Birštonas is a balneological resort and a spa town in Lithuania situated 30 km south of Kaunas on the right bank of the Nemunas River. Birštonas received its city rights 1529 and was appointed a city in 1966. The city is the administrative centre of the Birštonas municipality.

Name

Birštonas is the Lithuanian name of the city. Versions of the name in other languages include Polish: Birsztany, Russian: Бирштаны Birshtany, Belarusian: Біршта́ны Birštany, Yiddish: בירשטאן Birshtan.

History

Birštonas was mentioned for the first time in the fourteenth century as a "homestead at salty water." It was mentioned in chronicles of the Teutonic Knights in 1382 and described as "a farmstead at the salty water". Many Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Lithuanian nobles, and other noblemen vacationed in Birštonas during 14th and 16th centuries to hunt. The resort was founded in 1846. Many people from Russian, Polish, and Lithuanian cities visited sanitoriums for the area's mineral water and to receive curative mud applications, including Lithuanian writer Balys Sruoga, who was ill after the Stutthof concentration camp, beatified Teofilius Matulionis, after his imprisonment in Soviet camps and prisons for 16 years.

Environment

Birštonas is surrounded by pine forests and the Nemunas River. Birštonas serves as a center of the Nemunas Loops Regional Park.

Transportation

Birštonas is accessed by national status roads from Kaunas, Vilnius, and Marijampolė. It is served by Kaunas International Airport, the second largest airport in Lithuania, located in Karmėlava site.

Festivals

Birštonas holds several festivals. The Birštonas town festival is held during the second weekend of June. It features concerts, folk art exhibits, and air balloon and motorboat races. On the last weekend of March Birštonas hosts a traditional, Lithuania's oldest international jazz festival, called Birštonas. Since 1980, the jazz festival coming here every two years have long earned the resort a name of the Lithuanian jazz Mecca. The "Būtent!" festival is an annual open-air discussion festival that takes place at the beginning of September. For two days, well-known educators, influencers and politicians gather to discuss topics recommended by festival visitors. A wide variety of topics are discussed in English and Lithuanian. The festival is free of charge.

Tourism

Birštonas is the fastest growing resort town in Lithuania experiencing a 55% increase in tourism annually. Birštonas is known for its mineral water. This water is used by sanatoriums for mineral water pools and baths. There are three large sanatoriums in Birštonas: All of them offer halotherapy, therapeutic peat pulp bath, mineral water pools, baths, massages, and a wide range of curative procedures. Birštonas also has hotels and country farmsteads, adapted for rural tourism.

Local attractions

Notable people

Twin towns — sister cities

Birštonas is twinned with:

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