In the second half or at the end of the 15th century, outside the town boundary, a cemetery was established and St. Gertrude church was constructed on it. St. Gertrude is the patron saint of foreigners, the sick and the poor. The establishment of a cemetery here bears witness to the fast development of the town. The sand hill (the Tartar corner) near the church had no buildings, and from the 16th century industrial ceramics kilns were established here. The remains of industrial kilns also indicate the rapid development of the town: the village in this place near the River Nemunas spread rapidly from the 15th century. The burials in the St. Gertrude churchyard were conducted from the 15th century to the middle of the 17th century, which saw the damage of the church during the war of 1655–1661. In 1750, the St. Roch Order and monastery were established here and the friars ran hospitals for men and women. The research uncovered the foundation of the wooden monastery building.
Mindaugas Bertašius