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Destination directory · Lithuania

קאוונע

Kaunas

Visitor experience

Practical notes from visitors — access, directions, and the condition of the site.

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קאָװנע — אוהל ר׳ יצחק אלחנן

Kovno — Žaliakalnis bais hachaim, kever of Reb Yitzchok Elchonon

Old Jewish cemetery, Žaliakalnis, beside the Ąžuolynas park (Radvilėnai plentas side), Kaunas, Lithuania — no house number is published here; confirm the entrance on the ground

  • Kovno had several batei hachaim and they are not interchangeable. Reb Yitzchok Elchonon is in the old cemetery in Žaliakalnis, by the Ąžuolynas park — not in Aleksotas, which is the one cemetery in the city still used for burials and the one most directions online point at. Going to the wrong one is the commonest mistake here.
  • The Žaliakalnis ground is neglected and overgrown, and has been for years. The city signed an agreement with Maceva, the group that documents Lithuania's Jewish cemeteries, to look after and restore it, and students have worked on clearing it — but do not expect a tended cemetery with signed paths.
  • There is a mass grave of kedoshim here with its own memorial. Take care where you walk.
  • We are not publishing an opening time or a gate contact, because we could not stand behind either. Ask the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius or a local guide before you set out, especially if you want somebody to help you find the kever among the fallen stones.
  • KOVNO HAS FOUR SURVEYED JEWISH CEMETERIES AND THIS LISTING WILL NOT CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM. They are the city ground at 54.907826, 23.945537, Slabodka at 54.911157, 23.872192, Aleksotas at 54.88629, 23.90616 and Panemune at 54.85819, 23.94874. ESJF surveyed each of them, and no source found says which one holds the kever this page is about. No single map point is published; ask locally, and take the coordinates with you.
Navigate to this beis hachaim

At the kever

Who is buried here.

רבי יצחק אלחנן ספּעקטאָר מקאָװנע

Rabbi Yitzchok Elchonon Spektor of Kovno

Reb Yitzchok Elchonon — the poseik the Jewish world wrote to

באר יצחק · עין יצחק · נחל יצחק

Rov of Kovno from 1864 until his petirah on 6 March 1896, and in his lifetime the address for the hardest shailos in Europe and beyond — agunos above all. Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary carries his name.

Getting there

The nearest airports, and the drive at the end of each.

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Nearby

What else is within reach.

4 km · Lithuania

Slabodka — the Jewish cemetery

44 km · Lithuania

Keidan — the Jewish cemeteries

55 km · Lithuania

Alytus — the Jewish cemeteries

74 km · Lithuania

Raseiniai — the site of the Jewish cemetery

Browse every kever on the site →

Questions

What people ask before they go.

Where is the beis hachaim in Kaunas?

Kovno — Žaliakalnis bais hachaim, kever of Reb Yitzchok Elchonon — Old Jewish cemetery, Žaliakalnis, beside the Ąžuolynas park (Radvilėnai plentas side), Kaunas, Lithuania — no house number is published here; confirm the entrance on the ground. Kaunas is also searched as Kovno.

Who is buried in Kaunas?

The listing for this beis hachaim records Rabbi Yitzchok Elchonon Spektor of Kovno.

Which airport is closest to Kaunas?

Kaunas International (KUN), about 12 km · 8 mi away in a straight line. The other airports within reach are Vilnius International (VNO) and Minsk National (MSQ). There is no direct flight to the town itself, so the last leg is by road whichever airport you use.