Kėdainiai and its history
Czeslaw Milosz writes in "Family Europe" that its surroundings have never produced any figure who would make an impact on the fate of the world, and have not been famous for any discovery, but its history is nevertheless interesting.

Kėdainiai had its heyday in the 17th century thanks to the Radziwills, who built a Lutheran church in the town and published Protestant books, but the town's history began much earlier. They appear in written sources as early as the 14th century in the Teutonic chronicle of Hermann von Wartberge. The Kėdainiai estate was given to the Radziwills by Casimir Jagiellon in the mid-15th century. A trade route from Vilnius to Rosen and from Kaunas and Riga to Šiauliai ran through the town. In 1590, the town was granted Magdeburg Law, and ten years earlier, by a resolution of the Sejm, a so-called water port on the Nemėžis River was established. This happened when the town was owned by the Kishkos. In 1614. Kėdainiai once again passed into the hands of the Radziwills (Krzysztof Radziwill married Anna Kiszczanka) and enjoyed economic and cultural development, facilitated by a climate of religious tolerance. At that time, an Evangelical-Reformed church was built, streets were paved, a bridge across the Nezvėžis River was built under Boguslav Radzivill, and an Orthodox church was erected. The Radziwills brought in dissenters - craftsmen from Germany, Denmark and Scotland. The 18th century brought fires, wars and disease, and in the next century the town fell into the hands of the Czapski family, who lost it in repression after the January Uprising. The next development of the town came at the beginning of the 1870s, when the railway was built here. By then, half of the inhabitants were Jews.

The town is not directly connected with the life of the young Miłosz, but he was nevertheless born in the local district and frequented the town on the Niewiaż river. When little Czesław looked at the local fairs and feast days as a child, he could not have imagined that several decades later he would receive honorary citizenship of Kiejdańsk.

St. George Gothic Church
The Church of St. George is the first church built in Kėdainiai. At the beginning of the 17th century, the church was taken away from Catholics, and the owner of Kėdainiai, Anna Radvilaitė, brought in an Evangelical pastor, and Evangelical-Reformed services were held here until 1627. Paintings and altars were removed from the church, and a bell tower was added. The church was consecrated in 1662. The building was rebuilt in 1758: the building was lowered, the side aisles were covered with vaults. The church, in unknown circumstances, was burnt down in 1782. The local vicarage was built in 1832. The church was renovated twice in 1839 and 1928.

. The future leader of the January Uprising in Samogitia, General Zygmunt Józef Sierakowski, was married in St George's Church on 30 July 1862. In his Memoirs, Jakub Gieysztor wrote that a servant of the Syruci family named Leopold urged Sierakowski to flee. The insurgent was captured by the Russians and executed at Vilnius Łukiszki on 15 June 1863.

There are many valuable works of art inside; its interior is decorated with altars from the late Baroque period. In the main altar there is an image of the Holy Trinity painted by an unknown author (1893), in the niches there are sculptures of St Peter and St Paul (17th century). In the side altar is a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary. Two Baroque statues of St Casimir and St Stanislaus Kostka were brought to this church from Opitolok. The organ was built by an unknown author after 1782 and restored in 1882. In 1978, it was once again restored in the organ workshop of Vilnius. On 29 September 2019, Bishop Jonas Ivanauskas handed over to the church the relics of Blessed Teofilius Matulionis, which were placed in the altar of Jesus Crucified.

In 2015, a new bell, weighing about 500 kg, was consecrated, which was cast in Poland, at the Kruszewski brothers' workshop, decorated with the image of St George and with the words engraved: "Gyvuosius šaukiu, mirusius apverkiu, žaibus tramdau" ("I call the living, I mourn the dead, I tame the lightning"). According to old tradition, the heart of the bell was moved to ward off all evil, including thunderstorms and lightning.

It is a Gothic basilica on a rectangular plan with a high roof and a polygonal apse. The bell tower, which is lower than the nave, is located at the front.

During a dendrochronological study in 2018, old oak beams removed during previous repairs and left in the belfry were examined. They dated to 1526, and the tree was felled between 1526 and 1527, so the timber was used to build the church while it was still owned by Catholics. The oak structures for holding the bells are dated 1792, and they were probably installed in 1793, so already after the church was rebuilt in 1758. In 2024, radiators were installed in the interior, which was financed by the Kiejdan district.

Czesław Miłosz recalled that, as a child, he liked to look from the upper windows of the entourage in nearby Šetejně at the distant towers of the Kėdainiai parish church.

Tables
Noteworthy are the gravestones embedded in the outer walls of the Kėdainiai temple and the grave of one of the local clergymen set up against the wall of the temple:

. D. O. M.
JM JOZEF GINTOWT
JUDGE OF THE GUBER- LAST BORDER IN 1847.
SEPTEMBER 21 D. ASKS THE PASSERS-BY
THREE HAIL MARIA DISTRESSED
GRIEVING WIFE WITH SON TADEUSZ
AND DAUGHTER JOSEPH THIS IS OFFICIAL
STONE LAID

D. O. M.
Here lie the remains
late
Wilgiejer of Koplańskie Chruszewska
Secretary of the Border Court of Kaunas Gubernia
deceased 1846
27 years of age

KS. JAN BUTERLEWICZ
A PRIEST BY VOCATION
FOR DEFENDING RELIGION
FORMER EXILE
AFTER 70 L. OF LIFE
DIED 22 APRIL 1906
HONOUR TO HIS MEMORY

THE LATE
KRYSTYNA
OF NARAMOWSKI
SREBEJKO
ZM. 13 MARCH1856
PEACE TO HIS SOUL

KUNIGAS
KAZIMIERAS PRONCKIETIS
1867-1955

Here rests
X. Jerzy
Olszewski
Olszewski Jerzy
Pleban
Kiejdanski

D. O. M.
†
HERE LIES THE CORPSE
S. P.
PRIEST ADAMA
BRAZEWICZ
DIED. D. 1881

Inscription on the tombstone:

HERE
THE CORPSE OF
IS BURIED PRIEST MICHAL
BURIED
Died. 14. March 1920
aged l. 41

In the church there was also an epitaph from 1667 of the Kaunas County judge Stefan Medekša and members of his family:

AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM
GREAT. IMP STEPHAN FR. MEDEKSZA
JUDGE OF KOVNO GIVING
TO THIS CHURCH TRAWL. 7. THAT WAS
OBLIGE. THAT FOR EACH YEAR OF THE LIFE OF THE MASS
SS. 15 AND AFTER LIFE FOR THE SOULS OF
ITSELF PARENT OF SAINT SZCZESNY SZEDZIEWICZOWNY
THE SPOUSE OF THE FIRST HELZBIETA GLINCZYNA
SECOND KATARZYNA ANY WORLOWSKIEY
THIRD ZOPHY CESAROWNA PODLODOWSKAY
NATIVE IMP ANDRZEJA PODCZASZEGO
ZMUDZKI Y RELATIVES EVERY MONTH
ON SATURDAYS AFTER STEY A MASS AND MASSES PECULIARLY BETWEEN
OCTAVES OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF US. PANY
S. S. VACCINE AND S. FRANCISCA IN PERPETUUM
CELEBRATED UNDER THE FUNDS ANNO 1667

Jurginės
Saint George is recognised in Lithuania as the patron saint of farmers and livestock. Every year in Kėdainiai, around April 23 (George's name day), residents celebrate Jurginės, which is, in a way, the beginning of the year for farmers - work in the fields begins. It is a big celebration in the parish, which is attended not only by the residents of the town, but also by those from the surrounding villages and supporters of the parish. During the mass, prayers are said for a good and fruitful year, and bread, cereals and even daisies are offered. Traditionally, there is also a procession around the church, and after the celebrations, the faithful gather in the local cemetery. A folk festival is organised next to the church, where people can buy handicrafts or homemade food products.