Pasvalys () is a city in

Panevėžys County Panevėžys County () is one of ten counties of Lithuania, counties in Lithuania. It is in the north-east of the country, and its Capital (political), capital is Panevėžys. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since tha ...

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 near the bank of the Svalia River.

History

In 1557, the Treaty of Pasvalys was signed in the town, which provoked

Ivan IV of Russia Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. ...

to start the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

. Pasvalys has mineral spring waters – in 1923 physician K. Armonas created a small sanatorium. At this time about 200 people spent time in sanatorium yearly.

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

and mass deportations in 1941 were devastating – most of the most active teachers and civil servants, intellectuals were deported to remote regions in Russia and Central Asia. In August 1941, 1349 Jews from the village and the surroundings were executed by an

Einsatzgruppen (, ; 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 imp ...

of Germans and local collaborators as mentioned in the

Jäger Report The Jäger Report, also Jaeger Report (full title: ''Complete tabulation of executions carried out in the Einsatzkommando 3 zone up to December 1, 1941'') was written on 1 December 1941 by Karl Jäger, commander of ''Einsatzkommando'' 3 (EK 3), ...

. After 1944 Soviet mass deportations started again – the main target were farmers and their families. Hundreds of families were deported. The program of forced collectivisation has started. Since 1947

partisans Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

of Pasvalys district fought against Soviet occupants. Pasvalys' partisans belonged to

Algimantas military district Algimantas military district (also Algimantas partisan military district) is a military district of Lithuanian partisans which operated in 1947-1950 in the counties of Panevėžys and Rokiškis. The military district consisted of the territorial un ...

(''apygarda''), later – to

Vytis military district Vytis military district (also Vytis partisan military district) is a military district of Lithuanian partisans which operated in 1944–1953 in the counties of Panevėžys and Ukmergė as well in some parts of the Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is o ...

of the

Lithuanian partisans Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule in E ...

. Most of the partisans operated in ''Žalioji rinktinė'' (''The Green Squad''), which was based in ''Žalioji giria'' (''The Green Forest'').Apie pokario kovas Pasvalio krašte
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Education

Pasvalys Gimnasium of Petras Vileisis. Lėvens primary school Pasvalio Svalios gymnasium

Industry

Pasvalys is famous for its farmhouse

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

and is a part of Beer Route in Lithuania. Cheese factory owned by the company Pieno Žvaigždės is located in the city.

Sports

Pasvalys has its basketball club (which is now defunct)-

BC Pieno žvaigždės BC Pieno žvaigždės () was a professional basketball club from Pasvalys, Lithuania. Founded in 1999, the team competed in the top-tier Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) for 13 seasons from 2011 to 2024. The club name c ...

. It also has two football clubs- SK Sanžile (defunct) and FK Pasvalys who play in the 4th tier of Lithuanian football.

Museums

Pasvalys Mill Museum Museum of the Pasvalys region

Gallery

Image:Maurycy Gottlieb - Livonian Brothers of the Sword do homage to Polish king - 1557.png, Treaty of Pasvalys, signed between Polish-Lithuanian King

Žygimantas Augustas Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 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 of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...

and the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

File:Silas.JPG, Pinewood and stadium File:Pasvalio Stadionas.JPG, Pasvalys stadium File:Pasvalys Church.jpg, Pasvalys Church, with fractures due to earth instability visible File:Pasvalys2009.JPG, Pasvalys in winter File:Pasvalio šaltinis, piltuvas.JPG, The Green Spring in Pasvalys

Twin towns and Sister cities

Pasvalys is twinned with: *

Żory Żory (; , , ) is a town and city powiat, county in the Silesian Voivodeship, located in southern Poland with 62,848 inhabitants (2021). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about southwest of Katowice. Location Żory is located in ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

References

Official Homepage
Pasvalys, Cities in Lithuania Cities in Panevėžys County Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania 1497 establishments in Europe 15th-century establishments in Lithuania Holocaust locations in Lithuania Pasvalys District Municipality {{PanevėžysCounty-geo-stub