Zarasai

City

Flag

Coat of arms

Zarasai

Location of Zarasai

Coordinates: 55°44′0″N 26°15′0″E / 55.73333°N 26.25000°ECoordinates: 55°44′0″N 26°15′0″E / 55.73333°N 26.25000°E

Lithuania

Zarasai district municipality

Eldership

Zarasai city eldership

Capital of

Zarasai district municipality
Zarasai city eldership
Zarasai rural eldership

First mentioned

1506

Granted city rights

1843

Population (2005)

• Total

8,001

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

• Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Website

http://www.zarasai.lt

Zarasai ( pronunciation ) is a city in northeastern Lithuania, surrounded by many lakes and rivers: to the southwest of the city is Lake Zarasas, to the north – Lake Zarasaitis, to the southeast – Lake Baltas, and the east – Lake Griežtas. Lakes Zarasaitis and Griežtas are connected by the River Laukesa.

In Polish, the town was known since the first third of the 16th century as Jeziorosy, from jezioro meaning lake . In 1836, the town was renamed to Novoalexandrovsk in honor of Tsar Nicholas I's son Alexander. This name was maintained until 1918. From 1919 to 1929, in the newly independent Lithuania, the town was called Ežerėnai, from ežeras, the Lithuanian word for lake. The Yiddish name Ezherene is derived from Ežerėnai. The current Lithuanian name Zarasai was adopted only in 1929.

Zarasai holds the record for the highest recorded daytime temperature in Lithuania of 38.5 °C (2014).

A few music festivals are held in Zarasai in summer. Such as: Mėnuo Juodaragis, Roko naktys.

The exact date of the city's foundation is unknown, but a date around the turn of the 15th/16th centuries is generally accepted and 1506 is the official date of foundation. At that time a manor stood in the present town’s territory, and a monastery and church on Didzioji Island in Zarasas Lake. The settlement was located on one of the largest ancient trade-routes from Riga to Pskov.

The terrain itself was one of the domains of the diocese of Vilnius from the 14th century to the 18th century. Zarasai manor was mentioned in written sources at the end of the 15th century and in 1522 Zarasai was recorded as a small town. In 1598 Zarasai was termed a volost. In 1613 Zarasai was marked on a map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with the place-name written in Polish as Jeziorosa.

...
Wikipedia