Marijampolė is a city in Lithuania that was originally founded as a village called Pašešupė in 1667. In the 18th century, it grew into a market town called Staropolė or Staropole. After a fire in 1768 destroyed much of the town, it was rebuilt and renamed Marijampolė after the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the 19th century, the town continued growing due to Jewish and German settlers and became an important center of Lithuanian national revival during Lithuanian suppression by the Russian Empire. Currently, Marijampolė has a population that is over 95% Lithuanian.