Telšiai
| Telšiai | |||
| — City — | |||
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  Telšiai
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country |  Lithuania |
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| Ethnographic region | Samogitia | ||
| County | Telšiai County | ||
| Municipality | Telšiai district municipality | ||
| Eldership | Telšiai town eldership | ||
| Capital of | Samogitia (unofficial) Telšiai County Telšiai district municipality Telšiai town eldership Telšiai rural eldership |
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| First mentioned | 1450 | ||
| Granted city rights | 1791 | ||
| Population (2001) | |||
| - Total | 31,460 | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
Telšiai (, Samogitian: Telšē) is a city in Lithuania with about 35,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County, and it is located on Lake Mastis.
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Names
Name of Telšiai has also been known to be written in different forms in different languages throughout its history, mostly derivatives of Samogitian dialect Telšē. Some foreign names for the city include German: Telsche, Telschi; Polish: Telsze; Russian: Тельшяй, Тельши, Тяльшяй.
History
Lake Mastis is mentioned in various legends and myths. The city was named after a small rivulet, Telšė which flows into the Lake Mastis. A legend has it that a Knight named Džiugas founded the city. Telšiai was first mentioned in written sources around 1450. During the November Uprising in 1831 Telšiai became a sanctuary for Polish–Lithuanian partisans fighting the Russians.
During the years of Lithuanian independence, 1918 to 1940, Telšiai grew rapidly. Several girls' and boys' high schools, a crafts school and a teacher's seminary were founded. The Alka museum was built, and several cultural societies were operated.[1]
During the first Soviet occupation, as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Telšiai became infamous for the nearby Rainiai massacre, the mass murder of 79 Lithuanian political prisoners perpetrated by the Red Army during the night of June 24–25 1941.
Present day architectural monuments include Telšiai Cathedral.
Jews in Telšiai
The Jewish community was proud of its renowned yeshiva, or rabbinical college. In 1941, the Telshe yeshiva was resettled in Cleveland, Ohio by a group of faculty members who escaped the Holocaust. The original yeshiva building still stands in Telšiai.
Under the subsequent Nazi German occupation in World War II, large Jewish population of Telšiai was almost completely annihilated.
Geography
Nearby Šatrija hill (227 m), is a nature preserve.[2]
Twin city
Krnov, Czech Republic
Famous people
- Stanislovas Narutavičius (1862–1932), politician, signatory of the Act of Independence of Lithuania
- Gabriel Narutowicz (1865–1922), first President of Poland
- Wilfrid Michael Voynich (1865–1930), revolutionary, eponym of the Voynich manuscript
- Vladas Petronaitis (1888–1941), soldier and lawyer imprisoned in Telšiai prior to execution by the NKVD in Rainiai massacre
- Rolandas Paksas (b. 1956), former President of Lithuania
- Jurga Šeduikytė (b. 1980), Lithuanian singer
- Alfredas Bumblauskas (b. 1956), Lithuanian historian
References
External links
- (Lithuanian) Official site
- (English) Telsiai.info – welcome to Telšiai!
- (English) FK MASTIS
- (English) OK Telsiai
References
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