KAUNAS (KOWN), DIOCESE of. - City and diocese in Lithuania on the right bank of the Niemen River. At present, no statistical data are available. King Jagellone of Poland (1386–1434) founded the diocese of Samogizia, with its seat at Miedniki; the foundation was confirmed in 1416 by the Council of Constance; the Cathedral, erected in 1417, was dedicated to the Roman martyrs SS. Alessandro, Evenzio, and Teodulo.
The first bishop was a Matthias, succeeded by a Nicola in 1421. After the Protestant Reformation, Melchiorre I (1574–1609) re-established the see, which had remained vacant and was subsequently suppressed in 1798. It was re-established in 1849 as a suffragan of Mohilew. Pope Pio XI, by the apostolic constitution Lituanorum gente of 4 Apr. 1926, erected K. as a metropolitan see of the Lithuanian Republic and gave a new organization to the dioceses of that nation, raising the church of SS. Pietro e Paolo in K. to the status of a metropolitan basilica, with the dioceses of Kaisédozys, Panevezys, Telsiai, Vilkaviski, and the nullus prelature of Klaipeda as suffragans.