Utena

Utena District is an area of heights, hills, thick woods and picturesque lakes situated in the North-western part of the Aukstaiciu Highlands of Baltijos group of hills, in the basin of the river Sventoji. Ethnographically it belongs to East Aukstaitija, administratively - to the Utena County. It is surrounded by six administrative areas, i.e. the districts of Rokiskis, Ignalina, Moletai, Anyksciai, Zarasai and Svencionys. The area of the Utena District is 1229 sq.km. It is smaller than the average area of the country's districts (by 2.1%) and covers 1.9% of Lithuania's territory.

Education institutions

There are 38 institutions of education in the town and district of Utena:

2 gymnasiums, 2 secondary schools, 14 basic schools, 1 junior school, 5 primary schools, 4 schools-kindergartens, 3 nurseries-kindergartens, 1 kindergarten-school for children, 5 institutions of additional education and 1 centre of social support and training of children.
The number of pupils attending the institutions of education amounts to 8355, including 6887 in urban areas and 1468 in rural areas. The number of pupils in pre-school institutions amounts to 1298, including 1189 in urban areas and 109 in rural areas. 1001 pedagogues work in the District: 622 senior teachers, 44 teachers, 114 specialists of methodology, 11 expert teachers.
74 headmasters direct the work of the institutions of education. 54 are of the first management category and 11 are of the second.

Utena history

Utena, one of the oldest cities in Lithuania, is related to the Narkunai castle-mound that is often mentioned in the chronicles of swordsmen. A letter of king Mindaugas in 1261, first mentioned a wooden castle by the Utenele river. According to the story, that castle was built by the Duke Utenis. Utena residents named the city's central square and a regional newspaper after this duke.
Utena was established along the Utenele river in the 14th century. By 1416 the first church had been built and merchants and tradesmen had settled here to live. During the crusades, Utena and its surroundings were terribly ravaged and in 1433 the castle of Utena was destroyed.
The Warsaw-St. Petersburg highway built in 1835 was of major importance to the town and a large post-office station established. In 1889 the narrow gauge railway Svencioneliai-Panevezys was built changing the face of the town. The town developed and grew very fast. Houses were built very close together and in 1879 there was a fire in which, ¾ of the town was burned.
Until the 1st world war, Utena was the regional center for northeastern Lithuania. In 1924, Utena was designated as a secondary town with its own Burgomaster.
Now Utena town is the the center of Utena district and Utena county. We have two lakes, Dauni%u0161kis and Vy%u017Euonaitis, and the streams of Utenele, Krasuona, Viesa, Rase wind their ways through our town.
The area of Utena region is 1229 sq. km, 368,7 sq. km of which, is covered by forest . The region is located mostly in the Aukstaiciu hills, the northwestern part of the region on the Auk%u0161tai%u010Di%u0173 plateau. The land of Utena attracts people by the natural beauty of its hills, hollows and forests and clarity of its lakes. There are 186 lakes of various sizes throughout the region including, the deepest in Lithuania, lake Tauragnas (60,5m), one of the longest in the country, lake Aisetas (16 km) and beautiful lake Alau%u0161as so loved by holidaymakers (10,73 km2 ).
It doesn't matter which route you take, whether from Vilnius, Kaunas or Kupi%u0161kis, the closer you come to Utena, the more the land seems to be moving with joy and the hills and fields rolling like waves. Each little hill gives way to another, the wetlands are full of flowers and birds and groves of of oak and birch trees whisper to one another in the breeze.