Kurà ¡ÃÂnai (; Samogitian: Korà ¡ienÃÂ) is a city in northwestern Lithuania, à  iauliai County, à  iauliai district municipality. It is the twenty-fifth largest city in Lithuania. According to the 2023 estimate, it had 10,651 residents.
The city's name was first documented in the 16th century. According to historian , its name is derived from the word kurà ¡is (Curonian). However, according to folk legend, the city didn't have a name for a long time. But, one summer day the river Venta flooded and washed all hay bales which were standing at the river banks. People started questioning each other: where is the hay? where is the hay? (âÂÂKur à ¡ienai? Kur à ¡ienai?âÂÂ). Since then, the city name stayed as Kurà ¡ÃÂnai. In other languages the town is referred to as: Kurshon; ; ; .
The town and its surroundings fall within the boundaries of the territory inhabited by the ancient Samogitian tribe. According to historian S. ZajanÃÂiovskis, Kurà ¡ÃÂnai was first mentioned in the 12th century. Since the 14th century, Kurà ¡ÃÂnai village and Kurà ¡ÃÂnai Manor was the personal property of the Lithuanian Grand Duke. A wooden church was built in 1523. From 1561-1563 Kurà ¡ÃÂnai was already referred to as a town. In 1564, King and Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus gave Kurà ¡ÃÂnai with 162 valakas of land, on the advice of the Samogitian Elder Jonas ChodkeviÃÂius, to the Despot-ZenaviÃÂiai family. Kurà ¡enai was later the property of Pac family and after them a property of Gruà ¾evskiai family, who ruled the town with the manor until World War II.
Under George Despot-ZeneviÃÂius, the Castellan of Polotsk, the town began to expand in the manor lands on the other side of the Venta River. In 1621, the estate was acquired by Steponas Pacas, the Grand Treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Great Scribe of Lithuania. In 1631, by a decree of the King Sigismund III Vasa, the manor of Kurà ¡ÃÂnai was given to George Gruà ¾evskis (1591-1651) as a perpetual right for his merits in the Livonian War.
At the end of the 18th century, Kurà ¡ÃÂnai were inherited by Stephen Gruzewski. Having brought in the artist J. Rilke with the apprentice team, he built a new (current) manor house and a chapel and renovated other buildings in 1811. The estate flourished still further under the rule of his younger son Edward who took it over in 1846.
Kurà ¡ÃÂnai Manor has the most valuable heritage of wooden manorial architecture in à  iauliai District. The original staircase, window frames, and wooden front doors have survived.
After the Third Partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the estate of Kurà ¡ÃÂnai was under Russian rule from 1795 to 1914, first in the Vilna Governorate and from 1843 in the Kovno Governorate. The town itself began to flourish after 1873 when a railway station of LibauâÂÂRomny Railway was built here. During the years of Lithuanian press ban, the banned press was spread by A. Kairys, P. Milaà ¡auskas, S. Rupà ¡ys and other book smugglers. In 1899, a secret Lithuanian language school by Eleonora Karaveckaitàwas opened. During Russian Revolution of 1905 strikes and demonstrations took place in Kurà ¡ÃÂnai and the local Russian administration was expelled.
During World War I the manor and the park were severely damaged by the occupying German army who stole the manor's valuables. In 1914 the town's Jewish population was expelled by the Russian army, who accused them of collaborating with the Germans. The fire of 1915 destroyed the peasant farms, barns, and sheds. The manor belonged to George Gruzewski at that time. Owing to advanced farming, the estate was flourishing during the interwar period. The manor was nationalized in 1940.
In 1939 there were around 900 Jews living in the town (out of the total population of around 3000). Their persecution began in July, 1941. Immediately following the arrival of the Nazis a Lithuanian squad was formed in Kurà ¡ÃÂnai. They arrested supporters of the Soviet regime and assigned the Jews to various forced labor tasks. When a ghetto was set up in Kurà ¡ÃÂnai by an order of Nazi authorities many Jews were housed in the two synagogues. At the end of July Nazis and a group of Lithuanian nationalists (white armbanders) together with police seized approximately 150 to 168 Jewish men and murdered them in a mass execution in a nearby forest, about three kilometers from the city.
After World War II, during the Soviet occupation, Lithuanian partisans of the KÃÂstutis military district, later the Voveràand Kunigaikà ¡tis à ½velgaitis detachments of PrisikÃÂlimas military district, were active in the area.
The town was home to the PavenÃÂiai Sugar Factory, the DaugÃÂliai Building Materials Company, and the Jiesia ceramics factory. Currently Agrokoncerno grupÃÂ agricultural company established a Grain Processing Plant in the territory of the former sugar factory.
24 October 1994. The coat of arms of Kurà ¡ÃÂnai was adopted by the Decree of the President of Lithuania. In 2014, the settlement of RinguvÃÂnai was incorporated into the town.
Since clay deposits that were ideal for making fine ceramics were discovered near Kurà ¡ÃÂnai, pottery has long been thriving in the city. In the last century, Kurà ¡ÃÂnai became famous for fairs abundant in earthenware. Kurà ¡ÃÂnai is called the âÂÂCapital of Pottersâ not only due to the abundance of such handicraftsmen in the city but also because the All-Time Potter's Crown has been solely won by the folk artists from Kurà ¡ÃÂnai such as J. Paulauskas, V. Damkus, B. Radeckas, and J. Vertelis. It clearly is no coincidence that a pitcher is one of the elements of the coat of arms of the city.
Kurà ¡ÃÂnà ³ vyniotinis, a type of sweet rolled pastry with cheese curd filling, was named after the city. The dessert was created by Eugenija Dragà «nienÃÂ, a gulag survivor who opened a local confectionery store after her release.