- published: 20 Jan 2009
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Šiauliai ( Lithuanian (help·info)), is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.
Šiauliai is referred to by a various names in different languages: Samogitian: Šiaulē, Latvian Saule (historic) and Šauļi (modern), German: Schaulen, Polish: Szawle, Russian: Шавли (Shavli - historic) and Шяуля́й (Shyaulyai - modern), Yiddish: שאַװל (Shavel).
The city was first mentioned in written sources as Soule in Livonian Order chronicles describing the battle of Saule. Thus the city's founding date is now considered to be September 22, 1236, the same date when the battle took place, not far from Šiauliai. At first it developed as a defense post against the raids by the Teutonic and Livonian Orders. After the battle of Grunwald in 1410, the raids stopped and Šiauliai started to develop as an agricultural settlement. In 1445, a wooden church was built. It was replaced in 1634 with the brick church which can be seen in the city center today.
They put the treasure deep inside us
Inside us, inside us
They thought the desert would divide us
Divide us, divide us
With silence
They filled our hearts and hands with violence
With violence, with violence
It's time to leave the fields behind us
Behind us, behind us