Музей средневекового рыцарства в Полоцке (Museum of medieval chivalry in Polotsk)
16.07.14. Музей средневекового рыцарства в Полоцке (Museum of medieval chivalry in Polotsk)
Полоцк. Музей рыцарства Polotsk. Museum of chivalry
Полоцк. Музей рыцарства Polotsk. Museum of chivalry
Музей рыцарства
Музей средневекового рыцарства является частным учреждением белорусского города Полоцка. Все экспонаты размещены в трех просторных залах. Здесь все желающие смогут полюбоваться на старинные интерьеры, находившиеся в покоях средневековых замков. В состав экспозиции музея входят рыцарские доспехи, а также прочее снаряжение и даже оружие: копья, арбалеты, мечи, стрелы и многое другое.
Наряду с просмотром экспонатов можно прослушать увлекательный, интересный текст экскурсионного материала. В музее средневекового рыцарства вы сможете много узнать о жизни и быте рыцарей, о развитии рыцарской культуры в Белоруссии.
Особый интерес у посетителей вызывает зал, где представлены разнообразные инструменты для пыток, здесь, например, можно наблюдать скелет узника, закованный в кандалы.
Работники музея ведут активное участие в фестивалях, посвященных рыцарям, которые ежегодно проводятся в Полоцке. Кроме того, музей участвует в очень интересной международной акции, которая носит название «Ночь музеев». Это единственная ночь, когда можно пройти по старинным залам и насладиться средневековой атмосферой именно в темное время суток. Проводится подобная акция для привлечения молодежи к культурным ценностям страны.
Еще одна интересная особенность Полоцкого музея заключается в том, что все экспозиции составляли не профессиональные археологи и историки, а потомок княжеского рода Рюриковичей. Несмотря на это, интерес к музею средневекового рыцарства не угасает.
Polotsk Seige...
More cheap digi cam footage of Polotsk festival... Seige of the Palisade castle where flaming bales of hay are rolled at the besiegers, blunted combat arrows were fired at the knights and knights violently clashed...
Sadly this was after my HD camera battery died... and the year after the siege was not quite so impressive although by then my russian was much better.
oh and music some random Kevin MacLeod tunes tossed on for effect.
FESTIVAL OF MEDIEVAL CULTURE (ФЕСТИВАЛЬ СРЕДНЕВЕКОВОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ)
Festival of medieval culture Rubon in Polotsk. The real battle of medieval knights and staging. (Фестиваль средневековой культуры Рубон в Полоцке. Реальные битвы средневековых рыцарей и инсценировки.)
Polotsk Live-Steel Bridge Battle - the just don't stop hacking away at each other
Музей РЫЦАРСТВА (ПОЛОЦК)
Времена отважных рыцарей давно канули в лету и для многих это понятие отождествляется с историческими фильмами и хрониками, главными героями которых являются бравые рыцари. Беларуси не чужда любовь к рыцарям. В одном из самых древних городов Белоруссии Полоцке некий потомок знатного рода Рюриковичей задумал организовать музей. Да не просто, а музей средневекового рыцарства.
Сегодня музей Полоцка известен не только внутри страны, но и за ее пределами. Посетив музей средневекового рыцарства, вы окунетесь в атмосферу тех времен. Экскурсии здесь интересные, более того, дополненные анимацией. Не удивляйтесь, если вдруг перед вами окажется оживший князь Андрей Полоцкий (о нем подробно рассказывают на экскурсиях) или за спиной послышаться удары шпаг и предстанет настоящий рыцарь в доспехах, призывающей к сражению соперника.
Музей в Полоцке располагает тремя залами. Музейный интерьер выдержан в стиле средневекового замка. Вас ожидает знакомство с предметами быта того времени, а также предметами боевых действий: старинными арбалетами, копьями, стрелами и т.д.
У многих эпоха Средневековья, наверно, ассоциируется с пытками. И это факт, не подлежащий оспариванию. И, конечно, в музее средневекового рыцарства в Полоцке есть комната пыток. Это каменный застенок, где вы увидите орудия палачей и скелет, закованный в кандалы, как символ остановившегося времени. Прямо в этой комнате находится старинная икона — дар музею от жительницы Полоцка.
При музее есть сувенирная лавка, так что если, насмотревшись на эту средневековую красоту, вам захочется привезти кусочек достопримечательности Полоцка, то…нет, штукатурку с музея отдирать — плохая идея. А вот купить что-то в этой сувенирной лавке — можно и нужно.
Рубон
Немного не оперативно, но тем не менее... Слайд-шоу Фестиваля средневековой культуры Рубон 2010 Полоцк, Беларусь.
The festival of medieval culture in the
Polotsk, Belarus. Slideshow Rubon 2010.
Belarus | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:05:23 1 Etymology
00:10:47 2 History
00:10:56 2.1 Early history
00:12:10 2.2 Principality of Polotsk
00:12:46 2.3 Grand Duchy of Lithuania
00:14:57 2.4 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
00:17:22 2.5 Russian Empire
00:19:44 2.6 Belarusian People's Republic
00:20:43 2.7 Republic of Central Lithuania
00:22:21 2.8 Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
00:27:24 2.9 Independence
00:28:46 2.10 Post-independence
00:30:25 3 Geography and climate
00:34:07 4 Governance
00:37:30 4.1 Election controversies
00:39:51 4.2 Corruption
00:40:35 4.3 Human rights
00:42:38 4.4 Foreign relations
00:47:17 4.5 Military
00:49:15 4.6 Administrative divisions
00:51:10 4.7 Capital punishment
00:51:39 5 Economy
00:51:48 5.1 Industry
00:57:33 6 Demographics
00:58:47 6.1 Languages
01:01:44 6.2 Religion
01:02:28 7 Culture
01:04:37 7.1 Arts and literature
01:04:46 7.2 Dress
01:09:57 7.3 Cuisine
01:10:47 7.4 Sport
01:11:33 7.5 Telecommunications
01:14:17 7.6 World Heritage Sites
01:15:00 8 See also
01:15:27 9 References
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Speaking Rate: 0.7590457409848014
Voice name: en-GB-Wavenet-B
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Belarus (; Belarusian: Беларусь, IPA: [bʲɛlaˈrusʲ]), officially the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian: Рэспубліка Беларусь, Russian: Республика Беларусь), formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia (Russian: Белоруссия), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital and most populous city is Minsk. Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested. Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing. Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including the Principality of Polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire.
In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People's Republic, which was conquered by Soviet Russia. The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR). Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and were finalized after World War II. During WWII, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on 25 August 1991. Alexander Lukashenko has served as the country's first president since 1994. Belarus has been labeled Europe's last dictatorship by some Western journalists, on account of Lukashenko's self-described authoritarian style of government. Lukashenko continued a number of Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy. Elections under Lukashenko's rule have been widely criticized as unfair; and according to many countries and organizations, political opposition has been violently suppressed. Belarus is also the last country in Europe using the death penalty. Belarus's Democracy Index rating is the lowest in Europe, the country is labelled as no ...
Эпоха рыцарства
Фестиваль исторической реконструкции в Минске.
Сайт:
Principality of Polotsk | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:01:28 1 History
00:01:37 1.1 Origins
00:04:09 1.2 Striving for independence
00:07:02 1.3 Decline
00:09:19 2 Rulers of the Principality of Polotsk
00:09:30 3 See also
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Speaking Rate: 0.9560385745740967
Voice name: en-GB-Wavenet-C
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The Principality of Polotsk (Belarusian: По́лацкае кня́ства; Russian: По́лоцкое кня́жество), also known as the Kingdom of Polotsk or the Duchy of Polotsk, was a medieval principality of the Early East Slavs. The origin and date of state establishment is uncertain. The Russian chronicles mention Polotsk being conquered by Vladimir the Great, and thereafter it became associated with the Rurik dynasty and Kievan Rus'.
The Principality was supposedly established around the ancient town of Polotsk (modern Polatsk, Belarus) by the tribal union of Krivichs. In the second half of the 10th century, Polotsk was governed by its own dynasty; its first ruler mentioned in the chronicles was the semi-legendary Rogvolod (?–978), better known as the father of Rogneda. The Principality was heavily involved in several succession crises of the 11th–12th centuries and a war with the Land of Novgorod. By the 13th century it was integrated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
At the time of its greatest extent, the principality stretched over large parts of today's northern and central Belarus and a smaller part of today's southeastern Latvia, including (besides Polotsk itself) the following towns: Vitebsk, Drutsk, Minsk, Izjaslaw (now Zaslawye), Lahojsk, Barysaw, Brachyslaw (now Braslaw), Kukeinos (now Koknese) and others.
Lithuania | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:02:44 1 Etymology
00:04:35 2 History
00:04:44 2.1 Prehistory
00:06:40 2.2 Grand Duchy of Lithuania
00:13:13 2.3 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
00:17:31 2.4 Russian Empire
00:20:11 2.5 20th and 21st centuries
00:20:21 2.5.1 1918–1939
00:25:18 2.5.2 1939–1944
00:30:02 2.5.3 1944–1990
00:33:46 2.5.4 1990–present
00:36:48 3 Geography
00:38:57 3.1 Climate
00:41:24 3.2 Environment
00:43:30 3.3 Biodiversity
00:46:29 4 Politics
00:46:37 4.1 Government
00:48:47 4.2 Political parties and elections
00:52:09 4.3 Law and law enforcement
00:55:50 4.4 Administrative divisions
00:57:40 4.5 Foreign relations
01:02:10 4.6 Military
01:05:32 5 Economy
01:11:20 5.1 Companies
01:11:33 5.2 Agriculture
01:13:32 5.3 Science and technology
01:18:15 5.4 Tourism
01:20:00 6 Infrastructure
01:20:09 6.1 Communication
01:22:15 6.2 Transport
01:24:58 6.3 Water supply and sanitation
01:26:29 6.4 Energy
01:29:32 7 Demographics
01:31:30 7.1 Ethnic groups
01:34:02 7.2 Urbanization
01:35:01 7.3 Health
01:37:37 7.4 Religion
01:40:16 7.5 Education
01:44:07 8 Culture
01:44:15 8.1 Lithuanian language
01:46:29 8.2 Literature
01:50:14 8.3 Architecture
01:51:43 8.4 Arts and museums
01:53:42 8.5 Theatre
01:55:00 8.6 Cinema
01:56:43 8.7 Music
02:00:01 8.7.1 Rock and protest music
02:01:53 8.8 Cuisine
02:04:51 8.9 Media
02:06:46 8.10 Public holidays and festivals
02:07:59 8.11 Sports
02:10:34 9 International rankings
02:10:54 10 See also
02:11:11 11 Notes
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
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There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Lithuania ( (listen); Lithuanian: Lietuva [lʲɪɛtʊˈvɐ]), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Since its independence, Lithuania has been referred to as one of the Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.7 million people as of 2018, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.
For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the Kingdom of Lithuania, was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.
Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, eurozone, Schengen Agreement, NATO and OECD. It is also ...
Lithuania | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:03:29 1 Etymology
00:05:50 2 History
00:05:59 2.1 Prehistory
00:08:26 2.2 Grand Duchy of Lithuania
00:16:47 2.3 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
00:21:58 2.4 Russian Empire
00:25:21 2.5 20th and 21st centuries
00:25:32 2.5.1 1918–1939
00:31:50 2.5.2 1939–1944
00:37:52 2.5.3 1944–1990
00:42:37 2.5.4 1990–present
00:46:28 3 Geography
00:49:11 3.1 Climate
00:52:17 3.2 Environment
00:54:56 3.3 Biodiversity
00:58:40 4 Politics
00:58:49 4.1 Government
01:01:33 4.2 Political parties and elections
01:05:51 4.3 Law and law enforcement
01:10:31 4.4 Administrative divisions
01:12:50 4.5 Foreign relations
01:18:33 4.6 Military
01:22:47 5 Economy
01:30:12 5.1 Companies
01:30:26 5.2 Agriculture
01:32:56 5.3 Science and technology
01:38:57 5.4 Tourism
01:41:10 6 Infrastructure
01:41:19 6.1 Communication
01:44:00 6.2 Transport
01:47:25 6.3 Water supply and sanitation
01:49:20 6.4 Energy
01:53:11 7 Demographics
01:55:39 7.1 Ethnic groups
01:58:51 7.2 Urbanization
02:00:04 7.3 Health
02:03:23 7.4 Religion
02:06:46 7.5 Education
02:11:38 8 Culture
02:11:47 8.1 Lithuanian language
02:14:36 8.2 Literature
02:19:19 8.3 Architecture
02:21:10 8.4 Arts and museums
02:23:39 8.5 Theatre
02:25:15 8.6 Cinema
02:27:24 8.7 Music
02:31:34 8.7.1 Rock and protest music
02:33:55 8.8 Cuisine
02:37:44 8.9 Media
02:40:05 8.10 Public holidays and festivals
02:41:38 8.11 Sports
02:44:52 9 International rankings
02:45:16 10 See also
02:45:35 11 Notes
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
Other Wikipedia audio articles at:
Upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
Speaking Rate: 0.7972919104589201
Voice name: en-US-Wavenet-E
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Lithuania ( (listen); Lithuanian: Lietuva [lʲɪɛtʊˈvɐ]), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Since its independence, Lithuania has been referred to as one of the Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.7 million people as of 2018, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.
For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the Kingdom of Lithuania, was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.
Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Eu ...
Russia | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Russia
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
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Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through
audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio
while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using
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This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.
SUMMARY
=======
Russia (Russian: Росси́я, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə]), officially the Russian Federation (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə]), is a country in Eurasia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 144.5 million people as of 2018, excluding Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is the largest metropolitan area in Europe proper and one of the largest cities in the world; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, the medieval state of Rus arose in the 9th century. In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus' ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states; most of the Rus' lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion and became tributaries of the nomadic Golden Horde in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation, and exploration to become the Russian Empire, which was the third largest empire in history, stretching from Poland on the west to Alaska on the east.Following the Russian Revolution, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the largest and leading constituent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's first constitutionally socialist state. The Soviet Union played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II, and emerged as a recognized superpower and rival to the United States during the Cold War. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the world's first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the world's second largest economy, largest standing military in the world and the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, twelve independent republics emerged from the USSR: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Baltic states regained independence: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania; the Russian SFSR reconstituted itself as the Russian Federation and is recognized as the continuing legal personality and a successor of the Soviet Union. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic.
Russia's economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas globally. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has b ...
Lithuania | Wikipedia audio article
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Lithuania
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Lithuania ( (listen); Lithuanian: Lietuva [lʲɪɛtʊˈvɐ]), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika), is a country in the Baltic region of northern-eastern Europe. Since its independence, Lithuania has been referred to as one of the Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2017, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are a Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.
For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the Kingdom of Lithuania, was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.
Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, eurozone, Schengen Agreement, NATO and OECD. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank, and part of Nordic-Baltic cooperation of Northern European countries. The United Nations Human Development Index lists Lithuania as a very high human development country.
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida. The most prominent ruler of ancient Livonia was Caupo of Turaida.
During the Livonian Crusade, ancient Livonia was colonized by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, later called the Livonian Order, and the name Livonia came to designate a much broader territory: Terra Mariana on the eastern coasts of the Baltic Sea, in present-day Northern part of Latvia and Southern part of Estonia. Its frontiers were the Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Finland in the north-west, Lake Peipus and Russia to the east, and Lithuania to the south.
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