Veliuona
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Veliuona Welohnen |
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| City arms | Location in Lithuania |
|---|---|
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| Basic data | |
| State : | Lithuania |
| Administrative district : | Tauragė |
| Rajong municipality : | Jurbarkas |
| Foundation : | 1291 (first mentioned as Junigeda ) |
| Residents : | 883 (2001) |
| surface | 0.14 km² |
| Height : | m above sea level NN |
| Coordinates : | 55 ° 04 'N, 23 ° 16' E |
| Postal code : | LT-74054 |
| Telephone code : | (+370) 447 |
| Official website of the municipal administration (lit.) | |
Veliuona ( German : outdated Welohnen ) is a Lithuanian town (miestelis) on the banks of the Memel . Administratively it is the center of the eponymous administrative district ( seniūnija ) in the Rajongemeinde Jurbarkas .
history
Veliuona looks back on a long and eventful history. Archaeological excavations confirm settlement as early as the Stone Age . The first written mention goes back to the Chronicle of Prussia written by Peter von Dusburg , mentions the place under the name Junigeda and is dated to the year 1291. Since 1315 the place appears under the name Veliuona, after the river that flows into the Memel at this point . The name Veliuona in turn probably goes back to the goddess of the realm of the dead Velione .
Veliuona is (like many other settlements in the area) protected on the 30 m high cliff of the Memel and was at the beginning of the 14th century. a fortified settlement on two castle hills. At the end of the 13th and 14th centuries, it formed the border between the powers of the Lithuanians and the Teutonic Order . While the downstream Georgenburg (1343-1403) and the Bayerburg (1337-1344) were fortresses of the knights, Veliuona was held by the Lithuanians. The castle was repeatedly attacked by the knights of the order (1313-1319 almost annually!); the attacks in August 1348, April 1364 and August 1367 led to the destruction of the castle. It was always rebuilt by the Lithuanians, but for the third time not until the summer of 1411 (see below). In the context of these disputes, the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is said to have died in front of the Bayerburg in 1341 and was buried in the Veliuona castle, which is why one of the two castle mounds is called Gediminas grave mound (lit. Gedimino kapo kalnas ) (other sources mention the place Raudonė named as Gediminas' place of death).
With the victory of the united Lithuanian and Polish armies against the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Tannenberg in 1410 , the border was pacified and Grand Duke Vytautas had a new castle built here in 1411. This castle became an important meeting place for the Lithuanian grand dukes and the masters of the order. So here in May 1423 the peace of Melno Sea concluded in September 1422 was ratified. A small town developed under the protection of the castle, for which Vytautas had a church built on the steep bank between 1418 and 1421. For a few years at the beginning of the 16th century. Veliuona was granted city rights and in 1579 one of the first Lithuanian schools existed here. Today's Church of the Assumption of Mary dates from the years 1636–1644. Veliuona was also an estate from the 16th century. The owners in the 19th century, a family Saleski (also Zaleski), had the wooden church built in the classical style from 1818 to 1820, which still exists today . The estate, which was returned to the last owners, the Vakselis family , after the end of the communist era , now houses a local museum .
Panemuniai Regional Park
Veliuona is located in the Panemuniai Regional Park .
Personalities
- Ladislaus Zaleski (1852-1925); Catholic Archbishop , Apostolic Delegate of India and Latin Patriarch of Antioch .
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.piliakalniai.lt/piliakalnis.php?piliakalnis_id=122
- ↑ http://www.piliakalniai.lt/piliakalnis.php?piliakalnis_id=122
