[3] Town established in the 14th century, on the bank of the Varnelė River, near an important Samogitian castle.

In 1320, it was the site of the Battle of Medininkai, in which the Samogitians defeated the invading Teutonic Knights.

[5] In 1413, the Supreme Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło) and Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great ordered the demolition of the pagan temple and Christianized the population.

[6] Varniai was the center of the Diocese of Samogitia until the middle of the 19th century when after the January Uprising in 1863 the Tsarist authorities of the Russian Empire moved it to Kaunas.

[7] With support of Merkelis Giedraitis, Mikalojus Daukša translated and made ready for publication Katechizmas, the first Lithuanian language book printed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.