Voruta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Voruta (disambiguation).
Voruta may have been a capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania established in the time of king Mindaugas in the 13th century. The exact location of Voruta is unknown and there are many contradictory theories about it.
Historians argue that Voruta may have been either an actual city or just a misinterpretation of a word that means "capital". Kazimieras Būga, one of the prominent Lithuanian philologists, had the opinion that word "voruta" means simply "castle".
Mindaugas, the first and the only crowned Lithuanian king defended himself in Voruta during an internal war in 1251. This information, taken from the Hypatian Chronicle, is the only recorded message about Voruta. Mindaugas' castle is mentioned in other two written sources but they do not mention either the name or the location. It is also unclear if they refer to the same castle.
Nevertheless, some historians in 19th and 20th centuries called it "the first capital of Lithuania" and tried to find its location. Present Lithuanian historian Tomas Baranauskas says that it is Šeimyniškėliai near Anykščiai. Others argue that Voruta is the current capital of Lithuania, Vilnius or the medieval capital at Kernavė. In total there about fifteen identified locations of Voruta.
Despite all the uncertainties, the concept of Voruta is well-known and popular in the Lithuanian imagination.
