Belazariškiai

Belazariškiai (Polish: Białozoryszki) is a village in the Ukmergė district municipality, Lithuania, on the River Neris. According to the 2001 census, its population was 58. Belazariškiai was located within the estate of the Polish noble family of Tekla Przecławska.

From 1923 to 1939 the village was located in the Wilno Voivodeship, north-east Second Polish Republic. After the Nazi German and Soviet invasions of Poland in September of 1939 the village was transferred to Lithuania according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty.

Didžiosios Kabiškės

Didžiosios Kabiškės (literally: Great Kabiškės) is a village in Vilnius district municipality, Lithuania. It is located about 24 km northeast of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. The nearest city is Nemenčinė. A smaller village, known as Mažosios Kabiškės (literally: Little Kabiškės), is located nearby. Didžiosios Kabiškės has a kindergarten (in both Lithuanian and Polish languages), a primary school (also bi-lingual), a postal office, and a library.

The village was chosen as the center for Zhdanov's kolkhoz (collective farm). It was built between 1975 and 1980 by "Neris", one of the biggest farming complexes in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. The complex exchanged stock-raising technologies with Frankfurt am Main, Germany. These developments spurred village's growth: in 1959 it had 51 residents, in 1970 – 84, in 1979 – 360, in 1985 – 488.[3] According to the census in 2001, it had 757 residents.

In 1990 Lithuania declared independence and state's support the kolkhoz discontinued.

Glitiškės

Glitiškės (Polish: Glinciszki) is village in Vilnius district, on the eastern bank of the Širvys Lake. The village is infamous for the massacre of few dozens of local Polish people by Lithuanian police in 1944.

Kaniūkai

Kaniūkai (Polish: Koniuchy) is a village in Šalčininkai district municipality of Lithuania. According to the 2001 census, its population was 167.

Before 1939 it was located in the Lida county of the Nowogródek Voivodeship, Second Polish Republic. It was briefly taken by the Soviet Union afterwards and was transferred to Lithuania according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty. The village became part of the Jašiūnai Municipality, Eišiškės County. Later it was briefly part of the German Reichskommissariat Ostland before returning to the Lithuanian SSR (since 1990, Lithuania).

During the World War II it was the site of a massacre of Polish civilians by the Soviet partisans (the Koniuchy massacre).

Kena

Kena is a village in Lithuania, Vilnius district municipality, Vilnius County, on border with Belarus.

Railway customs exists here, which is passed by all passenger trains from/to Belarus and Russia, also Russian trains to Kaliningrad Oblast which cross the territory of Lithuania.

Mateikonys

Mateikonys (Polish: Matejkany) is a village in the Šalčininkai district municipality, Lithuania near the border with Belarus. According to the 2001 census it had population of 177.

From 1923 to 1939 the village was located in Wilno Voivodeship, north-east Second Polish Republic. After the Nazi German and Soviet invasions of Poland in September of 1939 the village was transferred to Lithuania according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty.

During the Nazi occupation of Matejkany, one of its Polish defenders, Captain Stanisław Truszkowski adopted Estera Bielicka, a Jewish girl, passing her off as his own child. She was of the same age as his daughter and lived "in plain sight of all of the residents of this village. Not only did the villagers know about her, but she was also seen at church services in town and no one from among the parishioners betrayed her."

Medininkai

Medininkai (Polish: Miedniki Królewskie) is a village and commune in Lithuania, 26km from Vilnius and 2km from the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. According to 2001 census, the village had just more than 500 residents. The village is situated on the Medininkai highland, and the highest points, Juozapinė Hill and Aukštojas Hill, are just a couple kilometres away. The village is famous for the ruins of Medininkai Castle and for Soviet OMON attack on the border post in the early days of Lithuania's independence. On July 31, 1991 seven customs officers were shot and another one barely survived.

The commune has more than 1500 inhabitants, 85% Polish, 8% Belarusian, 3% Lithuanian and 3% Russian

Miežionys

Miežionys (Polish: Mieżańce) is a village in the Vilnius district municipality, Lithuania. According to the 2001 census, its population was 110.

From 1923 to 1939 the village was located in Wilno Voivodeship, in the north-eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. After the Nazi German and Soviet invasions of Poland in September of 1939 the village was transferred to Lithuania according to the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty.

During the Nazi occupation in World War II the village gave assistance to the Jews organised into food gathering groups sent from the Jewish ghetto in Raduń, including those who escaped the German massacre of May 10, 1942. Among them was Leon Kahn, who appeared with his father in Mieżańce (Mizhantz) while wandering around the area. The villagers took them in and gave them food and help. Sarah Fishkin of Rubieżewicze left a diary attesting to repeated acts of kindness by villagers in that area.

Nemėžis

Nemėžis is a village in the Vilnius district municipality, Lithuania. It is located south-east of Vilnius along a railroad.

History

It is believed that there was a castle in Nemėžis during the reign of Vytautas the Great (1392–1430). The settlement was first mentioned in written sources in 1496 when Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Jagiellon welcomed his future wife Helena of Moscow here.[1]

On 3 November 1656, the Truce of Vilna between Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was signed in the Nemėžis estate, then owned by Lew Sapieha.

Lipka Tatars

Nemėžis is one of several Lithuanian settlements where Lipka Tatars live. Brought as prisoners of war, Tatars were allowed to settle here in 1397 after Vytautas' expeditions against the Golden Horde (see the Battle of Blue Waters). Up until this day they have preserved their traditions and Islamic religion. At first Tatars served as personal guards for the Grand Duke of Lithuania, but later took up more civil professions: breeding horses, tanning, gardening. Eventually Tatars became known as excellent gardeners, growing eggplants, tomatoes, and other vegetables.[2] Even today Nemėžis is known for its numerous greenhouses.[2]

The first wooden mosque in Nemėžis was built in 1684. It burned down but a new one was built in 1909. During the Soviet times it was turned into a warehouse. After Lithuania declared independence, the mosque was returned to the community and it continues to be used for religious services. In 1993 it was restored. It is used for prayer only on Fridays, young moon. On that occasion a mullah comes from Vilnius. Nemėžis mosque is one of four operational mosques in Lithuania. Nemėžis also has an operational Tatar cemetery and a Tatar school.

Nemėžis estate

Nemėžis estate, located approximately 1 km outside the village, was established in the 16th century. At first it belonged to the Pac family, but changed hands frequently. Its owners at different times were Radvila family, Jan Kazimierz Sapieha, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Lew Sapieha, and Oginski family. Until the 19th century the manor was wooden. In 1828 the place was bought by Tyszkiewicz family and Michal Tyszkiewicz rebuilt the manor in bricks in 1836–1856. The park of the estate was destroyed while building a road, connecting Vilnius with Minsk.

Norviliškės

Norviliškės, is a small village in the so-called Dieveniškės appendix, Šalčininkai district municipality, Lithuania. It is located about 12 km northeast from Dieveniškės almost on the border with Belarus. In 1986 it had 58 residents [1], and 24 residents in 2001.

The Norviliškės Manor is first mentioned in 1586. In 1617 the owners devised part of the real estate land to Franciscans. Around 1745 they built a monastery and a church in Renaissance style. The monastery was reconstructed at the end of the 18th century by Kazimieras Kaminskis.[2]

For a long time the former manor stood abandoned. In 2005, reconstruction was started by an enterprenour Giedrius Klimkevičius from Vilnius. After reconstruction it offers hosting for business conferences or weddings, hunting, shooting practices, and other activities, also a great music festival is going to be held here.

In August 2007, the music festival Be2gether was held here.

Rykantai

Rykantai – is a village in Trakai district municipality, Lithuania, 7 kilometres north-west from Lentvaris . In the village is post station, railway station and Trinity church. North of village flows Neris River.

Rykantai are known as one of the first reformats settlement in Lithuania. Rykantai is mentioned in Lev Tolstoy novel War and Peace - it is the place, where General Balashov delivers Napoleon a letter from Tsar Alexander.

Senieji Trakai

Senieji Trakai (literally: "Old" Trakai) is a historic Lithuanian village located 3 km east of Trakai, with 1500 inhabitants. The village nowadays is inhabited by Lithuanians, Poles and Russians. The railway Vilnius-Warsaw passes through Senieji Trakai.

The central part of the village is proclaimed an architectural reserve. The main street is dominated by uniform wooden houses, facing it with two-windowed sides.

History

Grand Duke Gediminas innitialy transferred the capital of Lithuania from Kernavė to Trakai (today's Senieji Trakai) and erected his brick castle here before 1321 in an empty place. In 1337 it became a seat of newly established Duchy of Trakai. Gediminas' son Kęstutis erected a new castle in New Trakai (today's Trakai). Kęstutis' son Vytautas was born in Old Trakai in 1350.

The castle in Senieji Trakai was destroyed by Teutonic Order in 1391. The ruins of the castle were gifted to Benedictian monks by Vytautas in 1405. It is supposed that the present monastery building dating from the 15th century holds the remains of the Gediminas' castle.

The Trakai name, derived from Lithuanian: trakas - "the glade", suggests that the castle was built in a hollow area after deforestation.

Zalavas

Zalavas (Polish: Zułów) is a village in Lithuania, on the Mera river, close to Švenčionys. According to the 2001 census, it had approximately one hundred and seventy residents. It is the birthplace of Józef Piłsudski, Polish Chief of State and Marshal.

History

The village, earlier known under the name of Mieciany, was first mentioned in the late 17th century as the private property of Aleksander Wojna-Jasieniecki, a Castellan of Navahrudak. It then passed to the Giedraičiai princely family, and in the 18th century the village was bought by the Rurikid Ogiński family, one of the notable magnate clans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the early 19th century the village was inherited by the Michałowskis. As part of the dowry of Helena Michałowska, it passed to her husband, Antoni Billewicz, who then bequeathed it to their daughter, Maria Billewiczowna. In 1863, after marrying Józef Wincenty Piłsudski, the village became the property of the Piłsudski family. It was there that both their sons were born, Bronisław Piłsudski, on November 2, 1866, and Józef Piłsudski, on December 5, 1867.

In July 1874, the local manor burned down and the family moved to Vilnius. Soon afterwards the family was forced to sell most of their property in Lithuania including Zalavas and nineteen other villages, in order to pay for legal expenses and fines for Bronisław, who was involved in an assassination attempt on the life of tsar Alexander III of Russia. Aleksandr Ulyanov, an older brother of Lenin, was also impilcated in this plot and executed as a result. In 1882 the village was bought by Michał Ogiński, an heir to the Ogiński family who had owned it in the 18th century. However, as the policies of Russification of former lands in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forbade Poles to purchase any real estate, he was forced to sell it to a Russian merchant from Riga named Klim. The latter sold the village to a certain imperial officer named Kuronosov, who divided the property, sold most of the forests and was forced to abandon the area in 1915, during World War I. The Germans occupied the area later that year, and most of the remaining forests were cut down.

After the war, the area became part of Second Polish Republic. Since the property had belonged to a Russian official who abandoned it, it was nationalized, and limited to the core of 65 hectares, and attached to a military base located nearby. In 1934 an association of veterans of the Polish-Bolshevik War purchased it from the army and a committee was created whose aim was to rebuild the manor of Piłsudski, who in the meantime had become the national hero and de facto dictator of Poland. The manor was reconstructed, and officially opened to the public as a museum on October 10, 1937. However, it was destroyed by the Soviets shortly after the Invasion of Poland in 1939.

After the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 and of Lithuania in 1940 it became part of the Lithuanian SSR. Since 1991 it is part of Lithuania. Currently an oak and a memorial stone mark the spot.