Joniškis

Joniškis (pronunciationⓘ; Samogitian: Juonėškis) is a city in northern Lithuania with a population of about 9,900. It is located 39 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania–Latvia border. Joniškis is the municipal and administrative centre of Joniškis district municipality.

For other uses, see Joniškis (disambiguation).
Joniškis
City
Flag of Joniškis
Flag
Coat of arms of Joniškis
Coat of arms
Joniškis is located in Lithuania
Joniškis
Joniškis
Location of Joniškis
Coordinates: 56°14′0″N 23°36′0″E
Country Lithuania
Ethnographic regionAukštaitija
CountyŠiauliai County
MunicipalityJoniškis District Municipality
EldershipJoniškis eldership
Capital ofJoniškis District Municipality
Joniškis eldership
First mentioned1526
Granted city rights1616
Government
 • MayorVitalijus Gailius
Population
 (2022)
 • Total8,455
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Websitejoniskis.lt

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
Joniškis church
White Synagogue of Joniškis

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.[1]

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.[2]

Infrastructure

With the Church of the Accession of the Holy Virgin Mary (founded in 1901) and a complex of two Jewish synagogues – The Red Synagogue (built in 1897) and The White Synagogue (built in 1823) – at its center, the town has the status of an urban architectural heritage site.[3]

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).

Climate data for Joniškis
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) −1.4
(29.5)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 4.5
(40.1)		 11.6
(52.9)		 17.2
(63.0)		 20.2
(68.4)		 22.7
(72.9)		 21.6
(70.9)		 16.9
(62.4)		 10.1
(50.2)		 5
(41)		 1.2
(34.2)		 10.8
(51.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) −3.5
(25.7)		 −2.9
(26.8)		 0.8
(33.4)		 7
(45)		 12.7
(54.9)		 16.2
(61.2)		 18.8
(65.8)		 17.8
(64.0)		 13.3
(55.9)		 7.5
(45.5)		 3.3
(37.9)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 7.5
(45.6)
Average low °C (°F) −5.8
(21.6)		 −5.7
(21.7)		 −2.8
(27.0)		 2.1
(35.8)		 7.4
(45.3)		 11.3
(52.3)		 14.4
(57.9)		 13.8
(56.8)		 9.8
(49.6)		 4.9
(40.8)		 1.4
(34.5)		 −2.2
(28.0)		 4.1
(39.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 45
(1.8)		 40
(1.6)		 41
(1.6)		 45
(1.8)		 62
(2.4)		 72
(2.8)		 85
(3.3)		 72
(2.8)		 56
(2.2)		 59
(2.3)		 52
(2.0)		 45
(1.8)		 674
(26.4)
Source: https://en.climate-data.org/europe/lithuania/siauliai-county/joniskis-12767/
  • Independence Square in 1929 with the Columns of Gediminas and the Jagiellonian Cross
    Independence Square in 1929 with the Columns of Gediminas and the Jagiellonian Cross
  • Border mark
    Border mark
  • City municipality main building
    City municipality main building
  • Pedestrian street
    Pedestrian street
  • Joniškis Synagogue Complex
    Joniškis Synagogue Complex[4][5]
  • Central street (former market square)
    Central street (former market square)
  • Reconstructed former market square
    Reconstructed former market square
  • Old town
    Old town
  • Joniškis Centre of Culture
    Joniškis Centre of Culture
  • Joniškis School of Arts
    Joniškis School of Arts
  • Basketball museum
    Basketball museum
  • Court
    Court

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Lithuania

Joniškis is twinned with:[7]

References
  1. Joniškis. Mūsų Lietuva, T. 3. Bostonas: Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla. 1966. p. 58.
  2. "Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania".
  3. "Lithuanian Heritage Registry". kvr.kpd.lt. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  4. "Joniskis Synagogue Complex". World Monuments Fund. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  5. "Joniškis White Synagogue Re-Opens". LZB.lt. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  6. Special to The New York Times (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 - Article - NYTimes.com". Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
  7. "Miestai partneriai". joniskis.lt (in Lithuanian). Joniškio rajono savivaldybė. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
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