Elektrėnai


Elektrėnai is a city of about 14,000 inhabitants in Lithuania; since 2000 it has been the capital of the Elektrėnai Municipality. It is situated between the two largest cities in Lithuania – Vilnius and Kaunas.

History

Elektrėnai is one of the newest towns of Lithuania, having been established during the Soviet times as the living space for workers of the nearby power plant. The name of the new town was derived from word "elektrinė". Most of the buildings in Elektrėnai are large monolith housing projects built during the Soviet times and there are no historical buildings. The town, however, is close to Elektrėnai Reservoir, an artificial lake that was created in order to cool down the Elektrėnai Power Plant. The water is several degrees warmer than water at the other nearby lakes.

Retail

There are several supermarkets in Elektrėnai.

Ice hockey

Elektrėnai is well known for its ice hockey tradition. For a rather long period of time Elektrėnai was the only city in Lithuania with a well-equipped skating rink. Two National Hockey League players – Darius Kasparaitis and Dainius Zubrus – were born in the town and trained by Aleksey Nikiforov, a famous coach who currently resides in Long Island. Its local ice hockey team, Energija, play in the Vysshaya Liga, the second-highest league in Belarus. Inhabitants of Elektrėnai make up a considerable part of the national ice hockey team.

Gallery