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Kursenai (Siauliai, Lithuania)

by Audrius Slapsinskas, 24 June 2003

Overview
Coat of Arms

See also:

Overview

The flag and coat of arms of Kursenai were drawn according to pictures, which was taken from booklet: DISTRICT OF SIAULIAI AND ITS CONTEMPORARY HERALDRY [lal02].
Here is information from this book:
"Kursenai - The town of Kursenai is first mentioned in historical sources in the 16 th century. In greater details it was described by S. Zajanczkowski, Polish historian, in the 18 th century in his writing about Zemaitija (Samogitia). According to the folk etymology the name Kursenai came from the word "kursis", which means that the settlement was populated by the Latvians. However, the legend has it that the flood of the river Venta carried away hay cocks and in the morning the local people asked each other "Kur sienai?" (Where is hay ?).
In 1523 the first wooden church was built in Kursenai. A new one built in 1824 was destroyed during WWI. The present church was built in 1927-1933 under the design by architect S. Gumeniuk.
At the end of the 18th century Kursenai was a trade town and suffered during the Uprising of 1831. Its growth at the end of the 19th century is linked with the construction of the railway Liepoja-Romnai line. In 1897 the number of the population reached 3,189. The development of the town is also linked with the estate of len type, the only one of such type in Lithuania, which prospered in the middle of the 19th century. In 1631 Jurgis Gruzevskis was granted the rights of len (ownership) to the estate by King Sigismundus Vasa. Its area remained u