| Nemenčinė | |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Pushpin Map: | Lithuania |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Nemenčinė |
| Coordinates: | 54.85°N 25.4833°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Ethnographic region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Dzūkija |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Vilnius County |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Vilnius district municipality |
| Subdivision Type4: | Eldership |
| Subdivision Name4: | Nemenčinė eldership |
| Subdivision Type6: | Capital of |
| Subdivision Name6: | Nemenčinė eldership |
| Established Date: | 14th century |
| Established Title: | First mentioned |
| Established Date2: | 1955 |
| Established Title2: | Granted town rights |
| Area Total Km2: | 5 |
| Population Total: | 4,582 |
| Population As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Footnotes: | Densityː 916/km2 |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
Nemenčinė is a city in Vilnius district municipality, Lithuania, it is located only about 7km (04miles) north-east of Vilnius. Close to Nemenčinė forest was planted which forms a sentence Žalgiris 600 (commemorating the Battle of Grunwald) visible from the air.
Nemenčinė is the original name of the town reflected in historical documents and still in use today. It derives from a Lithuanian word referring to the river Nemenčia.[1] Other versions of the name include Niemenczyn in Polish, Неменчын in Belarusian, Неменчине (or Нямянчине) in Russian, Nementschine in German and Nementchin (נעמענטשין) in Yiddish.
Lithuanian wooden castle and the mound stood in Nemenčinė in 10-14th centuries. The settlement started to grow around the castle. In 1387, following the Christianization of Lithuania, Jogaila established the first Christian parish in Nemenčinė and built a church there. In a 1434 document Andrius Sakaitis, one of the most influential Lithuanian nobleman families during the reign of Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV Jagiellon, listed Nemenčinė as his domain. In 1554, Nemenčinė after the Volok Reform got the rights of the town.
In 1613, the town was marked on the map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae, et Regionum Adiacentium exacta Descriptio printed in Amsterdam and financed by the Lithuanian magnate Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila Našlaitėlis.
On 20 September 1941, 403 Jews from the town were massacred in a mass execution. 128 men, 186 women and 99 children were shot by an Einsatzgruppen of local Nazi collaborators. In 1971, a monument was erected on the execution site.[2]
The ethnic composition of Nemenčinė is as follows:[3]
Total population in 2011 – 5054
Total population in 2021 – 4831
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Lithuania. Nemenčinė is twinned with three towns in Poland: Węgorzewo (Ungura), Ełk (Lukas) and Suwałki (Suvalkai). It also has a partnership agreement with Poland's West Pomeranian Voivodeship, signed in Vilnius on 19 June 2009.[4]
In 14 of September 2017 Nemenčinė Biathlon Stadium was opened and become a second operating Biathlon course in Lithuania (first being Ignalina Winter Sports Centre).[5]