Built in 1443-1456 by the Livonian Order, on the confluence of the Musa and Memele rivers, to guard its southern borders and trade route to Lithuania.
During the Nordic War 2/3 of the town were destroyed, while the castle was blown-up by Czar Peter I in 1706. Hunger and plague further decimated the population in 1710.
1812 Napoleon went through the town on his way to Russia.
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