Bazilionai (Polish: Bazyliany) is a small town in Šiauliai County in northern-central Lithuania. It is situated on the bank of the Dubysa River about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of the road connecting Šiauliai with Sovetsk (former trade route to Tilsit).[1] As of 2011, the estimated population was 390.[2]

Bazilionai
Town
Bazilionai town centre
Coat of arms
Bazilionai Location in Lithuania
Coordinates: 55°47′40″N 23°08′20″E
Country	Lithuania
Ethnographic region	Samogitia
County	Šiauliai County
Municipality	Šiauliai district municipality
Eldership	Bubiai eldership
Population  (2011)
• Total	390
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

History

In 1744, King Augustus III granted a privilege to organize regular fairs in the town.[3] Before monks of the Order of Saint Basil the Great arrived to the town in 1749, it was known as Padubysys (literally: near Dubysa).[1]

The Basilian Fathers established a parish school in 1773. After 20 years, the school had 192 students and was reorganized into six-year school.[3] The monastery and school was closed by the Tsarist authorities after the failed uprising in 1830.[3]

The town church was transformed into an Eastern Orthodox one. After Lithuania regained independence in 1919, the church was reformed back to a Catholic one.[3]

Before World War II, the Jewish community of the village had 130 members. All of them were murdered in a mass execution perpetrated by an einsatzgruppen of Germans and Lithuanian nationalists in 1941.[4][5]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bazilionai.

• (in Lithuanian) Website of Bazilionai community