Marijampolė
Marijampolė is the capital of Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis.
The city's population stood at approximately 48,700 in 2003. Marijampolė is the seventh-largest city in Lithuania and the sixteenth-largest city in the Baltic States. It is the cultural centre and largest settlement of the historical region of Suvalkija (Sudovia).
Getting to Marijampolė
The nearest airport is Kaunas (KUN IATA), with budget flights from across Europe. One train per day runs from Kraków (dep 0420) via Warsaw (0725), Białystok (1030) and Mockava where you change trains and time zones at the border, arriving at Marijampolė at 1540 and continuing to Kaunas and Vilnius. Reservations essential, it often sells out.
- 01Marijampolė railway station is 500 m east
Some continue southwest to Vištytis, Vilkaviškis, Kybartai, Druskininkai or Kalvarija.
Worth seeing
- 01Šv Arkangelo Mykolo
The principal Roman Catholic church in town.
- 02Muziejus Bulotų
Bulota was a lawyer and lived in this traditional timber villa with his family in genteel comfort.
- 03Popiežiaus Jono Pauliaus II
This is a modern chapel, but oak-built in traditional Baltic style.
Things to do
Poetry Park is a green space with sculptures on the riverbank west of Mercure Hotel. Football: FK Sūduva play soccer in A Lyga, the top tier. Their home ground Marijampolė Arena (capacity 6250) is 2 km north of town centre. The playing season is March-Nov.
Where to eat
Namų Restoranas, Gedimino g 7,. Mon Tue 11:00-16:00, Wed-Sat 11:30-23:00, Sun 11:00-20:00. Bright place with a good menu selection, dog friendly. Senamieščio Legenda is round the corner from Namų at Gedimino g 6. It's open daily 10:00-22:00. Hesburger is a Lithuanian fast food chain, with an outlet at Gedimino g 18 open M-Th 09:00-22:00, F Sa 09:00-23:00, Su 10:00-22:00.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: CD (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.