Šeiminyškėliai Hillfort, one of the presumed sites of Voruta
may have been the
capital city of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the
Kingdom of Lithuania during the reign of king
Mindaugas in the 13th century. The exact location of Voruta is unknown and there are many contradictory theories about it. Despite all the uncertainties, the concept of Voruta is well-known and popular in the Lithuanian imagination.
Mindaugas, the first and the only crowned
Lithuanian king, defended himself in Voruta during an internal war against his nephews
Tautvilas and
Edivydas and Duke of
Samogitia Vykintas in 1251. This information, taken from the
Hypatian Chronicle, is the only recorded message about Voruta. Mindaugas' castle is mentioned in two more written sources, but neither its name nor location is specified. It is also unclear whether they refer to the same castle or to different locations.
Nevertheless, some historians in 19th and 20th centuries called it "the first capital of Lithuania" and attempted to identify its location. Most argued that Voruta is the current capital of Lithuania
Vilnius or the medieval capital at
Kernavė. Modern Lithuanian historian
Tomas Baranauskas believes that it is Šeimyniškėliai (literally, a diminutive plural form of
šeiminykštis, meaning
war prisoners turned into family
servants) Hillfort near
Anykščiai, the biggest in the Eastern Lithuania. In total there were about fourteen suggested locations of Voruta. Others argue that Voruta was not an actual city, but just a misinterpretation of a word that means
capital. In opinion of
Kazimieras Būga, one of the prominent Lithuanian
philologists, the word
voruta simply means
castle.
List of suggested locations
These sites were suggested by various historians in various times:
- Šeimyniškėliai in Anykščiai district by Eduards Volters
Since publication, some of the theories have been largely discredited.
