On State Day, Lithuania will honor its only king
The formation of the Lithuanian state in the 13th century is associated with the name of Mindaugas. This ruler built Lithuania’s political, economic and cultural ties to modern Europe. According to historians, he was the first and only king of Lithuania, a personality who surpassed his era in terms of political strategy, mentality and spiritual strength. In the source, he is called Mindaugus the Wise, because he changed the policy of rules of conduct, which destroyed the plans of the Teutonic Order.
a significant step in the politics of Mindaugas was the adoption of the Christian faith in 1251. The papal bull published on July 17 of that year recognized the Kingdom of Lithuania and ordered the crowning of Mindaugas.
King Mindaugas and Duchess Marta were crowned on July 6, 1253. The Pope of Rome, who gave the king’s crown to Mindaugas, also founded the first diocese of Lithuania.
The opportunities of the young state to integrate into the Christian European culture in the Middle Ages, along with the development of the Baltic culture, were interrupted by the murder of King Mindaugas and his sons, the heirs to the throne, in 1263.
The day of Mindaugas’ coronation, as the European recognition of the Lithuanian state, was already celebrated in independent interwar Lithuania. After the restoration of independence, the 6th of July was declared a national holiday in 1990 and celebrated for the first time on the 6th of July 1991.
In 2003, commemorating the 750th anniversary of the coronation, a monument to King Mindaugas was unveiled in Vilnius.
This year, in commemoration of the State, the day of the coronation of Lithuanian King Mindaugas and the National Anthem, about events that remind us of the origins of our state, its history.
On the morning of July 6, state awards will be presented at the Presidential Palace.
At noon in the Simon Daukantas Square of the capital – State flag raising ceremony. Speech of the President Gitanas Nausėda.
At the same time, the flag of the Vytis Cross Order will be raised in the garden of the Vytautas Great War Museum in Kaunas.
An hour later – St. Mass in Vilnius Archcathedral Basilica.
Later – discussion “What is Ukraine?” in the Park of the Presidential Palace.
In the evening – the exhibition “Return: the disappeared 1918-1940 “International Agreements of the Republic of Lithuania” opening at the Palace of the Rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
8:00 p.m. The festive event “National Anthem Around the World 2022” will begin in Alytus, the cultural capital of Lithuania.
As 9 p.m. approaches, President Gitanas Nausėda will invite Lithuania and the whole world to sing the National Anthem.
The program of festive events will conclude with Amilcare Ponchielli’s opera “Lietuviai” in the Grand Courtyard of the Palace of the Lords.
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