Marijampolė has been a regional center since 1994. The city covers an area equal to 205.07 square kilometres (79.18 sq mi). TheŠešupė River divides the city into two parts, which are connected by six bridges.
The city is known for the international art and architecture symposiumMalonny, an event which focuses on street art, murals, and public installations, transforming Marijampolė's urban spaces into an open-air art gallery.[1]
The earliest recorded name of the present-day city of Marijampolė wasStara Būda, this name is attested from 1706. In the first half of the 18th century, it was renamedStarapolė. Thisplace name derives fromcommon nouns (stara “old” +pole “field”) and appears in sources from 1736 asStarepol.[2]
The arrival of theMarian Fathers in 1751 accelerated the town's growth, and the settlement was namedMarijanpolė in their honour.[3] InLithuanian phonology, "n" regularly becomes "m" before "p", thus evolving intoMarijampolė. The suffix-polė cannot be interpreted with absolute certainty: it may derive fromGreekpolis (“city, fortress”), since forming place names based onAncient Greece was considered elegant in thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time (especially for manors and estates). Conversely, in Slavic languagespole means “field.” The former explanation is considered more likely because Marijampolė functions as aeponymous place name, while the Slavic suffix-pole is more typical oftoponyms derived from common nouns, although the earlier nameStarapolė was indeed formed from common nouns.[4]
On 9 April 1955, by decree of the Soviet authorities, Marijampolė was renamedKapsukas in honour of the Lithuanian communist activistVincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas. On 21 March 1989, by decree of the Presidium of theSupreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR and according to the results of a referendum, the city’s historical name Marijampolė was restored.[5]
The city has also been known as: מאַריאַמפּאָל (Yiddish); Mariampol.
Coat of Arms of Marijampolė city in 1792Battle of Marijampolė during theNovember Uprising in 1831
Marijampolė's origins lie in the village of Stara Būda, which was located in the central area of the present-day city. A survey conducted on 15th March 1710 indicated that the village contained 21 homesteads, which collectively occupied an area of twomorgens of land. However, from May of that same year, the inventory was no longer recorded, which corresponded with the outbreak of theGreat Northern War plague. By the end of the plague in 1712, the village of Stara Būda had been entirely depopulated. In 1738, Stara Būda experienced a resurgence in population, yet its residents were economically disadvantaged and therefore exempt from taxation.[5]
In the 18th century, the village, at that time belonging to the Catholic Church, grew to become a market town and its name was known Starpol or Staropolė, after a new village built forPrienaistarost's guards in the vicinity in 1739.[6] The settlement was destroyed by a fire in 1765.
After the disaster, Pranciška Butlerienė (née Ščiuka), the wife of the starosta of Prienai,[7] financed a new church and a monastery for theCongregation of Marian Fathers.[6] Following the foundation of the monastery, a new town was built in the area, that ws known as Marijanpolė.
On 23 February 1792, King of Poland and Grand Duke of LithuaniaStanisław II Augustus granted the "townlet of Mariampol" withMagdeburg Law and a privilege of organising markets. Following thePartitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the town was briefly part ofPrussia. However, after theNapoleonic Wars, it was transferred toCongress Poland within theRussian Empire. In the 19th century, the town continued to grow, mostly thanks to a large number of Jewish and German settlers. In 1817, the town became the seat of a separatepowiat within the administrative system of the kingdom.[6] In 1827, the town had 1759 inhabitants. By 1861, the number had grown to 3718, of which 3015 were Jewish.[6] A fire consumed many wooden homes in 1868. As a result, many houses were rebuilt of stone.[8]
Following theJanuary Uprising and the Russian suppression of the formerCommonwealth lands, the powiat of Maryampol was seriously diminished.[6] Also, around that time, the monastery gained prominence as it was the only monastery owned by the Marians that was not closed down by the tsarist authorities.[9] As the surroundings of the town were primarily inhabited by Lithuanians,[6] the town became the centre of the Lithuanian national revival. The proximity of thePrussian border made thesmuggling of books in the Lithuanian language, banned in Imperial Russia, easier. Among the most notable Lithuanian scholars and writers active in the town at that time were the futurePresident of LithuaniaKazys Grinius,Jonas Jablonskis andVincas Kudirka.
FollowingWorld War I, the town became part of therestoredLithuania, and the name was standardized to its current formMarijampolė.
DuringWorld War II, Marijampolė wasoccupied by the Soviet Union. During 1940–1941,Soviet authoritiesdeported several hundred Lithuanian inhabitants of Marijampolė. In 1941,Nazi Germany occupied the town. On 1 September 1941, between 5,000 and 8,000 Jews from Marijampolė, Kalvarija and elsewhere, along with people from other backgrounds, were murdered by three Germandeath squads and Lithuanian policemen.[10][8][11] Their bodies were placed inmass graves near theŠešupė River. During the war, the town was heavily damaged and almost emptied.
On July 31, 1944 Soviet army once again entered the city. The following year, the Soviet counter-intelligence agencySMERSH repressed about 500 people from Marijampolė. During the first years ofSoviet occupation in 1944–1953,Soviet deportations from Lithuania to Siberiangulags included somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 Lithuanians from Marijampolė county.[12] In late postwar years, the city was rebuilt and repopulated with inhabitants from other parts of Lithuania. About 98% of Marijampolė's inhabitants are ethnic Lithuanians.[13]
On 9 April 1955,Communist authorities of theLithuanian SSR renamed the town "Kapsukas" after a Lithuanian Communist politician,Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas.[14] The old name was restored in 1989, the year before Lithuania declared itsindependence from the Soviet Union.
Marijampolė has been the administrative centre of the county since 1994. In 2018, on the 100th anniversary of the restoration of theindependence of Lithuania, the city of Marijampolė became the cultural capital of Lithuania.
Marijampolė is accessible by railway via the Kaunas-Šeštokai-Alytus line. The town is located at the crossroads of two major highways: TheVia Baltica connectsHelsinki with Central and Southern Europe, and theEuropean route E28 runs betweenBerlin, Germany, andMinsk, Belarus.
Marijampolė is connected to its partners by business, sport, education, tourism, and other ties. Marijampolė's local means of mass media include a local television station, a local radio station, the newspapers "Marijampolės laikraštis", "Suvalkietis", "TV savaitė", "Sugrįžimai", and magazine "Suvalkija". Culturally, Marijampolė enjoys one cinema and a municipal drama theater.
Marijampolė is a regional centre of light industry enterprises, construction, transport and trade. It has also become home to one of the largestsecond-hand car markets in Europe.[15]
Marijampolė has a strong educational system with state education institutions. The city is the seat ofMarijampolė University of Applied Sciences, as well as nine pre-school institutions, six nursery schools, one primary school, 12 lower secondary schools, nine secondary schools, four gymnasiums, a youth school, an adult education center, five additional training establishments, three non-state education institutions, a music school of Christian Culture, the Gymnasium of Marijonai, and theR. Vosylienė languages school.
The town of Marijampolė and its six surrounding communities make up the territory of Marijampolė Municipality. They are: Gudeliai, Igliauka, Liudvinavas, Marijampolė, Sasnava, and Šunskai communities. Marijampolė Municipality covers 755 square kilometres (292 sq mi) of land; 72% of which is agricultural land; 12.3% is covered by forests; 4.2% is towns and villages, 2% is industrial enterprises and roads, and 6.9% is areas used for other purposes.
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