Kauno Ąžuolyno istorijos atodangos

LTKai 2022 m. pabaigoje Kauno Žaliakalnio bendruomenės „Žaliasis Ąžuolynas“ vadovė Laura Ramanauskaitė vieną iš šio straipsnio autorių pakvietė parengti paskaitą apie Ąžuolyną, niekas negalėjo numanyti, jog taip prasidės naujas ne tik šios nuostabios vietovės, bet ir šimtametės Kauno miesto istorijos tyrimas. Tuo pačiu metu tai kelionė į mūsų - Ąžuolyno vaikų - vaikystės pasaulį, kas šiems tyrinėjimams teikia džiaugsmo, dar daugiau prasmės. Pirmą kartą keliame klausimą, kaip išliko Kauno Ąžuolynas - unikali miško sala mieste. Istorinis tyrimas ir kartografinių šaltinių analizė parodė, kad šiandien Žaliakalnyje išlikusi pagrindinė Ąžuolyno dalis ankstyvaisiais istoriniais laikais buvo Lietuvos didžiojo kunigaikščio, iš dalies bajorų nuosavybė. XVI a. antroje pusėje ši valda teko Sv. Kryžiaus bažnyčiai, nuo 1771 iki 1845 m. priklausė vienuoliams karmelitams. Tuo metu, kai Kauno miesto ir privačių savininkų valdomi miškai buvo masiškai kertami, vienuolių nuomininkai Ąžuolyno retmiškyįeganė ir šienavo. Nuo XIX a. antros pusės Ąžuolyną jau valdė Kauno miestas, jis palaipsniui tapo laisvalaikio ir pramogų vieta. Antroji straipsnio dalis skirta istoriniame Ąžuolyno branduolyje esančiam Girstupio slėniui, kurį 1819-1823 m. pamėgo poetas Adomas Mickevičius. Surinkti duomenys rodo, jog šio slėnio dalis nuo Girstupio ir Gričiupio santakos iki vingio ties dabartine Tunelio gatve dar priešistoriniais laikais buvo laikoma šventviete, ką taip pat juto arba žinojo ir vėlesnės kartos. Reikšminiai žodžiai: žemėvalda, Kaunas, Sv. Kryžiaus bažnyčia, Ąžuolynas, senosios šventvietės, Girstupis, Adomas Mickevičius. [Iš leidinio]

ENSo far, the Kaunas Ąžuolynas (oak forest) - a 60.83-hectare area, a forest island ranging from 70 to 320 years in age but located within a modern city - has been considered an exceptional natural value, an important area for habitat protection. This article examines it for the first time from a historical perspective, revealing little-known contexts of the development of Kaunas, which had municipal rights since the beginning of the 15th century. During the early period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Ąžuolynas belonged to the country’s ruler and, apparently, partially to the nobility. In the second half of the 16th century, this domain was transferred to the Church of the Holy Cross. A significant moment in Ąžuolynas history was when in 1771, the Church of the Holy Cross, along with the forest, clearings, and cultivated land, was acquired by the Carmelite monks and they managed it until 1845. Thus, only in 1867 did the Ąžuolynas come under the administration of the city of Kaunas and gradually became a place for leisure and entertainment. In the second half of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, despite interruptions, the forests in the eastern outskirts of Kaunas still formed a single massif, stretching from Kle- boniškis and Eiguliai in the north to Aukštieji Šančiai in the south and roughly from Petrašiūnai, Davalgoniai in the east, to the slopes of Žaliakalnis in the west. During this period of logging, the forest loggers belonging to Kaunas formed the northern-western border of the Ąžuolynas, which belonged to the Carmelites, a border that is still visible today along Vydūnas Alley.The second part of the article is dedicated to the valley of the Girstupis stream, located in the historical core of Ąžuolynas, which was beloved and praised by Adomas Mickevičius, a teacher at the Kaunas County School and a poet, in 1819-1823. Memories of contemporaries have survived about the 1823 spring festivities held in the Girstupis valley in his honour - a description of the farewell when he left for Vilnius and a legend-like narrative recalling how Karolina Kovalskienė, with whom the poet had a close relationship, raised a toast to the poet’s health and success, asking that the valley, which Mickevičius loved so much, be named after him. There is no information about who and when immortalised the poet’s memory with a stone monument with the initials A.M. and the date 1823 in this place.A significant fact is that in the first half of the 20th century, next to Mickevičius’ stone, on the slope of the Girstupis Valley and in the fields near the former village of Gričiupis, three axes of the same type with quadrangular pits and holes for handles were found. They are dated from the late 3rd millennium BCE to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, continuing the late Neolithic tradition but also being used in the Bronze Age. Such axes are very characteristic of Central and Eastern Lithuania, often found near rivers and even in water. It is reasonably assumed that axes found in good condition, such as those found in the Girstupis-Gričiupis area, were once offered following the well-known myth about Griausmavaldys (Perkūnas), who unlocked and fertilised the earth in the spring. In this context, the section of the Girstupis Valley from its confluence with Gričiupis to the bend near present-day Tunelio Street becomes similar to a prehistoric sanctuary. The sense of admiration and awe felt by visitors to the Girstupis Valley in the 19th and 20th centuries can justifiably be associated with the sanctity experienced in open-air sanctuaries of Baltic religion. [From the publication]