Sarapinai 1912

Царицыно / Tsaritsyno cancel and Ковна arrival cancel

This is an Imperial Russian postal stationery sent in 1912 from Царицыно / Tsaritsyno (now Sarapinai, Lithuania), Ков (Kovna gubernia) to Ковна (now Kaunas, Lithuania), the capital of the gubernia. The name Царицыно / Tsaritsyno comes clearly from the term "Tsar", it is said that a Russian Tsar has stopped to have a rest during a trip to Germany because the village is conveniently located at the middle of the old road linking Kaunas to Kudirkos Naumiestis which was the major gateway to Eastern Prussia. Today the village is called Sarapinai, belongs to Marijampolės apskritis / Marijampolė County and counts only 33 inhabitants according to the 2001 census but back in the prewar period, there was a much larger Jewish and Polish population living there.