Biržai

Town

Coat of arms

Biržai

Location of Biržai

Coordinates: 56°12′N 24°45′E / 56.200°N 24.750°ECoordinates: 56°12′N 24°45′E / 56.200°N 24.750°E

Lithuania

Biržai district municipality

Eldership

Biržai city eldership

Capital of

Biržai district municipality
Biržai city eldership
Širvėna eldership

First mentioned

1455

Granted city rights

1589

Population (2001)

• Total

15,262

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

• Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Website

http://www.birzai.lt/

Biržai ( pronunciation , known also by several alternative names) is a city in northern Lithuania. Biržai is famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, and the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries.

The name of the town is of Lithuanian origin and is spelled in different forms in other languages: Birsen (German), Birże (Polish), Birzhai (Биржай, Russian - pre-1917 Биржи), and בירז/Birz or Birzh (Yiddish).

The town's first written mention dates to 1455. The construction of Biržai Castle began in 1586, and the town was granted Magdeburg Rights in 1589. In 1575, as preparation for the castle's construction, a dam was built on the Agluona and Apaščia Rivers at their confluence, and the artificial Lake Širvėna, covering about 40 km² (15 sq mi), was created. It is the oldest surviving artificial lake in Lithuania. The town's history is closely associated with the Radziwiłł family (Lithuanian: Radvila). Jerzy Radziwiłł was the first noble to settle in the town. Later, after his daughter, Barbara Radziwiłł married the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Sigismund II Augustus in 1547, the power and influence of the family grew immensely. The Radvila family established a Protestant church and school, and the city became a cultural center of the Protestant Reformation in Lithuania.

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Wikipedia