Baisogala is a small town in

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 ...

. It is situated on the crossroads of

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23, ...

–

Šeduva Šeduva () is a List of cities in Lithuania, city in the Radviliškis district municipality, Lithuania. It is located east of Radviliškis. Šeduva was an agricultural town dealing in cereals, flax and linseed, pigs and geese and horses, at th ...

and

Raseiniai Raseiniai (; Samogitian: ''Raseinē'') is a city in Lithuania. It is located on the south eastern foothills of the Samogitians highland, some north from the Kaunas–Klaipėda highway. History Grand Duchy of Lithuania Raseiniai is one of th ...

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roads. According to the 2011 census, it had 2,034 residents.

History

Napoleon Orda palac Komarow Bejsagola 1875

Baisogala is first mentioned in written sources in 1539 when King

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was 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 ...

established a parish with seat in the town. Archeologists discovered cemeteries from the 5th and 6th centuries near the town suggesting the people inhabited the area well before the 16th century. In the 17th century, the town was granted to the Radvila family and changed hands a few times. In 1791 the town was granted city privileges according to the

Magdeburg law 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 c ...

. Eventually, the town was bought in 1830 by Joseph Komar, a former colonel of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. The Komar family remained in Baisogala until 1940 when the Soviets arrested and deported the family to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. Their large and decorated manor is quite well preserved and surrounded by of park.

Religion

The first church was built by King

Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...

, but it did not survive. The church in the present location was built in 1781 and rebuilt in 1882 with financial support from the Komar family.

Notable people from Baisogala

Nachum Kaplan Reb Menachem Nachum ben Uzziel Kaplan (1811 – October 25, 1879) was a Lithuanian Talmudist, philanthropist,Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: *Gurvich, in ''Razsvyct'', 1879, No. 7; *Lipshitz, ''Nekrolog Rabbi Nokhim iz Grodno'' (reprinted from ...

Arvydas Každailis Arvydas Stanislavas Každailis (born 4 April 1939, in Baisogala) is a Lithuanian artist, best known as the creator of many coat of arms for cities and towns of Lithuania. For his achievements in Lithuanian art, he was awarded the Order of the Lit ...

Alfredas Kulpa-Kulpavičius Alfredas Kulpa-Kulpavičius (March 28, 1923 – May 16, 2007) was a Lithuanian architect and artist best known for his work on Canadian churches. Biography Kulpa-Kulpavičius was born in Baisogala. Between 1941 and 1943, he studied at Vytautas ...

Estanislao Shilinsky Bachanska Estanislao Schillinsky Bachanska (10 August 1911 – 27 September 1985), known as Estanislao Shilinsky or simply Shilinsky, was a Lithuanian-born Mexican comedian and the half of the 1940–1970 comedy duo '' Manolín y Shilinsky'' with ("Manolí ...

References

{{Authority control Towns in Lithuania Towns in Šiauliai County Shavelsky Uyezd