[2] Simnas started as a hunting hut for the Grand Duke of Lithuania in a strategic place where a river flows into a lake.

[3] In Lithuanian chronicle Simnas name first time mentioned in the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Jagiellon writings in 1494 as a manor with peasants.

Some local lore says that two giants - Simas and Sinas - lived around the place and after their death half the name of each was added together to create the current town name.

Which means that at that time Simnas had a mayor, town hall, court, judge, jail, shops, inns, mills, cobbled road and footpath and held annual fair and markets.

Place to bury deceased people around the church was overfilled, so local authorities in 1858 established a new cemetery in a former hunting manor estate where the town started.

In 1935 a nursing home for women was built, followed by a hospital which had a dentist and midwife; creamery in 1937; secondary school in 1939 and central sewage system laid across town.

In 1940 followed second Russian occupation; then German invasion for 4 years and finally in 1991 after regaining an Independence of Lithuania, Simnas gradually became a beautiful town.

[7] Since the beginning of settlement in the 14th century, the population increased steadily, despite wars and epidemics, and the number of inhabitants never decreased.

From the 18th century town population reached the peak of around 2000 people and remained until 2004, when Lithuania joined European Union.

After joining the European Union in 2004, around one third (30%) of townspeople emigrated for countries like: Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Scandinavia and USA.

Thunder occurs more frequently, up to 45 times a year, compared to the rest of the country due to a combination of sandy soil and woodlands in the southside of the town.

The company activities are: reclamation systems; hydrotechnical structures; landfill construction; engineering work; pond digging; plant hire; road, street and bridge building.

Sewing factory, the division of "Alytaus Dainava" (from 1979), which makes casual, classic wear and formal suits.

[10] "Simno komunalininkas" is a town management company, responsible for cold and hot water supply; heat delivery to houses in a winter time; operating a sewage system and water treatment plant; cleaning town streets and maintaining green spaces.

[12] During a short stint with secondary school, 1944 - 1949, worked Anzelmas Matutis, lithuanian language teacher, who later became a famous and renowned children poet.

[15] Since the beginning of the Lithuanian national revival in the end of the 19th century, gradually started to establish cultural organizations.

Newspapers reported about the situation in Lithuania, how soviet authorities supprest everyday life and about their crimes against humanity.

[25] Anzelmas Matutis (1923 - 1985), children poet, worked as a Lithuanian language teacher in Simnas secondary school.

According to some accounts, the church shape was designed under influence of Italian Renaissance architect Aristotele Fioravanti works in Moscow, Russia.

When Napoleon's army retreated back from an unsuccessful company in Russia in 1812, the church was converted to military hospital and devastated by soldiers.

During World War I, fighting in town limits happened 3 times, but cannons were unable to penetrate church walls.

He was a friend of famous German writer and poet Walter Flex and became the prototype of the main character of his novel "The Wanderer Between Two Worlds".

A craft fair and food festival is held in the town's central square, lasting all day and finishing with concerts at night.

[41] Since 2005, on the first weekend in June by Giluitis lake, an annual beach volleyball competition has been organized by the sport club "Ąžuolas".

[43] The decree of 1 July in 1639 allowed the Jewish people to enter and live in Simnas; to have property, land and business and be exempt from taxes.

It was told purposely, that Jews waiting for Antichrist arrival and they need to steal Catholic church ceremonial things for their rituals.

Ultimately, Lithuania was arguably the most generous country in Eastern Europe with respect to Jewish national autonomy in the early 1920s.

They held 89 shops out of 93, inns, hotels, pharmacies, breweries, distilleries, mills and small factories in and around Simnas.

10 September 1941, the rest of Jews were gathered in the ghetto, a former soviet army barracks outside cemetery, close to Simnas lake.

In 1965, a memorial was erected in a Jews massacre place in Pošnelė forest by local sculptor Vladas Krušna.