Žaliakalnis (literally, "the green hill") is an elderate in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

's second largest city,

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Traka ...

. Žaliakalnis is located north of the old town and the city center area, between the

Neris The river Neris () or Viliya ( be, Ві́лія, pl, Wilia ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius (Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the Nemunas (Neman), at Kaunas, a ...

and Girstupis valleys. It is one of the largest residential areas in Kaunas, with a population of 38,480 in 2006.

History

Žaliakalnis became part of Kaunas in 1919, when the city became the

temporary capital of Lithuania The temporary capital of Lithuania ( lt, Laikinoji sostinė) was the official designation of the city of Kaunas in Lithuania during the interwar period. It was in contrast to the declared capital in Vilnius, which was part of Poland from 1920 u ...

. Kaunas expanded rapidly and the need for a comprehensive plan became evident by 1922. The Danish engineer M. Frandsen was invited to devise this plan. In Frandsen's plan, Žaliakalnis was to be an important part of Kaunas, where all the city's administrative functions would be located. This part of the concept was not fulfilled, although the neighbourhood quickly became very popular and many modern residences were built. In 1924-1925 alone, more than 300 plots were created and sold. In accordance with the plan, its streets were planted with different species of trees, and space was left for gardens. By 1940, the area was largely built up, and only a few plots remained vacant.

Points of interest

Žaliakalnis is home to

Ąžuolynas Ąžuolynas (literally, "Oak Grove") is a public park in Lithuania's second largest city, Kaunas, in the Žaliakalnis elderate. The park covers about 84 hectares and is the largest urban stand of mature oaks in Europe. Vydūnas Alley serves as th ...

Park, containing a stand of centuries-old oak trees. It is the largest stand of urban oaks within Europe, covering 63

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

s. A few sections of the park have been separated into Vytautas Park and Dainų slėnis. The only

Zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

in Lithuania is located across the road from Ąžuolynas. A large number of buildings of functionalism architecture, predominant in the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

, are still preserved in the elderate. Žaliakalnis was home for some well known Lithuanian writers and artists such as

Balys Sruoga Balys Sruoga (February 2, 1896, in , Kovno Governorate – October 16, 1947, Vilnius) was a Lithuanian poet, playwright, critic, and literary theorist. Early life He contributed to cultural journals from his early youth. His works were published ...

Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius Vincas Mickevičius (pl. ''Wincenty Mickiewicz'', October 19, 1882 – July 17, 1954), better known by his pen name Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius, was a Lithuanian writer, poet, novelist, playwright and philologist. He is also known as Vincas Kr ...

Ieva Simonaitytė Ieva Simonaitytė or Ewa Simoneit (23 January 1897 – 27 August 1978) was a Lithuanian writer. She represented the culture of Lithuania Minor and Klaipėda Region, territories of German East Prussia with historically large, but dwindling, Lithua ...

Kazys Binkis Kazys Binkis (16 November 1893 – 27 April 1942) was a Lithuanian poet, journalist, and playwright. Biography Kazys Binkis was born on 16 November 1893 in the village of Gudeliai in Biržai District Municipality. He attended primary school at ...

Kipras Petrauskas Kipras Petrauskas (November 23, 1885 as Ciprijonas Petrauskas – January 17, 1968) was a Lithuanian operatic tenor (created around 80 roles), professor, and Lithuanian Association of Artists member. The national opera foundation is associated ...

, President Valdas Adamkus grew up here. Now Žaliakalnis is a popular upmarket residential area. Žaliakalnis contains a number of sports facilities and educational institutions: * Kaunas University of Technology

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-li ...

Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education Lithuanian Sports University or LSU is a university in Kaunas, Lithuania, specializing in sports, physical activities, and physiology. It is headquartered in Žaliakalnis neighbourhood, in close proximity to the Kaunas Sports Hall and the S. Dar ...

* Kaunas Sports Hall * S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium * National Football Academy

References

City of Kaunas - Elderate of Žaliakalnis

External links

Website of Kaunas city
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaliakalnis Neighbourhoods of Kaunas