From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Šeiminyškėliai Hillfort, one of the presumed sites of Voruta

Voruta may have been the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Lithuania during the reign of king Mindaugas in the 13th century. The exact location of Voruta is unknown and there are many contradictory theories about it.

Mindaugas, the first and the only crowned Lithuanian king, defended himself in Voruta during an internal war against his nephews Tautvilas and Edivydas and Duke of Samogitia Vykintas in 1251. This information, taken from the Hypatian Chronicle, is the only recorded message about Voruta. Mindaugas' castle is mentioned in two more written sources, but neither its name nor location is specified. It is also unclear if they refer to the same one castle.^[1]

Nevertheless, some historians in 19th and 20th centuries called it "the first capital of Lithuania" and attempted to identify its location. Most argued that Voruta is the current capital of Lithuania Vilnius or the medieval capital at Kernavė. Modern Lithuanian historian Tomas Baranauskas believes that it is Šeimyniškėliai (literally, a diminutive plural form of a word, meaning war prisoners turned into family servants) Hillfort near Anykščiai, the biggest in the Eastern Lithuania. In total there were about fourteen suggested locations of Voruta. Others argue that Voruta was not an actual city, but just a misinterpretation of a word that means capital. In opinion of Kazimieras Būga, one of the prominent Lithuanian philologists, the word voruta simply means castle.

Despite all the uncertainties, the concept of Voruta is well-known and popular in the Lithuanian imagination.

These sites were suggested by various historians in various times:^[2]

1. Berzgainiai in Ukmergė district by Petras Tarasenka
2. Buteikiai in Anykščiai district by Kazimieras Žebrys
3. Gorodishche near Navahrudak by Teodor Narbutt
4. Kernavė by F. Papė
5. Karelich near Navahrudak by Mikola Jermalovič
6. Liškiava by Jonas Totoraitis
7. Medininkai by Evaldas Gečiauskas
8. Ročiškė in Raseiniai district by Ludwik Krzywicki
9. Šeimyniškėliai in Anykščiai district by Eduardas Volteris
10. Ūturiai in Raseiniai district by Wojciech Kętrzyński
11. Varnėnai in Hrodna Voblast, Belarus by Juliusz Latkowski
12. Vilnius by Romas Batūra
13. Area of Daugai-Varėna by Henryk Łowmiański
14. Area of Medvėgalis-Varniai by A. Steponaitis

Since publication some of the theories have been largely discharged.

• Tomas Baranauskas version of Voruta's location

 This Lithuanian history-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

This article about a European building or structure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.