Zarasai
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Zarasai () is a city in northeastern
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 ...
, surrounded by many lakes and rivers: to the southwest of the city is Lake Zarasas, to the north – Lake Zarasaitis, to the southeast – Lake Baltas, and the east – Lake Griežtas. Lakes Zarasaitis and Griežtas are connected by the River Laukesa. Zarasai holds the record for the highest recorded daytime temperature in Lithuania at on 30 July 1994. A few music festivals are held in Zarasai in summer, such as Mėnuo Juodaragis and Roko naktys.


Etymology

The name of Zarasai is of Selonian origin. Lithuanian linguist
Kazimieras Būga Kazimieras Būga (; November 6, 1879 – December 2, 1924) was a Lithuanian linguist and philologist. He was a professor of linguistics, who mainly worked on the Lithuanian language. He was born at Pažiegė, near Dusetos, then part of the Russia ...
explained its origins – in Selonian language the word ''lake'' was pronounced as ''ezeras'' or ''ezaras'', plural form ''ezerasai''. During the time it was shortened to ''Zarasai''. In
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
, the town was known since the first third of the 16th century as Jeziorosy, from ''jezioro'' meaning 'lake'. In 1836, the town was renamed ''Novoalexandrovsk'' in honor of Tsar Nicholas I's son
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
. This name was maintained until 1918. From 1919 to 1929, in the newly independent Lithuania, the town was called ''Ežerėnai'', from ''ežeras'', the Lithuanian word for lake. The
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
name ''Ezherene'' is derived from Ežerėnai. The current Lithuanian name ''Zarasai'' was adopted only in 1929.


History

The lands were inhabited by the
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
tribe
Selonians The Selonians ( lv, sēļi; lt, sėliai, from liv, sälli – "highlanders") were a tribe of Baltic peoples. They lived until the 15th century in Selonia, located in southeastern Latvia and northeastern Lithuania. They eventually merged w ...
. The exact date of the city's foundation is unknown, but a date around the turn of the 15th/16th centuries is generally accepted and 1506 is the official date of foundation. At that time, a manor stood in the present town's territory, together with a monastery and church on Didžioji Island in Lake Zarasas. The settlement was located on one of the largest ancient trade-routes from
Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
to Pskov. The settlement formed part of one of the domains of the diocese of
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
from the 14th century to the 18th century. Zarasai manor was mentioned in written sources at the end of the 15th century and in 1522 Zarasai was recorded as a small town. In 1598, Zarasai was termed 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 ...
. In 1613, Zarasai was marked on a map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with the place-name written in Polish as Jeziorosa. By 1669, the town had a population of over 300. There were craftsmen's workshops and an inn, a network of streets and main roads to the nearby towns. However, further development was obstructed due to wars, diseases and fires. The Great Northern War and the plague at the beginning of the 18th century caused great damage to the small town and its citizens. According to an inventory of 1721, there were only 100 people living in the town, and the craftsmen did not develop their activities. The first Orthodox church of the Old Believers was built in Barauka, Zarasai, in 1735. Significant growth occurred during the second half of the 18th century, when a school and a customs agency were established; the agency issued permits to sell flax in
Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
. In 1795 after the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Zarasai and nearby territories were taken over by the Russian Empire. Zarasai manor and the town were given to Vilnius Guberniya. Zarasai was on the road between St. Petersburg and Warsaw, construction of which began during the first half of the 19th century. The section from Zarasai to Kaunas was built in 1830–1836, which increased the commercial importance of the town. Despite several confrontations between the Tsar's army and rebels near Zarasai, and a disastrous fire of 1834 that burned down practically the whole town centre, the population grew and the rebuilt town rapidly developed. In 1836, Tsar
Nicholas I of Russia , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...
visited the town and was so impressed by the wonderful landscape that he decided to rename the town in the name of his son Alexander. As there were a few towns in the Empire named Aleksandrovsk, Zarasai was renamed Novo Aleksandrovsk and was so called from 1836 to 1918. At the same time, a coat of arms was granted and Zarasai County (Zarasai County covered an area of 7223 sq.m. in 1897), formed out of a part of Braslaw County, was attached to
Kaunas Governorate Kovno Governorate ( rus, Ковенская губеpния, r=Kovenskaya guberniya; lt, Kauno gubernija) or Governorate of Kaunas was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kaunas (Kovno in Russian). It was forme ...
. In 1837, the centre of Zarasai was rebuilt to a new plan, with a central horseshoe-shaped square bounded by a road, from which a network of streets radiated. The intention was to prevent major fires - Zarasai is the only town in Lithuania which has such a plan, which has remained to this day without any major changes. Zarasai was liberated from the Bolsheviks at the end of August 1919, and in that year a Lithuanian name, Ežerėnai, was given to the town. Since linguists discovered this name to be of Selonian origin, the name was changed in 1929 to Zarasai. In 1924, the designation of Zarasai county was finally approved and public offices of the independent Lithuania were developed in the town. During the period of independence, Zarasai was an important summer resort for holidaymakers who came from all over Lithuania. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Zarasai was under
German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
from 25 June 1941 until 29 July 1944 and administered as part of the ''
Generalbezirk Litauen Generalbezirk Litauen ( lt, Lietuvos generalinė sritis, ) was one of the four administrative subdivisions of ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'', the 1941-1945 civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany for the administration of the three ...
'' of '' Reichskommissariat Ostland''. On August 26, 1941, 2,569 Jews from the Zarasai area were murdered near the village of Degučiai by an
Einsatzgruppe (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imple ...
of Germans and Lithuanian collaborators. In 2010, the Zarasai Region became one of the
European Destinations of Excellence European Destinations of ExcelleNce, also known by the acronym EDEN, is an initiative launched by the European Commission promoting sustainable tourism development models across Europe. The project is based on national competitions which take plac ...
.


Famous people

* Yehuda Pen *
Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...
*
Al Jaffee Allan Jaffee (born Abraham Jaffee; March 13, 1921) is an American cartoonist. He is notable for his work in the satirical magazine '' Mad'', including his trademark feature, the ''Mad'' Fold-in. Jaffee was a regular contributor to the magazine ...
* Uļjana Larionovna Semjonova (1952–), is a retired Soviet-Latvian basketball player and winner of two Olympic Gold medals


References


External links


Official page


{{Authority control Cities in Lithuania Cities in Utena County Holocaust locations in Lithuania Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Novoalexandrovsky Uyezd Zarasai District Municipality