Klaipėdos universitetas

The article discusses the question of whether everyday life in an ordinary small Lithuanian town is indeed inactive, stagnant, empty and immobile. Mobility in everyday life is analysed through the habits of locals in the town of Josvainiai, and relations with the nearest cities and relatives living abroad. In analysing mobility, the main focus is on areas of everyday life such as work, consumption, communication and leisure. The article analyses data from a field study carried out in Josvainiai from July 2019 to January 2020.

The aim of this article is to compare the leisure time of friends in different parts of the Vilnius area: a village, a town and the city. The study is based to a great extent on fieldwork, using the opportunities of semi-structured interviews. Comparing longer-term, travel-related forms of leisure, there are greater opportunities for such friends’ leisure time in the big town or city. Meanwhile, based on an analysis of short-term forms of friends’ leisure time, the article concludes that both in Soviet times and in recent years, there is no great difference between common leisure in different types of settlements. This is due to the short distance to Vilnius, the big city, of the areas studied. On the other hand, the leisure and entertainment infrastructure was created for tourism. These differences are further reduced by an increasing amount of free time being spent in cyberspace.

Favourable conditions for the development of towns in northern central Lithuania occurred only as late as the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, some settlements developed into small towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was at this time that a mixed urbanistic system with a radial street network and a rectangular market square formed. The absolute majority of 16th to 18th-century buildings in the towns of the Šiauliai Crown Estate, just as in most of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were built of timber. Only from the early 17th century did the construction begin of brick buildings intended for religious or public purposes (such as the town hall in Joniškis). A more distinct separation between the development of towns can be made on the basis of the specific features of finds. These are finds related to trade, handicrafts and business: coins and hoards of coins, certain types of pottery, tiles, and work tools related to specific handicrafts, products and materials.