Nemėžis () is a village in the

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 ...

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 ...

, it is located only about 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 ...

. It is located south-east of

along a railway.

History

It is believed that there was a castle in Nemėžis during the reign of

Vytautas the Great Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...

(1392–1430). The settlement was first mentioned in written sources in 1496 when

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

Alexander Jagiellon Alexander Jagiellon (; ; 5 August 1461 – 19 August 1506) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1492 and King of Poland from 1501 until his death in 1506. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV and a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty. Alexander was el ...

welcomed his future wife Helena of Moscow here. On 3 November 1656, the Truce of Vilna between

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

was signed in the Nemėžis estate, then owned by Lew Sapieha.

Lipka Tatars

Nemėžis is one of several Lithuanian settlements where

Lipka Tatars The Lipka Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group and minority in Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century. The first Tatar settlers tried to preserve their Pagan tradi ...

live. Brought as prisoners of war, Tatars were allowed to settle here in 1397 after Vytautas' expeditions against the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

(see the

Battle of Blue Waters The Battle of Blue Waters was fought at some time in the autumn of 1362 or 1363 on the banks of the Syniukha River, a left tributary of the Southern Bug, between the armies of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Golden Horde. The Lithuanians won ...

). Up until this day they have preserved their traditions and

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic 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

eggplant Eggplant (American English, US, Canadian English, CA, Australian English, AU, Philippine English, PH), aubergine (British English, UK, Hiberno English, IE, New Zealand English, NZ), brinjal (Indian English, IN, Singapore English, SG, Malays ...

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es, and other vegetables. Even today Nemėžis is known for its numerous

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

s. The first wooden

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

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 Mullah () is an honorific title for Islam, Muslim clergy and mosque Imam, leaders. The term is widely used in Iran and Afghanistan and is also used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and Sharia, sharia law. The title h ...

comes from

. Nemėžis mosque is one of four operational mosques in Lithuania. Nemėžis also has an operational Tatar cemetery and a Tatar school. The other locality in

with sizeable Lithuanian Tatars presence is

Keturiasdešimt Totorių Keturiasdešimt Totorių (literally: ''Forty Tatars'', , ''Kyryk Tatar'') is a village in Vilnius District Municipality, Pagiriai (Vilnius), Pagiriai Eldership, Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, it had population of 451. There is a Islam i ...

village. The village is home to about 400 Tatars as of 2017.

Nemėžis estate

The Nemėžis estate, located approximately 1 km outside the village, was established in the 16th century. At first it belonged to the

Pac family The House of Pac or Pacowie (, , ) was one of the most influential noble families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Numerous high-ranking Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, officials of the Commonwealth came from their ra ...

, but changed hands frequently. Its owners at different times were the Radziwiłł family, Jan Kazimierz Sapieha,

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (; 1561 – 24 September 1621) was a Polish–Lithuanian identity, Polish–Lithuanian military commander of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, who was from 1601 Field Hetman of Lithuania, and from 1605 Grand Hetman of Lit ...

, Lew Sapieha, and the Ogiński family. Until the 19th century the manor was of a wooden construction. Around 1830 the place was bought by the

Tyszkiewicz family The House of Tyszkiewicz (, singular: , , singular: , , singular: , , singular: , , singular: ) was a wealthy and influential Polish-Lithuanian (adjective), Polish-Lithuanian magnate family of Ruthenians, Ruthenian origin, with roots traced to t ...

and rebuilt the manor in bricks in 1836–1856. The park of the estate was destroyed while building a road connecting Vilnius with

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

Demographics

According to 2021 National Census, the ethnographic composition of the Nemėžis Eldership is diverse. Out of 8950 inhabitants: *

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

- 4477 (50.0%) *

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

- 2604 (29.1%) *

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

- 899 (10.0%) *

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

- 429 (4.8%) *

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

- 119 (1.3%) * Other - 322 (3.6%)

References

External links

*
Nemėžis village
*
Nemėžis manor and the park
*
Nemėžis tatar community website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemezis Lipka Tatar communities Lipka Tatars of Lithuania Villages in Vilnius County Vilnius District Municipality