Kursenai

Kuršėnai

City

Coat of arms

Kuršėnai

Location of Kuršėnai

Coordinates: 55°59′N 22°55′E / 55.983°N 22.917°ECoordinates: 55°59′N 22°55′E / 55.983°N 22.917°E

Šiauliai district municipality

Eldership

Kuršėnai town eldership

Capital of

Kuršėnai town eldership
Kuršėnai rural eldership

First mentioned

16th century

Granted city rights

1947

Population (2001)

• Total

14,197

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

• Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Kuršėnai ( pronunciation ; Samogitian: Koršienā) is the twenty-fifth largest city in Lithuania. According to the 2001 census, it had 14,197 residents.

The town's name was first documented in the 16th century. According to historian M. Balinskis, its name is derived from word 'kuršis'. However, according to local people, the town didn't have a name for a long time. But, one summer day the river Venta flooded and washed all hay bales which were standing at the river banks. People started questioning each other: where is the hay? where is the hay? („Kur šienai? Kur šienai?“). Since then, the town name stayed as Kuršėnai.

Since a clay that is ideal for fine ceramics was detected near Kuršėnai, pottery has long been thriving in the city. In the last century, Kuršėnai became famous for fairs abundant in earthenware. Kuršėnai is called the “Capital of Potters” not only due to the abundance of such handicraftsmen in the city but also because the All-Time Potter’s Crown has been solely won by the folk artists of Kuršėnai such as J. Paulauskas, V. Damkus, B. Radeckas, and J. Vertelis. It clearly is no coincidence that a pitcher is one of the elements of the Coat of Arms of the city.

The history of Kuršėnai Manor begins in 1564 when Sigismund Augustus gave the said manor as a fief to George Despot-Zenovich, the Castellan of Polotsk. Soon, a settlement began to grow in the manor lands on the other side of the Venta, and in 1569 the first wooden church was erected. In 1621, the estate went to S. Pac, the Grand Treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and a decade later the manor became the property of George Gruzewski and his wife. At the end of the 18th century, Kuršėnai were inherited by Stephen Gruzewski. Having brought in the artist J. Rilke with the apprentice team, he built a new (current) manor house and a chapel and renovated other buildings in 1811. The estate flourished still further under ruling of his younger son Edward who took it over in 1846.

Kuršėnai Manor has the most valuable heritage of wooden manorial architecture in Šiauliai District. The original staircase, window frames, and wooden front doors have survived.

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Wikipedia