Visaginas ( lit. Visaginas ; until September 22, 1992 Snechkus , until 1994 was an urban-type settlement) is a city in the north-east of Lithuania in Utena county . The satellite city of the now-closed Ignalina NPP . The only city in modern Lithuania where the Slavic population absolutely prevails: Russians and Russian speakers . Since 2003, the city has been the administrative center of Visaginas self-government , making up almost its entire population.
| City | |||||
| Visaginas | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lit. Visaginas | |||||
| |||||
| A country | |||||
| Status | self-government center | ||||
| County | Utena | ||||
| Self management | Visagin | ||||
| The mayor | Erlandas Galaguse | ||||
| History and Geography | |||||
| Founded | |||||
| First mention | 1975 | ||||
| Former names | Snackus | ||||
| City with | 1994 | ||||
| Area | 9.0 [1] km² | ||||
| Height above sea level | ≈150 m | ||||
| Climate type | moderately continental | ||||
| Timezone | UTC + 2 , in summer UTC + 3 | ||||
| Population | |||||
| Population | ▼ 18 185 [2] people ( 2018 ) | ||||
| Nationalities | Russians (52%), Lithuanians (20%), Belarusians (10%), Poles (9%), Ukrainians (1%) | ||||
| Denominations | Orthodox (40%), Catholics (28%), Old Believers (3%) | ||||
| Digital identifiers | |||||
| Telephone code | (+370) 386 [3] [4] | ||||
| Postal codes | from LT-31100 to LT-31234 [5] | ||||
| visaginas.lt (lit.) (rus.) (eng.) | |||||
Content
- 1 History
- 1.1 Name
- 2 Physical and geographical characteristics
- 2.1 Climate
- 3 Administrative device
- 3.1 Mayors
- 4 population
- 4.1 Dynamics and structure of the population
- 4.2 Ethnic composition of the population
- 4.3 Sex
- 4.4 Religious composition [34]
- 5 Economics
- 6 Transport
- 7 Culture
- 7.1 Architecture and monuments
- 7.2 Museums
- 7.3 Activities
- 8 Sports
- 8.1 Cross-country skiing
- 8.2 Sports acrobatics
- 9 Medicine
- 10 Media
- 11 Twin Cities
- 12 Education
- 13 In art
- 14 Important residents
- 14.1 Honorary Citizens of the City
- 14.2 Famous residents
- 15 Notes
- 16 Links
History
The construction of the city was begun in 1975 as a satellite city of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant . August 10 is declared City Day. Until 1992, it was called Sniečkus in honor of Antanas Snechkus , who was in 1940-1974 the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania.
From the very beginning, Visaginas was built as a modern city: multi-apartment multi-storey buildings, a well-thought-out network of streets, communication systems, public institutions - kindergartens, schools, hospitals, cultural and administrative buildings. The architectural design of the city and most of the buildings was created by Leningrad architects Boris Loktev, Yuri Vuyma and others. They developed a modern general plan of the city, taking into account the latest urban planning trends at that time. The city’s working draft was carried out by the department of the Leningrad All-Union Scientific Research and Design Institute of Power Engineering of the Ministry of Secondary Engineering (VNIIIPIET). VNIPIET architects were nominated for the USSR State Prize for a city project, however, due to the collapse of the USSR, they could not receive it (data from the VNIIPIET archive). The city has built 248 residential buildings. Five- and nine-story houses of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda and Obninsk layouts prevail. For office premises and kindergartens, one-story and two-story buildings were built. Highly qualified specialists from various fields came to the construction of nuclear power plants and cities from all over the USSR ; parts of the construction troops were also involved [6] .
On December 31, 2009, the nuclear power plant was shut down and closed [7] . There were plans to build a new nuclear power plant in the vicinity of Visaginas, in cooperation between Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Japanese company Hitachi by 2021 [8] , but this project was canceled due to the economic crisis.
There are 13 streets in Visaginas, Sedulinos Alley, Taikos Avenue, which is 2.6 km long, and Santarves Square. The length of all streets is about 45 km. Of these, streets, avenues and other roads with improved coverage are 20 kilometers, intra-quarter driveways (entrances) with improved coverage in residential and public areas are 25 km.
In 1991, the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist began to operate in Visaginas.
In 1996, the construction of the Orthodox Cathedral of the Introduction to the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Virgin Mary and the Great Martyr Panteleimon began.
In 1998, St. Paul's Catholic Church was built in Visaginas.
Title
According to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Lithuanian SSR Algirdas Ferenzas , the following names were considered [9] :
- Atomava ( lit. Atomava ; from lit.atomas - atom );
- Aukštaičiai ( lit. Aukštaičiai - Aukštaityans , i.e. residents of the historical region of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania );
- Ausrina ( lit. Aušrinė - morning star) - in Baltic mythology, the goddess who is the embodiment of the morning star;
- Broluva ( lit. Broluva ; from lit. brolis - brother) - by analogy with Bratsk - a satellite city of the Bratsk hydroelectric station on the Angara River;
- Galyuniskis ( lit. Galiūniškis );
- Galyunay ( lit. Galiūnai );
- Liaudenai ( lit. Liaudėnai ; from lit. liaudis - people);
- Drauguva ( lit. Drauguva ; from lit. draugas - friend);
- Shvesunai ( lit. Šviesūnai ; from lit. šviesa - light);
- Taribishkes ( lit. Tarybiškės ; from lit. tarybiškas - Soviet) - by analogy with the city of Sovetsky in the Kaliningrad region ;
- Gražuolyai ( lit. Gražuoliai - handsome);
- Seliai ( lit. Sėliai - villages ) - the Baltic people who lived until the 15th century in Selia in the southeast of modern Latvia , as well as in the northeast of modern Lithuania ;
- Taikunai ( lit. Taikūnai ; from lit. taika - peace) - by analogy with the " diamond capital of Russia [10] [11] " the city of Mirny in Yakutia ;
- Saulenai ( lit. Saulėnai ; from lit. saulė - sun);
- Sauletekiai ( lit. Saulėtekiai ; from lit. saulėtekis - sunrise);
- Urania ( lit. Uranija ; from lit. uranas , Latin uranium - uranium ) - a radioactive element whose isotopes uranium-235 and uranium-238 are used as fuel for nuclear reactors in nuclear power plants ;
- Gabia ( lit. Gabija ) - in Baltic mythology, the goddess of fire.
The name was presented with language requirements - easy pronouncement in Lithuanian, Russian and other languages. However, the new settlement was named Snechkus ( lit. Sniečkus ) in honor of the former first secretary of the Communist Party of the Lithuanian SSR Antanas Snechkus . This name was approved on September 26, 1977 by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR . September 22, 1992 by decree Nr. I-2899 of the Lithuanian Sejm, the city was renamed Visaginas - by the nearby lake of the same name . The etymology of the name may be associated with the phrase "visi ginasi" (all protected). According to legend, there were many snakes in the lake from which everyone had to defend themselves. Also considered among the naming options: Druksiai ( lit. Drūkšiai ) - by the name of the lake , on the bank of which stands the Ignalina NPP and, originally proposed, Seliai ( lit. Sėliai ).
Physico-geographical characteristics
Visaginas is the most eastern city in the country. It is located in the northeastern border part of Lithuania, 158 km northeast of Vilnius [12] in the east of Utena county , near Lake Visaginas . The Visaginian self-government in the north borders with the Zarasai region, in the south with Ignalina. About 10 kilometers from the city border with Latvia and Belarus pass. Located in a pine forest. There are many lakes around the city.
Climate
| Climate of Visaginas [13] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicator | Jan | Feb | March | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average maximum, ° C | −3.8 | −2.5 | 2.1 | 9.9 | 17.3 | 20.7 | 21.8 | 21.1 | 15.7 | 9.7 | 3 | −1.2 | 9.5 |
| Average temperature, ° C | −6.7 | −5.7 | −1.5 | 5,4 | 11.9 | 15.4 | 16.7 | 16,0 | 11,4 | 6.4 | 0.8 | −3.7 | 5.3 |
| Average minimum ° C | −9.6 | −8.9 | −5.1 | 1,0 | 6.6 | 10,2 | 11.7 | eleven | 7.2 | 3.2 | −1.3 | −6.2 | 1.7 |
| Precipitation rate, mm | 38 | thirty | 34 | 44 | 52 | 75 | 81 | 75 | 67 | 53 | 56 | 51 | 605 |
Administrative device
Since 2003, the city has been the center of the newly created Visaginas self-government . The leadership of the local government is carried out by the mayor and the council, elected by the residents of the city for a period of 4 years.
MayorsThe first mayor of the city with the establishment of this post in 1995 was Vladimir Schurov, who until then was the plenipotentiary representative of the Government of Lithuania . After him, this position was occupied by 4 people, including one interim. Since 2019, the mayor is Erlandas Galaguz.
PopulationPopulation dynamics and structureAccording to the 2011 national census, 22,585 people lived in the city, which is 23.6% less than in 2001 [14] . According to the Department of Statistics of Lithuania, as of January 1, 2019, the population was 18,185 people [15] . The population of the city, since its foundation, has been constantly growing, reaching 36,100 inhabitants in 1996 . For the first time showing negative growth dynamics in 1997, the population of the city continues to decline annually. In terms of population density (per 1 square kilometer - 3,723 inhabitants), the city in 1998 took second place in Lithuania.
According to the 2011 census, the largest percentage of the city’s population is between 50 and 59 years old and between 40 and 49 years old, together forming more than a third of all residents. This population structure is explained by the aging of the people who moved here during the construction of the city and nuclear power plants, as well as the emigration of their children after Lithuania entered the Schengen zone .
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