At the beginning of the 20th century, Marijampolė acquired some Lithuanian cultural and business organizations and a book publishing enterprise. The gymnasium at Kauno Street 5 became a hearth of Lithuanian activity at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century. Future national revival activists Jonas Basanavičius, Jonas Jablonskis, Kazys Grinius, Pranas Mašiotas, and others attended the gymnasium.

The Marian Monastery was also an important cultural and social center. At the beginning of the 19th century, the monks rebuilt the fire-damaged monastery and constructed the Church of St. Michael the Archangel. After the 1831 uprising, the authorities denied the Marians new members and took away their school.

The last priest

The last Lithuanian Marian priest, Vincentas Senkus, died in Marijampolė in 1911. But one of their school graduates, Jurgis Matulaitis from the nearby village of Lūginė,  joined the Order in secret and revived the work of the Marians outside the country.

They returned to Marijampole in 1917 and set up a high school, several trade schools, and a printing house. Renovation of the church took place and new monastery buildings emerged during the inter-war period.

In 1934 the remains of Jurgis Matulaitis returned from Kaunas and were officially re-interred in the church. The chapel on the right side of the church, dedicated to Matulaitis, has his old epitaph sculpture, new sarcophagus, and portrait.

The church and monastery have some valuable artworks from the latter half of the 18th century. These include portraits of the monastery founder Stanislovas Papčinskis and its benefactor Franciszka Buttlerowa, a painting of St. Anthony, and one with silver raiment of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus.

Rows of small crosses in the old cemetery mark the graves of soldiers from Marijampole, killed in the struggle for Independence. A statue of Marijona Šmulkštytė, a St. Casimir nun, remembers the death of local “ateitininkai” (members of a Catholic organization focused on the moral and patriotic upbringing of young people).

Also buried in the cemetery are the remains of the author Žemaitė, “aušrininkas” (member of a group of patriots and activists concentrated around the periodical Aušra) Petras Arminas – Trupinėlis, Suvalkija historian and priest Jonas Totoraitis, and Rimantas Juknevičius, killed on January 13, 1991. There is an interesting tombstone (1939) on the grave of Colonel Aleksandras Svylas.

Marijampolė played an important role in independent Lithuania. The Kazlų Rūda – Šeštokai railway line from 1923 connected Marijampole with Kaunas and Alytus. Its large ornate train station and new bus station in the center of town testified to the volume of travelers during that period.

In 1921 the nuns of the Congregation of Charity started an agriculture school in the wooden manor–house (P. Armino Street 92) of the former Kvietiškis estate, and in 1931 the Lithuanian Sugar Company built a factory (P. Armino St. 65) at the southern edge of the estate. The city had many other small enterprises, shops, a district hospital, and a theater.

 

Life changed during the Soviet occupation, driving out the Marian Fathers. They changed the name of the city in 1955 to Kapsukas in honor of Vincas Mickevičius – Kapsukas, the Bolshevik creator of Litbel (union of Lithuania – Belarus); after Independence Kapsukas regained its former name, and the Marian congregation its monastery and high school buildings on J. Bendoriaus Street.

Several buildings on Bažnyčios and Vytauto streets have architectural monument status: Bažnyčios St. 23 houses an exhibition dedicated to the history of the Vilkaviškis diocese and the life of Lithuanian president Kazys Grinius, and the former district municipal building at Vytauto St. 31 is now a regional museum.

There’s a monument to Jonas Jablonskis in a park near the high school, a chapel (1994) commemorating the Tauras district partisans on Tylioji St., and a cemetery dedicated to the victims of the Soviet terror in 1944 – 1952 on Varpo Street – on the site where the tortured people were buried, with poleshrines (1990) erected in their memory.

 

Marijampole is the seventh largest town in Lithuania according to size, the number of inhabitants is 48,700. The city has been the regional center since 1994. The city covers an area equal to 2,050.7 hectares. The Sesupe river divides the city into two parts connected by 6 bridges. The city is a connection point to Poland and has an international bus station and a train station.

Sister Cities of Marijampole:

• Bergisch Gladbach (Germany)
• Cherniachovsk (Russia)
• Kokkola (Finland)
• Kvam (Norway)
• Piotrkow (Poland)
• Rogozmo (Poland)
• Suwalki (Poland)
• Viborg (Denmark)

Marijampolė is an unlikely mecca of street art. The city is filled with vibrant murals, with more added every summer during the MaLonNy art symposium. The event, a mishmash of Marijampolė, London, and New York, attracts global street art stars to cover the city’s walls in colorful artwork.

As a result, there are a lot of impressive street art pieces across Marijampolė. Perhaps the best-known is the upsidedown Floating World by Ray Bartkus, the symposium’s conceiver.

Occupying the entire facade of a house overlooking the Šešupė River, the true image of the Floating World reflects the mural in the water.