vardai. p.151-152
  2. http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/1/item/181/
  3. Results of the 2011 Population and Housing Census of Republic of Lithuania Archived 1 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Urząd Marszałkowski Województwa Zachodniopomorskiego - Współpraca Międzynarodowa
Sculpture of Mary at the center of the city
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