Veliuona (, , ) is a small town on the

Nemunas River Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its southern channel. It drains ...

in the

Jurbarkas district municipality Jurbarkas District Municipality () is a municipalities of Lithuania, municipality in Tauragė County, Lithuania Elderships Jurbarkas District Municipality is divided into 12 elderships: Population by locality *Status: M, MST - city, town / K ...

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 ...

History

Veliuona (also known as Junigeda) was first mentioned in 1291 in the chronicle of Peter of Duisburg. The town is primarily known as the burial place of

Gediminas Gediminas ( – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341. He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from t ...

. An old church, founded by

Vytautas the Great Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...

in 1421, was rebuilt and enlarged in 1636. In 1501–1506 Veliuona was granted

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

by the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland

Alexander Jagiellon Alexander Jagiellon (; ; 5 August 1461 – 19 August 1506) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1492 and King of Poland from 1501 until his death in 1506. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV and a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty. Alexander was el ...

. In the 18th century Veliuona belonged to prince

Józef Poniatowski Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (; 7 May 1763 – 19 October 1813) was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. A nephew of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lit ...

, in the 19th century to the Zalewski family.

Gallery

File:Veliuona.jpg, Veliuona from west File:Lithuania Veliuona Gediminas tomb.jpg,

tombstone File:Veliuona vytautas.jpg,

Monument File:Veliuona in 19c.jpg, Veliuona in 19th century

References

Veliuona, 2001, Versme, 1176 p.

External links

Towns in Lithuania Towns in Tauragė County Holocaust locations in Lithuania {{TauragėCounty-geo-stub