Vilkija

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Vilkija
City
Coat of arms
Vilkija Location of Vilkija
Coordinates: 55°3′0″N 23°35′0″E / 55.05000°N 23.58333°E / 55.05000; 23.58333Coordinates: 55°3′0″N 23°35′0″E / 55.05000°N 23.58333°E / 55.05000; 23.58333
Country	Lithuania
Ethnographic region	Aukštaitija
County	Kaunas County
Municipality	Kaunas district municipality
Eldership	Vilkija eldership
Capital of	Vilkija eldership
First mentioned	1364
Granted city rights	1792
Population  (2005)
• Total	2,326
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Vilkija (pronunciation (help·info)) (Polish: Wilki) is situated in the Kaunas district municipality, Lithuania. It is located 25 km (16 mi) north-west of Kaunas. It's right on the north side of the river Nemunas, the most important river in Lithuania.

Etymology[]

The name of Vilkija originated when people living on the opposite side of Nemunas heard the packs of wolves howling in the surroundings of the place where contemporary Vilkija is situated. From then on, this land is called Vilkija and this name may have been derived from words vilkų gauja meaning a pack of wolves.

History[]

Vilkija in 1928

During summer and fall 1941, mass executions of 800 Jews were perpetrated by an Einsatzgruppen of Germans and Lithuanian nationalists. Murdered Jews were from Vilkija and nearby villages.^[1]

Notable people[]

Street in Vilkija

• Folklorist Antanas Juška (1819–1880) lived in Vilkija 1862–1864.
• In the end of 1863 one of the revolt leaders Antanas Mackevičius (1828–1863) was captured close to Vilkija and later taken to Kaunas to be executed.
• Writer Petras Cvirka (1909–1947) studied in Vilkija 1922–1926.

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vilkija.