And now we come to the first administrative center, which is not a city, but has the status of an urban settlement. Iecava is a small urban village with a population of about 10 thousand people, the center of the Iecava region. Iecava is located near Riga and is quite popular for permanent residence. Many inhabitants of this small village go to Riga to work. Near Iecava there is one famous landmark - Eckau Castle, more precisely, its ruins. The castle belonged to Count Palen, the Russian general of the times of the Patriotic War of 1812. Iecava - a settlement in the southern part of Latvia, the administrative center of the Iecava region. It is located on the same river, 22 km from Bauska, 30 km from Jelgava and 44 km from Riga. The population of Iecava according to the 2008 census is 9681 people. Iecava is the center of social and cultural life of the region, the main public service facilities are located here. Due to its geographic location, the area attracts interest from new residents and entrepreneurs. Iecava becomes an attractive place of residence. During the campaign of Napoleon in 1812, here at the estate of Count Palena Gross-Eckau (the German town of Groß Eckau), a battle took place at Ekau, which became part of the history of the Patriotic War of 1812. Before the First World War, the village was called Gross-Eckau. To the south of the village are the ruins of the castle of Eckau
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iecava
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The next move will be very short - only 23 km along the already familiar E67 road. We keep a course on Iecava - also a small village, the administrative center of Iecava region. The road of Latvia is of good quality!
The section of the European route E67 connects the administrative center of the Bauska region with the town of Bauska and the administrative center of the Iecava region, the Iecava settlement
The road between Bauska and Iecava runs through the territory of Latvia
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We get acquainted with Latvia more closely. Bauska is the first Latvian city on our way. This is a tiny town with a population of almost 10 thousand people. Bauska is the center of the Bauska Territory. The city is famous for its castle, which was founded in the 16th century by Teutonic knights. Bauska (Latvian Bauska, until 1920 Bauska, German Marienland or Bauske) is a city in Latvia, the administrative center of Bauska Krai. Population 9348 inhabitants (2016). The area is 6.1 km². It is located 66 km south of Riga, at the confluence of the rivers Musa and Memele, forming Lielupe. The nearest railway station is Iecava (26 km). In the history of the city, the Livonian War (1558-1583), the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the Northern War (1700-1721), the plague of 1711, Napoleon's campaign of 1812 left their mark. Bauska was founded by the Teutonic knights in 1443, became a city in 1511. Full rights of the city received in 1609. Bauska Castle was founded in 1456 by the Landmaster of the German Order in Livonia, John von Mengede (German, Johann Osthoff von Mengede) (also called Bushe, Bushenborg and Bauchenburg). In 1625 the castle was taken by the Swedes, during the Northern War in 1705 - by the Russians. In 1705, the fortifications of the castle were destroyed, and since then it has been uninhabited. The ruins of the castle have been preserved, and in recent years it has been restored. In 1855 there were 6,532 inhabitants in Bauska. At that time in the city there were an Orthodox chapel, a Lutheran church, two synagogues. Also there were 1 tanneries, 1 brick and 2 distilleries (breweries). The annual fair was held from 12 to 17 October. 12 km from Bauska is the Rundale Palace - the former residence of the Dukes of Courland. The palace was built by the Italian architect Rastrelli for the favorite of the Russian Empress Catherine the First - Baron Ernst Biron. He was also the first Duke of Kurliyandia (the western part of the territory of modern Latvia)
It's time to say goodbye to hospitable Lithuania and make a move to equally hospitable and friendly Latvia! Latvia is a strange country. There are as many as.109 administrative centers in it! The whole territory is divided into districts (municipalities). Not only is the country very small, it's still divided into 109 regions! And often the administrative center of the province - a small village or even a village. But it has the same rights as the regional centers in Ukraine or the centers of voivodeships in Poland! And such settlements or small towns to us during the drive across Latvia will meet a lot. And the names of most of them will be completely unfamiliar, except for Riga. Naturally, moving from the center of one edge to the center of the other will be small, sometimes they will only take 10-20 minutes! Our destination is the small town of Bauska, the administrative center of the Bauska Territory. We remind you that both countries are part of the European Union, so when we cross the Lithuanian-Latvian border, we do not need any documents. We will not even notice how we will end up in Latvia. The section of the European route E67 connects the administrative center of the Panevezhsky district Panevezys and the administrative center of the Bauska region Bauska. The road between the two cities passes through Lithuania and Latvia
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After an hour and a half of excellent driving on the highway we arrived in Panevezys, the administrative center of Panevezys County. This is the last Lithuanian city on our way, after visiting Panevėžys we will already move to Latvia. Panevezys is a small town in the north of Lithuania. The size of it is about the same as Kamenets-Podolsky. About 100 thousand people live in Panevezys. As in all other cities, it is clean and cozy. From the Soviet legacy there were many five-story houses. The city was occupied by the Germans in the war, there were also executions of Jews and civilians who did not support the occupiers. Panevėžys, or Panevėžys (Lithuanian Panevėžys, Polish Poniewież, until 1917 Ponevezh) is a city in the north of Lithuania, the fifth most populated city in the administrative center of Panevezys County and Panevėžys district. The city is located on both banks of the Nevezis River (tributary of the Neman), 135 km north-west of Vilnius, 109 km from Kaunas and 240 km from Klaipeda. The population is 97,343 people. The name was first mentioned in the charter of the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander, dated September 7, 1503, according to which the rector of Ramigali was granted land on the condition that a church would be built here. On the right bank of Nevezys, a village was formed with a church, a commercial area, a tavern, a brewery and a bath, later named the Old Panevezys. At the beginning of the XVI century on the left bank of Nevezis on the state lands another settlement was formed, called New Panevezhis. It grew rapidly. After the administrative reform of 1565-1566, Ponevezh became the center of the povet. In 1568 in Ponevezh from Krekenave was transferred to the verdict court. This contributed to the growth of the city and its significance. Both parts of it were united in 1780. In 1727 in Panevezys, public relations were established, the Church of the Holy Trinity was built (originally wooden), a monastery and a college - the first high school in the city. After the uprising in 1831, the monastery and the church were closed. In 1847 the church was converted to the Orthodox Church, in 1918 it was returned to the Catholics.
Link: Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panevezys
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We leave Vilnius and take a course to the north. The purpose of our next move is Panevezys, the administrative center of the same county. All 140 km to Panevėžys runs a beautiful European highway - the only high-speed road in Lithuania to date. In an hour or so we will arrive in Panevezys, where you can go at a speed of 120 km / h. The next such a beautiful road will meet us only in Finland, when moving from Vyborg to Helsinki. The section of the European route E272 connects the capital of Lithuania to the city of Vilnius and the administrative center of Panevėžys county Panevezys. The road between the two cities passes through the territory of Lithuania
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So we reached Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. This is the first Baltic capital on our way. A little later, there will be Riga, and then Tallinn. Vilnius is a chic and very beautiful city! Its historical center is especially beautiful (there are similar historical quarters in Riga and Tallinn). To get lost in the center of Vilnius can be elementary! Without a map or GPS-navigator in the city has nothing to do, it will be difficult. But the complex layout of the city is compensated by its beauty. The city is clean, many tourists, especially in the Old Town. In this plan, Vilnius is somewhat reminiscent of Warsaw. The city was founded in 1323 by the Lithuanian prince Gedimin. And the central street of the city is called - Gedimin Avenue. On this boulevard it is necessary to take a walk in the evening. Vilnius for several years was the capital of the Lithuanian principality, and from the middle of the 16th century it became the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Three months Vilnius was the capital of the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. The city has been repeatedly captured over the centuries by various states. There were Poles, Russians, Ukrainian Cossacks, Swedes, French, Germans and Austrians (First World War), Byelorussians, Germans (World War II). In Vilnius, the great Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, the marshal and head of pre-war Poland, Józef Piłsudski, was born. In Vilnius, one of the largest markets of used cars in Europe is located, which are massively distilled to Ukraine - the Garyunai automobile market. If you have time, you can visit it, you will not regret it! Maybe go on a better car! Vilnius (Vilnius [vʲlʲʊnʲʊs] until 1918 - Vilna, in 1919-1939 - Vilno [Polish Wilno) - the capital and the largest city of Lithuania. The population is 622,543 people (2016), or 18% of the country's population; The second largest city in the Baltic countries (after Riga). 63.2% of Lithuanians, 16.5% of Poles, and 12% of Russians (2011). It is located in the extreme south-east of Lithuania, at the confluence of the Vilnia River (hence, presumably, the name of the city) to the Viliya River; In 33 km from the border with Belarus. It was first mentioned in 1323 as the capital of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas. For centuries, the main city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and since 1569 and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the third partition of Rzecz Pospolita in 1795 became part of Russia, where until 1918 it was called Vilna. From 1922 to 1939, under the name of Vilna was part of Poland. Since 1939 became the capital of the Republic of Lithuania (later Lithuanian SSR) under the name Vilnius. During the Second World War, the city was partially destroyed. The historic center is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 69% of the area is occupied by green plantations. In 1387, the Polish king and the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jagiello gave Vilna Magdeburg law. The top of the development of Vilna reached the reign of the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund the Old, settled here with his court in 1544. In 1793 the city was occupied by Russian troops. In 1794, Vilna became the center of Tadeusz Kosciuszko's uprising. After the third partition of Rzeczpospolita in 1795, Vilna retired to Russia. Vilna became the administrative center of Vilna (1795-1797), then Lithuanian (1797-1801), Lithuanian-Vilnius (1801-1840), and from 1840 - again Vilna province, which was part of the North-Western region of the Russian Empire. In the summer of 1812 the city was occupied by the French troops of Napoleon. The remnants of the broken great army retreated to their homeland also through Vilna. From 1915 to 1918 the city was occupied by German troops. February 16, 1918 in Vilnius, the Act of Independence of the Lithuanian State was signed. During the Soviet-Polish war on April 19, 1919 the city was occupied by the Polish units, on July 20, 1920 - by the Red Army. Shortly after the defeat in the Battle of Warsaw, the retreating Red Army transferred the city of Lithuania in accordance with the treaty signed on July 12, 1920 between Soviet Russia and the Republic of Lithuania. Poland also recognized the sovereignty of Lithuania over Vilnius and the Vilna region according to the Suwalk Treaty, signed on October 7, 1920. However, already on October 9, 1920, parts of General L. Zheligovsky with the secret sanction of Pilsudski took Vilnius and part of Lithuania. On August 3, 1940 Lithuania became part of the USSR, and Vilno (since that time the city officially called Vilnius in Russian) became the capital of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. During the Second World War, the city was occupied by the German army from June 23, 1941, in September of the same year the Jewish ghetto was formed. During the occupation, 95% of the representatives of the Jewish community of the city became victims of the Holocaust. July 13, 1944, as a result of the Vilnius operation, after the storming of the city from July 7 to July 13, Vilnius was liberated from the German troops by the army of the Third Byelorussian Front under the command of ID Chernyakhovsky. After the withdrawal of Lithuania from the USSR and the proclamation of independence in 1989, Vilnius became the capital of Lithuania. Link: Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius
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We continue our fascinating journey! This time, our next destination will be Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Before the turn to Varenna, we go on the regional road number 128. This turn makes the road quality much better - we leave for the national road A4, which is laid to Vilnius. From Alytus to Vilnius - 109 km, an hour and a half drive. The road is very picturesque, the fields alternate with areas of the forest.
The sections of the regional route No. 128 and the national route A4 connect the administrative center of Alytus County to the city of Alytus and the capital of Lithuania, the city of Vilnius. The road between the two cities passes through the territory of Lithuania
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We begin to get acquainted with Lithuania closer. Once upon a time this country was part of the "great indestructible and powerful" USSR as a union republic - the Lithuanian SSR. Now it is an independent and confidently moving state to the prosperity within the European Union. And the first of the Lithuanian cities we will meet Alytus. You do not say the name of this city? Many who are now 40 and more years with confidence will be told - in this city even in the times of the USSR they produced first-class refrigerators "Snaige" (in Russian - Sneig (in Lithuanian means "snowflake")). Even in times of stagnation, these refrigerators were exported in large batches to Europe, and not only to socialist countries! And today the company "Snaige" continues to produce high-quality products. There are on sale these refrigerators and now in Ukraine. Alytus is a small city, its population is just over 57 thousand people. The city is pretty nice and clean. The city is located in the historical area of Dzukia.
Alytus, Polish Olita, Russian Olita is a city in the south of Lithuania, in Dzukia, the administrative center of Alytus County and Alytus District, the sixth in Lithuania by the number of inhabitants. The city is located on both banks of the Neman, 105 km from Vilnius and 69 km from Kaunas. Industrial and cultural center of the south of Lithuania. As of January 1, 2013, there were 57,281 residents. Now in Alytus 94,7% of Lithuanians live, 2,8% of Russians live. The first mention in written sources refers to the year 1377. City rights granted in 1581. At the end of XIX century. Strengthening the western borders of the Russian Empire, it was decided to fortify Olita (Alytus) located in a strategically important place. In 1890 Olita became the fortress of the third class of the Russian Empire. In the first days of the Great Patriotic War on June 22-23, 1941, a large tank battle took place in the region of Alytus. During the Second World War, about 10,000 to 20,000 Jews were shot in Alytus (the exact number is not known, there have never been detailed studies, and in various sources the number mentioned is 60,000.) From July 1941 to April 1943, the barracks operated a concentration The camp of prisoners of war "Stalag-343." From May 1943 to July 1944, there was also a camp for displaced persons, mainly from the western regions of Russia.Some of the prisoners were used for agricultural work in the manors of Lithuanian peasants.As judging from the archival data, About 2,000 Soviet prisoners of war and civilians died in the camp, and a memorial complex with a white obelisk in the center (now on the territory of the Alytus City Park) was built on the site of the mass graves. In July 1944, during the storming of the city and crossing the river, parts of the 11th Guards Army killed many soldiers and officers. Nowadays, Alytus is widely known throughout Europe thanks to the location of the Snaige refrigerator factory, which has earned an excellent reputation.
It's time to make a move to Lithuania! We remind you that there are no borders between Lithuania and Poland, since both countries are in the Schengen zone. So when crossing the Polish-Lithuanian border, we will not need any documents. We will not even stop, just lower the speed at the border. This route from Ukraine to Lithuania through Poland is very popular among car drivers. After all, everyone knows that in Vilnius at the car market you can buy very good used cars of different brands. And in Ukraine there are a lot of cars with Lithuanian registration (numbers). These cars are distilled from Lithuania to Ukraine by transit through Poland. Why not through Belarus? It's just as short, you will say. And because it will have to pay customs duties twice for the importation of the car - both at the Belarusian customs and at the Ukrainian one. If you go through Poland, the customs fee is paid only once - at the Ukrainian checkpoint "Ustilug" (villages have adhered to this route ). And this is due to the fact that Lithuania has no customs at the border with Poland. In fact, this car is exported from the European Union! Therefore, an additional hook of 300-400 kilometers is fully justified from a financial point of view! The distance between Bialystok and Alytus is 195 km. It's a two and a half hour drive on the excellent Polish and quite good Lithuanian road. Immediately upon entering Lithuania, the quality of the road becomes worse. But you should not think that all Lithuanian roads are like that. The closer to Vilnius, the better the road. At this crossing four times the road will be replaced, that is, there will be four roads with different names. This is the most difficult navigation navigation for the whole trip to Norway. The sections of the European route E67, national route No. 16, regional route No. 135 and regional route No. 132 connect the administrative center of the Podlaskie Voivodeship to the city of Bialystok and the administrative center of Alytus County, the city of Alytus The road between the two cities passes through Poland and Lithuania
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