Papilė

Papilė lies on the Venta River, beneath two old hillforts that recall the defence of this part of Samogitia. The settlement was mentioned in 1339, when the Livonian Order raided the area. It later belonged to the bishops of Samogitia, and its first church was built in 1493. A market was established in 1703, adding a regular place of exchange to the little town beside the river. The hillforts and the church together mark the long passage from the frontier wars of the Baltic to the parish life of Lithuania.