Salantai | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Church of the Assumption | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Salantai Location of Salantai | |
| Coordinates:56°4′0″N21°34′0″E / 56.06667°N 21.56667°E /56.06667; 21.56667 | |
| Country |  Lithuania |
| Ethnographic region | Samogitia |
| County |  Klaipėda County |
| Municipality | Kretinga district municipality |
| Eldership | Salantai eldership |
| Capital of | Salantai eldership |
| First mentioned | 1556 |
| Grantedcity rights | 1746 |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 1,259 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Salantai (pronunciationⓘ) is a small town inLithuania. It is located in theKlaipėda County,Kretinga district.
Salantai is named after the Salantas River, which runs through the town.
Salantai area was known to be inhabited since the Bronze Age -1st millennium BC. Since 1556Skilandžiai manor and town are mentioned. In 1567 town had a marketplace, 4 streets and 27 houses. In 1630 first church was built and since 1638Skilandžiai was started to be named as Salantai. In 1667 parish school was founded. In 1668 Salantai was being named a town in which 66 families lived. In 1750 forty Catholic homes or homesteads (kiemas) were counted. A few years later, in 1765, the first enumeration of Jewish taxpayers found 279.[1]
Aleksandras Bendikas, theLithuanian book carrier and publisher settled in Salantai and since 1905 started to publish a calendar for the farmersTraveler, leaving to Samogitia and Lithuania (Keleivis, išeinąs į Žemaičius ir Lietuvą). A parson, canon Pranas Urbonavičius established aconsumers' co-operativeKaukas in 1905, in 1906 opened a Lithuanian primary school for girls supported by theSaulė Society, and in 1906–1911 built church (archit. Karlas Eduardas Strandmanas).
This town is known for three famedrabbis: RabbiYisrael Lipkin Salanter, his teacher RabbiZundel Salant, and RabbiShmuel Salant, who spent most of his life in Salantai. Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Jerusalem between 1866 and 1910, also lived here before immigration. During the summer of 1941, 95Jews of the city were massacred in a mass execution byNazis and their local collaborators in the nearby forest.[2]
In 2025, Lithuanian researchers found records in metrics of the Salantai Church of the Assumption where it is stated thatMichał Kleofas Ogiński was born in the surroundings of Salantai and wasbaptized in the Salantai Church of the Assumption.[3]
The Orvydas Farmstead located on the outskirts of Salantai is a sculpture park created by the Lithuanian artistVilius Orvydas.[4]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
