Apuolė is a historic village in

Skuodas district municipality Skuodas District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It is the only territory whose Council is using the Samogitian language Samogitian ( or sometimes , or ; ), is an Eastern Baltic language spoken primarily in Samogiti ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. It is situated some east of

Skuodas Skuodas (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Skouds'') is a city located in Klaipėda County, in northwestern Lithuania, on the border with Latvia. The Bartuva river flows through the town. Is currently the capital of Skuodas District Municipal ...

by the . It had a population of 132 according to the 2001 census and 119 according to the 2011 census. The Apuolė hillfort is located by the village. Having survived a viking attack in 854, Apuolė is the oldest Lithuanian settlement mentioned in written sources. Since 2004, the attack is commemorated by an annual

medieval reenactment Medieval reenactment is a form of historical reenactment that focuses on re-enacting European history of the Middle Ages, broadly the period from the Decline of the Roman Empire to about the end of the 15th century. The first part of this period ...

Apuolė 854.

History

Apuolė was an important

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

of the

Curonians :''The Kursenieki are also sometimes known as Curonians.'' The Curonians or Kurs (; ) were a medieval Balts, Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in the 5th–16th centuries, in what are now western parts of Latvia and Lithuania. ...

, one of the Baltic tribes. The hill fort is situated at the confluence of the and its tributary, . Archaeologists dated the wooden fortress to the 1st century AD. According to archaeological research, a large village was situated near the hill fort. This would indicate early stages of city development. Apuolė was mentioned by

Rimbert Saint Rimbert (or Rembert) (''c.'' 830 - 11 June 888 in Bremen) was archbishop of Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, Hamburg-Bremen, in the northern part of the East Francia, Kingdom of East Frankia from 865 until his death in 888. He most famously wr ...

in his ''

Vita Ansgari The ''Vita Ansgarii'', also known as the ''Vita Anskarii'', is the hagiography of saint Ansgar, written by Rimbert, his successor as archbishop in the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. The ''Vita'' is an important source not only in detailing Ansgar ...

'' in the context early conflicts between the Curonians and

vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

in 854. Apuolė was mentioned again only in a 1253 treaty between

Bishop of Riga The Archbishopric of Riga (, ) was a Catholic diocese and civil government in Medieval Livonia, subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1186 and ended in 1561. History The diocese was established in 1186 as the Bishopric of Livonia ...

and

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

. The location was described as uncultivated land. The castle was probably destroyed and the villagers moved to safer areas. The settlement was mentioned again in the 17th century. By late 18th century the hill fort attracted attention from historians and archaeologists. The first excavations were carried out by Eduards Volters and Birger Nerman in 1928–1932.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apuole Villages in Klaipėda County Prehistoric Lithuania