Bazilionai is a small town in Šiauliai County in northern-central Lithuania. It is situated on the bank of the Dubysa River about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of the road connecting Šiauliai with Sovetsk (former trade route to Tilsit).[1] As of 2011, the estimated population was 390.[2]

Bazilionai
Town
Bazilionai town centre
Bazilionai town centre
Coat of arms of Bazilionai
Bazilionai is located in Lithuania
Bazilionai
Bazilionai
Location in Lithuania
Coordinates: 55°47′40″N 23°08′20″E / 55.79444°N 23.13889°E / 55.79444; 23.13889
Country Lithuania
Ethnographic regionSamogitia
CountyŠiauliai County
MunicipalityŠiauliai district municipality
EldershipBubiai eldership
Population
 (2011)
 • Total390
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

History

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In 1744, King Augustus III granted a privilege to organize regular fairs in the town.[3] Before monks of the Order of Saint Basil the Great arrived to the town in 1749, it was known as Padubysys (literally: near Dubysa).[1]

The Basilian Fathers established a parish school in 1773. After 20 years, the school had 192 students and was reorganized into six-year school.[3] The monastery and school was closed by the Tsarist authorities after the failed uprising in 1830.[3] The church was transformed into an Eastern Orthodox one. After Lithuania regained independence in 1919, the church was reformed back to a Catholic one.[3]

Before World War II, the Jewish community of the village had 130 members. All of them were murdered in a mass execution perpetrated by an einsatzgruppen of Germans and Lithuanian nationalists in 1941.[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ a b Semaška, Algimantas (2006). Kelionių vadovas po Lietuvą: 1000 lankytinų vietovių norintiems geriau pažinti gimtąjį kraštą (in Lithuanian) (4th ed.). Vilnius: Algimantas. p. 225. ISBN 9986-509-90-4.
  2. ^ "2011 census". Statistikos Departamentas (Lithuania). Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Kviklys, Bronius (1968). Mūsų Lietuva (in Lithuanian). Vol. IV. Boston: Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla. p. 480. OCLC 3303503.
  4. ^ "Yahad - in Unum".
  5. ^ "המכון הבין-לאומי לחקר השואה - יד ושם".
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