Kęstaičiai is a village in Telšiai District Municipality,

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, it had 32 residents.

History

The village grew around the manor, which was first mentioned in 1586 and belonged to the Kęstavičiai family. A chapel for the victims of the 1710 plague was built in the cemetery in 1715. The manor was inherited by Jonas Antanas Šandys-Rimgaila, who in 1738 bequested his landholdings to the Brotherhood of Saint Roch. According to a legend, he was requested to do so in a dream of his only son, who wanted to become a priest but died young. The Brotherhood established a small monastery, a hospital/shelter for the poor and the disabled, and a church dedicated to Saint Roch. The hospital was intended for 24 people (12 men and 12 women). The village received royal privileges from

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Aug ...

allowing it to hold regular markets and fairs.

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

allowed the village to hold festivals ( lt, atlaidai) of Saint Roch and

Saint Fabian Pope Fabian ( la, Fabianus) was the bishop of Rome from 10 January 236 until his death on 20 January 250, succeeding Anterus. A dove is said to have descended on his head to mark him as the Holy Spirit's unexpected choice to become the next pop ...

and even sent

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

of Saint Roch. The first church burned down in 1808, but it was rebuilt in 1820. As a reprisal for the

Uprising of 1831 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 ...

, Tsarist authorities confiscated majority of the landholdings of the Brotherhood in 1842. No longer able to finance its activities, the Brotherhood dissolved and the hospital was converted into a home for elderly priests. After the Uprising of 1863, Alexander III of Russia signed the order to close the Church of St. Roch and transfer its property to a newly built Orthodox church in Skuodas. Local residents raised money to send 5 men with a petition, signed by 300 people, to

Saint Peterburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

to convince the Tsar to keep the church open. For a couple of months they organized a constant guard of up to 100 locals to defend the church from Russian policemen. On October 19, 1886, a group of

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

, personally commanded by Governor of Kaunas, forcefully captured the church and devastated it. Many were injured and 43 people were arrested. Few of its valuables were taken to Telšiai and Alsėdžiai. The church and adjoining buildings were leveled in 1887. It was the first instance of local resistance to

Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...

policies, 5 years before the better known

Kražiai massacre Kražiai massacre ( lt, Kražių skerdynės) was an attack by a Russian Don Cossack regiment on Lithuanians protesting the planned closure of a Roman Catholic church in Kražiai, then part of the Russian Empire, on 22 November 1893. As part of wid ...

. The located of the former church is now marked by several crosses carved by local artists in 2006. The village had 132 residents in 1923, 104 residents in 1959, and 38 resident in 1989. During the Soviet era, Kęstaičiai hosted a training ground for tanks (''tankodromas'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kestaiciai Villages in Telšiai County Telšiai District Municipality