Avižieniai Eldership () is an eldership in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, located in

Vilnius District Municipality Vilnius District Municipality () is one of the 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It surrounds the capital city of Vilnius on three sides. The municipality is also bordered by Trakai District Municipality, Trakai district and Elektr ...

, northwest of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. It is the most populous eldership in the municipality.

Geography

The eldership has a hillfort with a cultural layer dated to the beginning of 1st millennium A.D. The landscape is dominated by rolling hills in the Riešė Upland. Many small wooded areas and swamps, but the landscape is undergoing rapid change due to

suburbanization Suburbanization (American English), also spelled suburbanisation (British English), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence ...

and its proximity to the city. Notable rivers include Riešė and Čekonė, and there are several small lakes, such as Gilužis, Ežeraitis, Notiškis and Varlinka.

History

Avižieniai were known since the

Interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

for their gardens. In the 19th century, an orthodox church was built in Bukiškis. It was damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and only ruins and the basement remain, and are known to have the buried corpses of a general. The church rebuilding project was initiated in 1990, and the church was rebuilt in 2007.

Coat of arms

Coat of arms for Avižieniai was created in April of 2023 and is awaiting approbation. It depicts oats as Avižieniai is from Lithuanian – aviža (oat).

Populated places

There are 27 villages located within the eldership, the largest of which are

Avižieniai Avižieniai vʲɪ'ʒʲɪenʲɪaiis a town in Vilnius District Municipality, Lithuania, west of the A2 Vilnius-Panevėžys highway. The village had a population of 2,125 as of 2011, which grew to 2,318 inhabitants in 2021 (according to the nati ...

, Bukiškis, Riešė (of which only half of the village is located in the eldership, the other half belongs to Riešė Eldership), Bendoriai and Klevinė.

Notable locations

* Bukiškės Orthodox Church of Patron Mother of God * Avižieniai hillfort * Mažoji Riešė hillfort * Pikutiškės/Švedai hillfort * Aukštieji Rusokai tumulus * Galinė Manor with preserved palace and farmhouses * Kalno Riešė Manor farmhouse fragments near Riešė * Tarandė old cemetery *

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

soldier burial place in Bendoriai

Ethnic composition

According to 2021 census, out of 10,867 persons of the eldership: *

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

- 70.9% (7704) *

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

- 18.8% (2043) *

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

- 5.1% (559) *

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

- 1.4% (157) * Number of inhabitants: 10867 According to 2011 National Census data, the ethnic composition is as follows:Republic of Lithuania 2011 National Census *

- 65.0% *

- 24.4% *

- 5.6% * Number of inhabitants: 7509

Gallery

File:Avižieniai, Lithuania - panoramio (9).jpg,

File:Bukiškis, cerkvė.JPG, Orthodox Church of Guardian Mother of God in Bukiškis File:Avižienių sen., Lithuania - panoramio (2).jpg, Highway A2 crosses the eldership File:Bajorai, kraštovaizdis.JPG, Landscape near Bajorai

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avizieniai Eldership Elderships in Vilnius District Municipality