Žagarė

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title: "Žagarė" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["žagarė", "cities-in-lithuania", "cities-in-šiauliai-county", "latvia–lithuania-border-crossings", "holocaust-locations-in-lithuania"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Žagarė" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

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

FieldValue
nameŽagarė
settlement_typeCity
image_shieldCoat of arms of Žagarė.svg
image_flagFlag_of_Žagarė.png
image_skylineZagares dvaras.2009-06-11.jpg
image_captionŽagarė Manor
pushpin_mapLithuania
pushpin_map_captionLocation of Žagarė
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1Ethnographic region
subdivision_name1Semigallia
subdivision_type2County
subdivision_name2Šiauliai County
subdivision_type3Municipality
subdivision_name3Joniškis district municipality
subdivision_type4Eldership
subdivision_name4Žagarė eldership
subdivision_type6Capital of
subdivision_name6Žagarė eldership
established_date1633
established_titleFirst mentioned
established_date21924
established_title2Granted town rights
population_total1,309
population_as_of2020
timezoneEET
utc_offset+2
timezone_DSTEEST
utc_offset_DST+3
::

|name = Žagarė |settlement_type=City |image_shield = Coat of arms of Žagarė.svg |image_flag = Flag_of_Žagarė.png |image_skyline = Zagares dvaras.2009-06-11.jpg |image_caption = Žagarė Manor |pushpin_map=Lithuania |pushpin_map_caption = Location of Žagarė| |coordinates = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = |subdivision_type1= Ethnographic region |subdivision_name1= Semigallia |subdivision_type2= County |subdivision_name2= Šiauliai County |subdivision_type3= Municipality |subdivision_name3= Joniškis district municipality |subdivision_type4= Eldership |subdivision_name4= Žagarė eldership |subdivision_type6= Capital of |subdivision_name6= Žagarė eldership |established_date = 1633 |established_title= First mentioned |established_date2= 1924 |established_title2=Granted town rights |population_total = 1,309 |population_as_of = 2020 |timezone=EET |utc_offset=+2 |timezone_DST=EEST |utc_offset_DST=+3

Žagarė (, see also other names) is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern Lithuania, close to the border with Latvia. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lithuania. Žagarė is famous for Žagarvyšnė - a cherry species originated in Žagarė.

Etymology

Žagarė's name is probably derived from the Lithuanian word žagaras, meaning "twig". Other renderings of the name include: , , , .

History

The foundation of Žagarė dates back to the 12th century. A settlement of the Baltic tribe Semigallians Sagera was mentioned for the first time in March 1254 in the documents of the partitioning of the Semigallia. In 13th century it was a Semigalian fortress Raktuvė (or Raktė, first mentioned in 1272-1289 documents). It was an important centre of Semigallian warriors, who fought against the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Livonian Order. The cult of Barbora Žagarietė, servant of God, originated in the town in mid-1600s.

It long had a Jewish population that contributed to its culture. Yisroel Salanter (1810–1883), the father of the 19th-century Mussar movement in Orthodox Judaism, was born there. Isaak Kikoin (1908–1984), a renowned Soviet physicist, was also born there.

The Jewish quarter in Žagarė was among those damaged in 1881 as part of the violence against Jews that occurred during the pogroms in southern Russia.

During World War II, the town was under Soviet occupation from 1940, and then under German occupation from 1941 to 1944. On 22 August 1941, on the orders of Šiauliai Gebietskommissar Hans Gewecke, all half-Jews and Jews in the district were to be moved to Žagarė ghetto (around 500 people). The Jews were allowed only to take clothing and at most 200 Reichsmark. Many Jews were shot on the spot instead of being sent to the ghetto. In a massacre committed by Einsatzgruppe A on 2 October 1941, the date of Yom Kippur that year, all Jews were killed at the marketplace and buried in Naryshkin Park.

Today Žagarė is the administrative centre of the Žagarė Regional Park, known for its valuable urban and natural heritage. Once one of the largest cities in Lithuania (in the 1900s the number of town inhabitants exceeded 10 thousand), it preserved valuable urban complexes – trade square, side street network with early 20th century brick buildings, two churches, Žagarė manor with park, former early 20 c. cinema building and other valuable urban artefacts.

Notable residents

Twin towns – sister cities

Žagarė is a member of the Charter of European Rural Communities, a town twinning association across the European Union, alongside with:

References

References

  1. Vytautas Toleikis. (2008-09-24). "Žagarė – nykus Lietuvos užkampis ar kultūrinių turistų Klondaikas?".
  2. [http://jsri.ro/ojs/index.php/jsri/article/viewFile/798/696 Shafir, Michael. "Ideology, memory and religion in post-communist East Central Europe: a comparative study focused on post-Holocaust." Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 15.44 (2016): 52-110]
  3. [https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/zagare/ Žagarė]
  4. Vytautas Toleikis. (2008-09-24). "Žagarė – nykus Lietuvos užkampis ar kultūrinių turistų Klondaikas?".
  5. "Charter members". Charter of European Rural Communities.

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žagarėcities-in-lithuaniacities-in-šiauliai-countylatvia–lithuania-border-crossingsholocaust-locations-in-lithuania