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Meaning & History
Derived from Raigardo slėnis meaning "Raigardas Valley", which refers to a valley that is located near the spa town of Druskininkai in southern Lithuania. The name of the valley refers to the town of Raigardas that, according to pagan legend, once stood in the valley. It was said to be a prosperous town, the inhabitants of which one day provoked the wrath of the thunder god Perkūnas, who subsequently made the town sink and eventually swallowed up by the earth. The town derived its name from old Lithuanian raja meaning "swamp, marsh, quagmire" combined with old Lithuanian gardas meaning "town, city", which thus gives the name as a whole the meaning of "town by the swamp".