Country Lithuania | ||
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Capital Kaisiadorys district municipality | ||
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.
Contents
Map of Kaišiadorys
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.
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.