Joniškis

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title: "Joniškis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["joniškis", "cities-in-šiauliai-county", "cities-in-lithuania", "municipalities-administrative-centres-of-lithuania", "holocaust-locations-in-lithuania", "joniškis-district-municipality"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joniškis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement "]

Field	Value
name	Joniškis
settlement_type	City
pushpin_map	Lithuania
pushpin_label_position	bottom
pushpin_map_caption	Location of Joniškis
image_skyline	Joniskio centras.JPG
image_flag	Flag of Joniskis.gif
image_shield	Coat of arms of Joniskis.svg
coordinates
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1	Ethnographic region
subdivision_name1	Aukštaitija
subdivision_type2	County
subdivision_name2	Šiauliai County
subdivision_type3	Municipality
subdivision_name3	Joniškis District Municipality
subdivision_type4	Eldership
subdivision_name4	Joniškis eldership
subdivision_type6	Capital of
subdivision_name6	Joniškis District Municipality
Joniškis eldership
established_date	1526
established_title	First mentioned
established_date2	1616
established_title2	Granted city rights
population_total	8,455
population_as_of	2022
leader_title	Mayor
leader_name	Vitalijus Gailius
timezone	EET
utc_offset	+2
timezone_DST	EEST
utc_offset_DST	+3
website
::

Name

Joniškis is the Lithuanian name of the town. Historical versions of the name in other languages include Polish: Janiszki, Russian: Янишки Yanishki, Yiddish: יאַנישאָק Yanishok, Latvian: Jānišķe, and German: Jonischken.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Independence_Square_in_Joniškis_with_the_Columns_of_Gediminas,Double_Cross_of_the_Jagiellonians_and_Vytis(Waikymas),_1929.jpg" caption="Jagiellonian Cross"] ::

Joniškis was established in the beginning of the 16th century. It was mentioned in written sources on 23 February 1536 when Bishops of Vilnius and Samogitia visited the area and found that people still practiced the old pagan faith. People were worshiping the God of Thunder (Perkūnas), fire, snakes and other pagan deities. The bishop of Vilnius, John of the Lithuanian Dukes baptized the locals and established a new parish on 23 February 1536. A wooden church was built and the town of Joniškis was built around it. The bishop of Vilnius named the town Joniškis after his own name Jonas. Joniškis was on the crossroad of important trade roads. It was located in the Duchy of Samogitia in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

During World War II, the town was under Soviet occupation from 1940, and then under German occupation from 1941 to 1944. In late 1941, 148 Jewish men were shot near Joniškis in the nearby forest. The remaining Jews (men, women and children) were murdered in the forest in September 1941. 493 people were murdered in total by an Einsatzgruppen of Joniškis policemen and Lithuanian nationalists supervised by the Germans.

Infrastructure

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Joniškis,_katalikų_bažnyčia.JPG" caption="Joniškis church"] ::

With the Church of the Accession of the Holy Virgin Mary (founded in 1901) and a complex of two Jewish synagogues – the Red and White Synagogues, built in 1897 and 1823, respectively – at its center, the town has the status of an urban architectural heritage site.

A railway line connecting Riga and Šiauliai runs along the western boundary of the town. West of the railway are the town's allotment gardens, the Lutheran Cemetery and the Cemetery for the Victims of World War II. Joniškis has two water reservoirs formed by dams on the River Sidabra. Joniškis has the Jonas Avyžius Public Library of Joniškis District Municipality, the Basketball Museum and a large animal compound feed manufacturing plant "Joniškio Grūdai".

Climate

Joniškis has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb in the Köppen climate classification).

Gallery

Joniškis, ženklas.JPG|Border mark Joniškis, savivaldybė.JPG|City municipality main building Joniškis, pėsčiųjų gatvė.JPG|Pedestrian street Joniškis, baltoji sinagoga.JPG|White Synagogue Joniskjis - panoramio - Laima Gūtmane (simka….jpg|Joniškis Synagogue Complex Joniškis, centras.JPG|Central street (former market square) Joniškis, centre.JPG|Reconstructed former market square Joniškis, Žagarės g.JPG|Old town Joniškis, kultūros centras.JPG|Joniškis Centre of Culture Joniškis, meno mokykla.JPG|Joniškis School of Arts Joniškis, krepšinio muziejus.JPG|Basketball museum Joniškis,_teismas.JPG|Court

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Joniškis is twinned with:

LVA Auce, Latvia
LVA Dobele, Latvia
LVA Jelgava Municipality, Latvia
POL Konin, Poland
RUS Novoselitsky District, Russia
GER Sulingen, Germany
MDA Ungheni, Moldova
SWE Vimmerby, Sweden
EST Võru, Estonia

References

(1966). "Joniškis. Mūsų Lietuva, T. 3.". Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla.
"Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania".
"Lithuanian Heritage Registry".
"Joniskis Synagogue Complex". World Monuments Fund.
"Joniškis White Synagogue Re-Opens".
(1973-11-27). "Laurence Harvey, Screen Actor, Is Dead at 45 – Attained Stardom With Role in 'Room at the Top' The Screen's Perfect Cad Enigmatic Flamboyance Was Also in 'Butterfield 8 and 'Manchurian Candidate' An Arrogant Manner". The New York Times.
"Miestai partneriai". Joniškio rajono savivaldybė.

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