Kolainiai is a village in

Kelmė District Municipality Kelmė (; is a city in northwestern Lithuania, a historical region of Samogitia. It has a population of 8,206 and is the administrative center of the Kelmė district municipality. History Kelmė's name may come from the Lithuanian ''kelmynės'' ...

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 located about southwest from

Užventis Užventis (, Samogitian: ''Ožvėntis'', pl, Użwenty, yi, אוזשווענט ''Uzhvent'') is a city in the Kelmė district municipality, Lithuania. It is located north-west of Kelmė. River Venta flows through the city. History In 1923, 1 ...

. According to the 2011 census, it had population of 261. In 1750, local noble Adamkavičius bequeathed his manor and land with serfs to the

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

. He also built a monastery and a church for the monks. In 1797, the monks took over the administration of the

Kražiai College The Kražiai College ( lat, Collegium Crozensis) was a Jesuit college (equivalent to a modern secondary school) in Kražiai, Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later Russian Empire. Established in 1616 in hopes to educate new generations of anti-Protest ...

, a former

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

school. After Tsarist authorities secularized the college in 1817, the Carmelites established their own school in Kolainiai. The school was closed in 1835 after the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

. The monastery itself was closed after the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

of 1863. Russian settlers from Blagoveshchensk ( Amur Oblast) were moved into the monastery; the town became known as Blagoveshchenskoye (russian: Благовещенское). The Catholic Church was converted into an

Eastern Orthodox church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

. Catholics reclaimed the church in 1922 after Lithuania declared independence in 1918. In 1940, one of the residential homes of Kolainiai was converted into an Orthodox church by the local Orthodox residents, dedicated to the Smolensk icon of the Mother of God. The church was officially registered in 1947 with the government. Services are several times a year by visiting clergy.

References

{{Siauliai County Villages in Šiauliai County Shavelsky Uyezd