Kaišiadorys


Kaišiadorys 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.

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.

Notable people