Shavli

Šiauliai
City municipality
Cathedral of Šiauliai
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Saulės miestas (The Sun City)
Šiauliai Location of Šiauliai
Coordinates: 55°56′N 23°19′E / 55.933°N 23.317°E / 55.933; 23.317Coordinates: 55°56′N 23°19′E / 55.933°N 23.317°E / 55.933; 23.317
Country	Lithuania
Ethnographic region	Samogitia
County	Šiauliai County
Municipality	Šiauliai city municipality
Capital of	Šiauliai County Šiauliai city municipality Šiauliai district municipality
First mentioned	1009
Granted city rights	1589
Elderships	Medelynas eldership, Rėkyva eldership
Area
• Total	81.13 km2 (31.32 sq mi)
Elevation	151 m (495 ft)
Population (2016-01-20)
• Total	102,983
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	76xxx
Area code(s)	(+370) 41
Vehicle registration	S
Website	www.siauliai.lt

Šiauliai ([ʃɛʊ̯ˈlʲɛɪ̯ˑ] ( listen)) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.

Šiauliai is referred to by a various names in different languages: Samogitian Šiaulē, Latvian Saule (historic) and Šauļi (modern), German (outdated) Schaulen, Polish Szawle, Russian Шавли (Shavli — historic) and Шяуля́й (Shyaulyai — modern), Yiddish שאַװל (Shavel).

The city was first mentioned in written sources as Soule in Livonian Order chronicles describing the Battle of Saule. Thus the city's founding date is now considered to be September 22, 1236, the same date when the battle took place, not far from Šiauliai. At first it developed as a defense post against the raids by the Teutonic and Livonian Orders. After the battle of Grunwald in 1410, the raids stopped and Šiauliai started to develop as an agricultural settlement. In 1445, a wooden church was built. It was replaced in 1625 with the brick church which can be seen in the city center today.