KÃÂdainiai () is a city in Lithuania. It is located on the banks of the NevÃÂà ¾is river north of Kaunas, Lithuania's second largest city. One of the oldest settlements in the country, KÃÂdainiai was first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, and became a city in 1590. Its population was 23,051. The KÃÂdainiai Old Town dates to the 17th century and many of its historical buildings were preserved.
The town is the administrative centre of the KÃÂdainiai District Municipality. The geographical centre of Lithuania is in the nearby village of Ruoà ¡ÃÂiai in the eldership of Dotnuva.
Other smaller villages circle the territory in a distance of five miles or a little further from the â LanÃÂià «nava, , Labà «nava, Josvainiai, Dotnuva, and Kalnaberà ¾ÃÂ.
The city has been known by other names: Kiejdany in Polish, Keidan () in Yiddish, and Kedahnen in German. KÃÂdainiai other alternate forms include Kidan, Kaidan, Keidany, Keydan, Kiedamjzeÿ ("j" /e/), Kuidany, and Kidainiai.
The area was the site of several battles during "The Deluge", the 17th century war between the PolishâÂÂLithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. In 1655 a short-lived treaty with Sweden, the Union of KÃÂdainiai, was signed by two members of Radziwià Âà  family in their KÃÂdainiai castle. While little remains of the Radziwià Âà  castle, the crypt of the Calvinist church (1631) houses the family mausoleum, including the tombs of Krzysztof Radziwià Âà  and his son Janusz.
Scottish Protestants arrived in the late 16th and 17th centuries, encouraged by the conversion of Anna Radziwill; the community exerted considerable influence in the city and persisted until the mid-19th century. The grouping of the buildings around the town square still include the imposing homes of merchants known as the "Scottish Houses". These include; the George Anderson House, the John Arnot House, the George Bennet House, the James Gray House, the Steel Property, and the surviving basement of the Alexander Gordon house.
A local custom called on all visitors to bring a stone to be used in the town's construction.
The 1st Lithuanian National Cavalry Brigade was stationed in the town in 1790.
In 1940, the town was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union. During Operation Barbarossa, KÃÂdainiai was occupied by the German Army in the summer of 1941. On August 28, 1941, the entire Jewish community of KÃÂdainiai, a community which had inhabited the area for 500 years, were killed under the direction of German Special Police Battalions, with the aid of the local Lithuanian population. The Jewish population prior to the Holocaust was 3000.
During the Cold War, it was home to KÃÂdainiai air base, a major Soviet military airlift facility.
For many years, KÃÂdainiai was known for its chemical and food processing industries. The KÃÂdainiai chemical plant, Lifosa, began operations in January 1963. Publicized as a milestone in the industrialization of Lithuania, it emitted significant quantities of sulfuric acid and was the subject of ecological protests in the 1980s.
Following years of stagnation, old enterprises have come back to life in KÃÂdainiai since Lithuanian independence in 1990, and new ones have been established, contributing to the city's status as a regional economic stronghold.
KÃÂdainiai is accessed by Via Baltica highway from Kaunas and PanevÃÂà ¾ys, and by rail from Vilnius, KlaipÃÂda and à  iauliai. It is also served by Kaunas International Airport, the second largest airport in Lithuania, located in KarmÃÂlava.
The KÃÂdainiai Regional Museum, established in 1922, now operates four branches: a Multicultural Centre, the mausoleum of the Dukes Radziwill, the house of Juozas Paukà ¡telis, and the Museum of Wooden Sculptures of V.UleviÃÂius.
Since the city is known as the cucumber capital of Lithuania, it sponsors an annual cucumber festival.
In 2013, the band Bastille shot a music video for their single "Things We Lost in the Fire" in KÃÂdainiai.
A small Polish minority of 329 (0,61%) people live in KÃÂdainiai district municipality, but only 30 people participate in Stowarzyszenie Polaków Kiejdan (The KÃÂdainiai Polish Association), the elder people; their cultural activities involve public celebrations of Polish Day of Independence and Day of the Constitution of Third of May, as well as organizing a festival of Polish culture. Since 1994, the KÃÂdainiai Polish Language School operates here.
Basketball club BC NevÃÂà ¾is, which participate in Lithuanian basketball league. Football club FK NevÃÂà ¾is, named after the nearby river plays in second-tier league I Lyga. Other football teams include FK Lifosa and FK NevÃÂà ¾is-2, the reserve team of NevÃÂà ¾is.
KÃÂdainiai is twinned with: