Marijampolė

The city has also been known as: מאַריאַמפּאָל (Yiddish); Marijampolis, Mariampol; Starapole; Pašešupiai; Marjampol; Mariyampole; and Kapsukas (1955–1989).

File:Marijampolė coats of arms in 1792.jpg

File:Battle of Marijampolė 1831.PNG in 1831]]

The settlement was founded as a village called "Pašešupė", after the nearby river of Šešupė. As such, the town was first mentioned in 1667. In the 18th century, the village, at that time belonging to the Catholic Church, grew to become a market town and its name was changed to Starpol or "Staropole", after a new village built for Prienai starost's guards in the vicinity in 1739.{{cite book |title =Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich |year =1885 |editor =Filip Sulimierski |editor-link =Filip Sulimierski |editor2=Bronisław Chlebowski |editor3=Władysław Walewski |pages =146 |volume=VI |publisher =Wł. Walewski |location =Warsaw |url =http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_VI/146 |access-date =2008-08-29 |language=pl}} The settlement was destroyed by a fire in 1765.

After the disaster, Franciska Butler (née Ščiuka), the wife of the contemporary starosta of Prienai, {{Cite web|url=http://marijampolesbazilika.lt/?id=11|title=Marijampolės bazilika. Istorija}} financed a new church and a monastery for the Congregation of Marian Fathers. Following the foundation of the monastery, a new town was built in the area. It was named "Maryampol", after the Blessed Virgin Mary (Marya-), with the Greek suffix -pol denoting a town.Cognate with the Greek suffix -polis. The modern Lithuanian name of the town also follows the same etymology. There are at least ten settlements of the same name in modern Poland, Ukraine and Belarus, all sharing a similar etymology.

On 23 February 1792, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stanisław II Augustus granted the "townlet of Mariampol" with Magdeburg Law and a privilege of market organisation. Following the Partitions of Poland, the town was briefly part of Prussia. However, after the Napoleonic Wars, it was transferred to Congress Poland ("Russian Poland"). In the 19th century, the town continued to grow, mostly thanks to a large number of Jewish and German settlers. In 1817, the town became the seat of a separate powiat within the administrative system of the kingdom. In 1827, the town had 1759 inhabitants. By 1861, the number had grown to 3718, of which 3015 were Jewish. A fire consumed many wooden homes in 1868. As a result, many houses were rebuilt of stone.Translation of the Marijampolė chapter from [http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_lita/lit_00385.html Pinkas Hakehillot Lita]

File:Parade of dragoons of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union in Marijampolė, Lithuania in 1930.jpgs of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union in Marijampolė in 1930]]

Following the January Uprising and the Russian suppression of the former Commonwealth lands, the powiat of Maryampol was seriously diminished. Also, around that time, the monastery gained prominence as it was the only monastery owned by the Marians that was not closed down by the tsarist authorities.{{cite web |url=http://www.padrimariani.org/en/heritage/heritage.html |title=Marians of the Immaculate Conception: Heritage |website=www.padrimariani.org |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051020164536/http://www.padrimariani.org/en/heritage/heritage.html |archive-date=20 October 2005 |url-status=dead}} As the surroundings of the town were primarily inhabited by Lithuanians, the town became the centre of the Lithuanian national revival. The proximity of the Prussian border made the smuggling of books in Lithuanian language, banned in Imperial Russia, easier. Among the most notable Lithuanian scholars and writers active in Mariampol at that time were Kazys Grinius, Jonas Jablonskis and Vincas Kudirka.

File:Monument to Deported Lithuanians in Marijampolė 1.jpg in Marijampolė]]

Following World War I, the town became part of the restored Lithuania, and the name was standardized to its current form Marijampolė.

During World War II, Marijampolė was occupied by the Soviet Union. During 1940–1941, Soviet authorities deported several hundred inhabitants of Marijampolė. In 1941, Nazi Germany occupied the town. On 1 September 1941, between 5,000 and 8,000 Jews from Marijampolė, Kalvarija and elsewhere, along with people from other backgrounds, were murdered by Germans and Lithuanian policemen.{{cite web |title=Mass Murder Site of the Jews of Marijampolė |url=http://holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/1/item/14/ |website=holocaustatlas.lt |publisher=Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History |access-date=22 February 2025}}[http://www.holocaust-history.org/works/jaeger-report/htm/img003.htm The Jaeger Report] Their bodies were placed in mass graves near the Šešupė River. During the war, the town was heavily damaged and almost emptied.

On July 31, 1944 Soviet army once again entered the city. The following year, the Soviet counter-intelligence agency SMERSH repressed about 500 people from Marijampolė. During the first years of Soviet occupation in 1944–1953, Soviet deportations from Lithuania to Siberian gulags included somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 Lithuanians from Marijampolė county.[http://www.marijampolesmuziejus.lt/muziejausekspozicijos/tauro-apygardos-ir-tremtiesmuziejus "Marijampolės kraštotyros muziejus"] In late postwar years, the city was rebuilt and repopulated with inhabitants from other parts of Lithuania. About 98% of Marijampolė's inhabitants are ethnic Lithuanians.{{Cite web |url=http://www.stat.gov.lt/lt/pages/view/?id=2630&PHPSESSID=f4257a90983c4f011d530bbfa8d6cc4f |title=2011 m. surašymo duomenys |access-date=2009-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601072103/http://www.stat.gov.lt/lt/pages/view/?id=2630&PHPSESSID=f4257a90983c4f011d530bbfa8d6cc4f |archive-date=2009-06-01 |url-status=dead}}

On 9 April 1955, Communist authorities of the Lithuanian SSR renamed the town "Kapsukas" after a Lithuanian Communist politician, Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas.{{in lang|lt}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080322113728/http://www.suduvosgidas.lt/index.php?cid=45&new_id=1684], archived 22 March 2008 from [http://www.suduvosgidas.lt/index.php?cid=45&new_id=1684 the original] at the Wayback Machine. The old name was restored in 1989, the year before Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

Marijampolė has been the administrative centre of the county since 1994. In 2018, on the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of Lithuania, the city of Marijampolė became the cultural capital of Lithuania.

The Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel synagogue in Chicago was founded by immigrants from Marijampolė. Other Jewish migrants from Marijampolė settled in Manchester and Leeds, United Kingdom.

Marijampolė is accessible by railway via the Kaunas-Šeštokai-Alytus line. The town is located at the crossroads of two major highways: The Via Baltica connects Helsinki with Central and Southern Europe, and the European route E28 runs between Berlin, Germany, and Minsk, Belarus.

File:Marijampoles dramos teatras 2007.png

Marijampolė is connected to its partners by business, sport, education, tourism, and other ties. Marijampolė's local means of mass media include a local television station, a local radio station, the newspapers "Marijampolės laikraštis", "Suvalkietis", "TV savaitė", "Sugrįžimai", and magazine "Suvalkija". Culturally, Marijampolė enjoys one cinema and a municipal drama theater.

Marijampolė is a regional centre of light industry enterprises, construction, transport and trade. It has also become home to one of the largest second-hand car markets in Europe.{{cite web|url=http://www.15min.lt/en/article/culture-society/marijampole-phenomenon-centre-of-europe-in-lithuanian-border-town-528-333322|title=Marijampolė phenomenon: Centre of Europe in Lithuanian border town|date=8 May 2013|publisher=UAB "15min", Vilnius |access-date=9 January 2017}}

File:Marijampolės kolegija.JPG{{cite web|title=Marijampolės kolegija|url=http://www.marko.lt/en/|website=marko.lt|access-date=9 November 2017}}]]

File:Marijampole-Culture-palace.jpg

Marijampolė has a strong educational system with state education institutions. The city is the seat of Marijampolė University of Applied Sciences, as well as nine pre-school institutions, six nursery schools, one primary school, 12 lower secondary schools, nine secondary schools, four gymnasiums, a youth school, an adult education center, five additional training establishments, three non-state education institutions, a music school of Christian Culture, the Gymnasium of Marijonai, and the R. Vosylienė languages school.

{{main|Marijampolė Municipality}}

Marijampolė has a City Council with 27 members. The members of the City Council represent different Lithuanian political parties.

The Marijampolė Municipality is adjacent to the Vilkaviškis District Municipality in the west, Kazlų Rūda Municipality in the north, Kalvarija Municipality in the south, and the Prienai District Municipality and Alytus District Municipality in the east.

The town of Marijampolė and its six surrounding communities make up the territory of Marijampolė Municipality. They are: Gudeliai, Igliauka, Liudvinavas, Marijampolė, Sasnava, and Šunskai communities. Marijampolė Municipality covers {{convert|755|km2|0|abbr=out}} of land; 72% of which is agricultural land; 12.3% is covered by forests; 4.2% is towns and villages, 2% is industrial enterprises and roads, and 6.9% is areas used for other purposes.

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Lithuania}}

Marijampolė is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Miestai partneriai|url=https://marijampole.lt/index.php?3914870849|website=marijampole.lt|publisher=Marijampolė|language=lt|access-date=2019-08-28}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• {{flagicon|GER}} Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
• {{flagicon|FIN}} Kokkola, Finland
• {{flagicon|NOR}} Kvam, Norway
• {{flagicon|NOR}} Lesja, Norway
• {{flagicon|IRL}} Mayo County, Ireland
• {{flagicon|POL}} Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland
• {{flagicon|ROM}} Reșița, Romania
• {{flagicon|POL}} Rogozno, Poland
• {{flagicon|POL}} Suwałki, Poland
• {{flagicon|EST}} Valga, Estonia
• {{flagicon|LVA}} Valka, Latvia
• {{flagicon|DEN}} Viborg, Denmark

{{div col end}}

• Ovidijus Vyšniauskas, a Lithuanian musician. The first Lithuania representer at Eurovision Song Contest in 1994.
• Violeta Urmana, opera singer, an honorary citizen of the city.
• Moshe Rosenthalis (1922–2008), Lithuanian-Israeli painter.
• Darius Songaila, basketball player.
• Saulius Brusokas, male weightlifter and strongman competitor.
• Sue Perkins, British comedienne; great grandmother from Mariampolė.
• Vytautas Kašuba, Lithuanian-American sculptor.

File:Marijampolė - panoramio (1).jpg|Old Town

File:Marijampolė, Jono Pauliaus II koplyčia.JPG|Pope John Paul II Parish Chapel

File:Vytautas of Marijampolė.jpg|Monument for Vytautas the Great

File:Marijampolė Šv arkangelo Mykolo mažoji bazilika (Large).jpg|St. Michael's Small Basilica

File:Marijampolės Šv. Vincento Pauliečio bažnyčia.JPG|Church of Saint Vincent de Paul

File:Mariampol-synagoga.JPG|Marijampolė Synagogue

File:Marijampolės ev. liuteronų bažnyčia.JPG|Marijampolė Evangelical Lutheran Church

File:MariampoleNádraží.JPG|Marijampolė Railway Station

File:Parkas Marijampolėje 3.JPG|Marijampolė park of "Poetry"

File:Miesto dienos 2013 - panoramio.jpg|City days 2013

File:Piligrimų namai "Domus Beati" - panoramio.jpg|The House of Pilgrims Domus Beati

File:Marijampolės Rygiškių Jono gimnazija.JPG|Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium

File:Marijampolės Sūduvos gimnazija, stadionas.JPG|Marijampolė Gymnasium stadium

File:Paminklas J. Jablonskiui - panoramio.jpg|Monument for Jonas Jablonskis

File:Paminklas Tautai ir kalbai, Lietuvos 1000-mečiui paminėti - panoramio.jpg|Monument for the millennia of Lithuania

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Marijampolė}}

• [http://www.marijampole.lt/go.php/lit/English Homepage of the city]
• [http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/mariampol/maria1.html History of the Jewish shtetl in Marijampolė]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722153108/http://www.vargonai.lt/vargonai_marijampole_bazilika_en.htm Organ at Basilica of Marijampolė]

{{Marijampole County}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marijampole}}

Category:Cities in Marijampolė County

Category:Capitals of Lithuanian counties

Category:Cities in Lithuania

Category:Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania

Category:Historic Jewish communities in Lithuania

Category:Holocaust locations in Lithuania