Rudamina is a small town in

Alytus County Alytus County ( lt, Alytaus apskritis) is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the southernmost county, and its capital is the city of Alytus. Its territory lies within the ethnographic region of Dzūkija. On 1 July 2010, the county admini ...

in southern

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. As of 2011 it had a population of 256. Rudamina

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

, one of the most prominent hill forts of ancient

Yotvingians Yotvingians (also called: Sudovians, Jatvians, or Jatvingians; Yotvingian: ''Jotvingai''; lt, Jotvingiai, ; lv, Jātvingi; pl, Jaćwingowie, be, Яцвягі, ger, Sudauer) were a Western Baltic people who were closely tied to the Old Prus ...

, is located about 1 km southwest of the town. Nearby

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

were dated to 3rd–4th century AD. The town traces its history to 1576 when Massalski family established an estate and began cutting down the forest. In 1592, the Massalkis built a Catholic church; the present-day church was built in the 1770s. The town received

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

in the early 17th century. However, Rudamina never grew larger as it was overshadowed by nearby

Lazdijai Lazdijai () is a small town in Lithuania located about east of the border with Poland. History It was established by Sigismund II Augustus in 1570 and granted Magdeburg Rights by Sigismund III Vasa in 1587. During World War II, Lazdijai was unde ...

and

Šeštokai Šeštokai is a small town in southern Lithuania. Infrastructure The town is a transport hub as it hosts Šeštokai Intermodal Terminal and has dual gauge track as well as break-of-gauge for the 1435 mm standard gauge and 1520 mm broad gauge. ...

with its train station. Its population was 269 in 1800, 256 in 1923, 329 in 1959, 367 in 1979.

References

Towns in Lithuania Towns in Alytus County {{AlytusCounty-geo-stub