Šventybrastis ('sacred ford', formerly russian: Свентобросць, pl, Świętobrość) is a village in Kėdainiai district municipality, in

Kaunas County Kaunas County ( lt, Kauno apskritis) is one of ten counties of Lithuania The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties ( Lithuanian: singular ''apskritis'', plural ''apskritys''), all named after their capitals. The counties are ...

, in central

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 ...

. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 144 people. The village is located on the left bank of the Nevėžis river, by the Brasta rivulet. The village has a wooden church of the Transfiguration of Jesus (built in 1744), a monument for

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, four sacred oak trees (a nature monument), a cemetery, and a library. The

Šventybrastis Landscape Sanctuary Šventybrastis ('sacred Ford (crossing), ford', formerly russian: Свентобросць, pl, Świętobrość) is a village in Kėdainiai district municipality, in Kaunas County, in central Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, the village ha ...

is located nearby, while the

Lančiūnava-Šventybrastis Forest The Lančiūnava-Šventybrastis Forest ( lt, Lančiūnavos–Šventybrasčio miškai) is a forest in Kėdainiai District Municipality, central Lithuania, located north east to Kėdainiai, around Lančiūnava and Šventybrastis villages. It cove ...

is some kilometres away from the village.

History

From ancient times through the Christian Medieval period, Šventybrastis had a

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

shrine where eternal fire burnt. While most of the pagan holy groves were cut down during the era of Christian conversion, the Sacred Oaks at Šventybrastis are some of the few still standing from the pre-Christian era. Šventybrastis once was a property of the Mleczko family but was transferred to the

Zawisza family Zawisza or Záviš is a Slavic name and may refer to: People * Zawisza Czarny (1379–1428), known as Zawisza the Black, a famous Polish medieval knight and diplomat * Zawisza Czerwony (died 1433), known as Zawisza the Red, a less famous but n ...

in the 17th century. In October 1863 the battle between the January Uprising rebels led by Antanas Mackevičius and Tsarist Army occurred in nearby Daniliškis village. 75 rebels were buried in Šventybrastis, by the Brasta rivulet. Šventybrastis was a ''

volost Volost ( rus, во́лость, p=ˈvoləsʲtʲ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe. In earlier East Slavic history, ''volost'' was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz, a principality; either as an absolute ...

'' center but later it was transferred to

Apytalaukis Apytalaukis (formerly russian: Опитолоки, pl, Opitołoki) is a village in Kėdainiai district municipality, in Kaunas County, in central Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, the village had 91 residents. It is located from Kėdainia ...

and then to

Surviliškis Surviliškis is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, 18 km from Kėdainiai, on the right bank of the Nevėžis river. In 2011 it had a population of 351. There are wooden Catholic church of Jesus (built in 1791), wooden chapel ...

. In 1919–1932 there was a school. During the early Soviet era it was a Nevėžis ''

selsovet Selsoviet ( be, сельсавет, r=sieĺsaviet, tr. ''sieĺsaviet''; rus, сельсовет, p=ˈsʲelʲsɐˈvʲɛt, r=selsovet; uk, сільрада, silrada) is a shortened name for a rural council and for the area governed by such a cou ...

'' center.

Demography

Images

Image:Šventybrastis9.JPG, Sacred oaks Image:Šventybrastis6.JPG, Brasta rivulet Šventybrastis5.JPG, A ford in Nevėžis river next to Šventybrastis Šventybrastis1.JPG, A roadsign

References

Villages in Kaunas County Kėdainiai District Municipality {{KaunasCounty-geo-stub