History of Šiauliai

Formation of Šiauliai Land

In the beginning, forms of settled life began to form in settlements located far from the present centre of Šiauliai. In addition to the old settlement of Lieporiai, where in the 4th century people already could smelt iron, there was ... Read more

Jan

2018

The Battle of Saulė: Samogitians’ Power and the Invaders’ Collapse

The emergence of Šiauliai in the flow of history is to be related to the first mention of the name of the region or land in which the city originated. For the first time the name Soule is mentioned in the written sources of that time ... Read more

Jan

2018

Governing Elite of Šiauliai

Šiauliai land was for the first time mentioned in an important document of that time, the Livonian Act, in 1254. The Volhynian Chronicle, or otherwise the Hypatian Chronicle, describes a treaty between the Confederation of Lithuanian ... Read more

Jan

2018

The Defensive System of Castles or how Šiauliai Defended Lithuania

The consequences of internal fights for power of the future king Mindaugas were particularly painful to Šiauliai land. It is believed that having killed local rulers, the local governing elite, Mindaugas transformed Šiauliai land int... Read more

Jan

2018

Šiauliai Inhabitants – the Defenders of the State from Outside Enemies

Unexpectedly, or perhaps as planned, in 1348, Šiauliai inhabitants decided to attack the forces of the Order marching by. They later paid for this action because the Order did not forget it: in the same year, in the revenge campaign t... Read more

Jan

2018

History of the City: from the Rebellion to the Rebellion

After survival of many fires and other persecuting cataclysms and a miraculous ability to recover after each of them, Šiauliai deserves to be called the city phoenix; this image also remains in the 19th century. The city was twice gre... Read more

Jan

2018

The City, Sinking in Flames of War

During World War I, Šiauliai became a strategically important point, crossed by the main railway lines, making it the venue of fierce clashes. It is one of the cities of Lithuania that suffered most during the war. As the Russian Empi... Read more

Jan

2018

Šiauliai during the First Murderous Soviet Stay

According to the plans of the authorities of the Soviet Union, Šiauliai had to be one of the most important strategic points for the deployment of Soviet troops in the country. The 11th Soviet Army deployed in Joniškis, Linkuva, Kur�... Read more

Jan

2018

Šiauliai in the Darkness of Nazism

On June 23, 1941, the so-called uprising of June took place, which was used by the new authorities of the occupants’ troops, entering Lithuania three days later. The first Soviet occupation was short and not very successful, and Germ... Read more

Jan

2018

Šiauliai at the End of the Second World War

When the Second World War was approaching its end, the location of establishment of Šiauliai became fatal again. From the very beginning of the city’s establishment, the city was criss-crossed by strategically important roads, first... Read more

Jan

2018