Utena, the present capital of the Aukštaitija ethnographic region, was first mentioned in written sources in 1261. In 1599, the town was granted a trade privilege. Utena started reviving in the 19th century when the Kaunas-Daugavpils highway and later a branch of the Panevėžys-Švenčionys narrow gauge railway were built.
Utena started developing at a rapid pace after Lithuania became an independent state in 1918. In several years, 400 houses were constructed, and around 30 km of streets were built. A marketplace housed 34 shops and 3 mills were in operation. The oldest building in Utena that has survived till the present is the Post-office Station in the Classicist style (1835). The Russian tsar Nicholas I with his son Alexander, the Russian painter Ilya Repin and the famous French writer Honore de Balzac visited the station and exchanged their horses here. The building of the post office houses an art school and a picture gallery.
Utena boasts the nice Ascension Church of the 19th century in the Neo-Baroque style, whose interior is decorated with valuable works by Italian school painters and local masters. Utena region had plenty of folk artists who would sculpt the crucifix. The Utena Local Lore Museum stores a rich collection of woodcarvers’ works, which have been collected since 1929. The oldest sculptures made by cross makers date back to the 17th and 19th centuries.
Utena is crossed by the rivulets of Utenėlė, Krašuona, Vieša, and Rašė, and adorned with two of the District’s 186 lakes, the tranquil Dauniškis and Vyžuonaitis. The Kloviniai Pond and the Hill of Wedding, where folk artists put up sculptures representing scenes from the old Lithuanian wedding ceremonies, attract crowds of holidaymakers. Utena County boasts Lithuania’s oldest Aukštaitija National Park, which is rich in lakes, forests, and ethnographic villages.
The Aukštaitija Culinary Heritage is a member of the European Culinary Heritage. Utena is also famous for its tasty beer.