Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
, located in
Vilnius District Municipality
Vilnius District Municipality () is one of the 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It surrounds the capital city of Vilnius on three sides. The municipality is also bordered by Trakai District Municipality, Trakai district and Elektr ...
, east of
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
.
Etymology
The name is of
Slavic
Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to:
Peoples
* Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia
** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples
** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples
** West Slav ...
origin, from
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
''бездонный'' (''"bottomless"''). According to linguists, the name comes from a local hydronym ''Bedugnaitė'' and the village name written in a 15th-century
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
Neris River
The river Neris () or Vilija (, ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius (Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the Nemunas (Neman) from the right bank, at Kaunas, as its ma ...
in the west. Rolling hills and flatlands dominate the landscape. Most of the area is covered by the Lavoriškės-Nemenčinė forest. The largest river is Bezdonė.
History
Bezdonys are known historically since the 15th century, when
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
chronicler
Jan Długosz
Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...
noted that in 1415, Grand Duke Jogaila hunted in forests near Bezdonys. In 1516, a manor was built there, first owned by the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, and later the Educational Commission.
In the 16th century,
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV of P ...
established the
Arvydai-Bezdonys Manor
Bezdonys Manor is a former residential manor near Bezdonys, Vilnius district in Lithuania.
In 1862, a railway line running from
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
was built near the village of Bezdonys and a railway station was established there, and the village started to grow. By the end of 19th century, two factories were already operating in the area.
In 1937, a construction of a church in Bezdonys was completed.
In 1943, a
Nazi concentration camp
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe.
The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
was established in a forest in the area.
The eldership was part of Nemenčinė District until 1962, when it was incorporated into Vilnius District.
In 2009, the eldership was subdivided into 9 subelderships (''seniūnaitijos'').
Populated places
There are 27 villages located within the eldership, the largest of which are{{Cite web, title=Vilniaus rajono savivaldybės administracija - Darbuotojų informacija, url=https://www.vrsa.lt/go.php/Bezdoni%C5%B3604, access-date=2021-01-07, website=www.vrsa.lt
Bezdonys
Bezdonys is a town in Lithuania, located to the north of Vilnius, within the Vilnius district municipality. It is best known for the 1908 Bezdany raid, one of the most daring and successful train robberies in history. Bohdan Urbankowski, ''Józe ...
, Arvydai and Ąžuolinė.
Ethnic composition
According to the 2021 census, out of 2790 inhabitants of Bezdonys Eldership:
Lithuanians - 1416 (50.75%)
Poles - 1008 (36.1%)
Russians - 196 (7.1%)
Belarusians - 81 (2.9%)
Gallery
File:Bezdonys, seniūnija.JPG, Bezdonys Eldership administrative building in 2016
File:Bezdonys iš vakarų.JPG, Bezdonys in 2015
File:Bezdonys. Bažnyčia.JPG, Bezdonys Church of Saint Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy of the Gates of Dawn
File:Jonėnai (Bezdonių sen.).JPG, Jonėnai
File:Bratoniškės, Bezdonių sen.JPG, Bratoniškės
File:Bezdonė Bezdonių miške (2).JPG, Bezdonė River
File:Arvydu dvaras 2012.jpg, Classicist Arvydai-Bezdonys Manor