Istorijos verpetuose

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Žemėvalda; Dvarai; Kaimai; Palivarkai; Neries pakrantės tarp Vilniaus ir Kernavės; Land management; Manors; Villages; Folwarks; Banks of the Neris between Vilnius and Kernavė.

ENIn the article, the history of the territory of the Neris Regional Park is reviewed. The most attention is devoted to the events of the 19th century. The basis of this work is archival sources, published documents and historic literature. On the banks of the Neris, private land-ownership formed in the early period of the history of the Lithuanian state. In the second half of the 18th century, a great part of private lands became the property of the Catholic Church, i. e. it belonged to Vilnius Chapter and to different monks. The manors belonging to the Catholic Church were most often rented. In 1841, with the lands of the Catholic Church having been secularized, they became the property of the state. The majority of private manors on the banks of the Neris was of medium size or small. Many wooden buildings of different purpose constituted a complex of the buildings of a manor. In manor homesteads, gardens very often were planted, people had several kitchen gardens, almost in every one bees were kept. In the middle of the 19th century, instead of lords' wooden houses, people started to build stone houses; the interior design of a house was more luxurious. Parks were started to plant close to the manors. At that time, inhabitants of manors actively involved themselves in the Lithuanian cultural and public life. In the manors, the main economy branch was agriculture. The threefield crop rotation was commonly spread. Every manor usually had its own facilities to produce vodka (Lithuanian: bravoras) and a water mill. Only in Elniakampis Manor, at the beginning of the 19th century, an industrial enterprise - textile bleacher's - was established, which successfully worked up to the 7th decade. Peasants and landless noblemen lived in street villages, which usually were small - 3-7 yards. There were a few bigger villages, consisting of 9-10 yards.On the banks of the Neris and in whole eastern Lithuania, there were a lot of very small settlements (Lithuanian: užusieniai) consisting of only 1-3 yards. The River Neris was used for navigation. Timber and agricultural products as well as consumer goods from abroad were transported along it. However the river did not play a greater role in the life of inhabitants on the banks of the Neris. The banks of the Neris suffered very much during the invasion of Napoleon's army in 1812. A lot of the towns, churches, manors, and villages were burnt, the food stocks and domestic animals were taken away for the use of the army, the crops were damaged, quite a few local inhabitants were killed, others ran away. In 1830-1831, the rebellion broke the peaceful life of the country after the war. Though the banks of the Neris did not get into the epicentre of the rebellion, but for some time, in the nearby villages, the Lithuanian rebel squads and rebel army of the Kingdom of Poland were stationed, when they were getting ready for the first and second attacks of Vilnius. During the attack of the Russian army, in the forests on the banks of the Neris, the rebel squads hid, youth forces were moving from Vilnius to join the rebellion. During the rebellion in 1863-1864, the banks of the Neris played a very similar observer's role. However its inhabitants actively supported the rebellion, hid the rebels, and themselves joined the rebels. Because of this support, the inhabitants on the banks of the Neris suffered from the repressions of the czarist authorities after the rebellion. Some manors were sequestrated and sold to landlords of the Russian origin because of the support for the rebellion; in the villages, Russian colonists were inhabited. Dūkštos Church was made an Orthodox one, and local Catholic people were forced to adopt orthodoxy.Russification measures of the Russian authority negatively influenced the sociocultural development of the banks of the Neris. At the beginning of the 20th century, in whole Lithuania social and cultural life revived, but on the banks of the Neris, no signs of activity were noticed. On the other hand, growing Vilnius absolutely shaded small nearby towns. The Lithuanian society found the banks of the Neris in the middle of the 19th century with the start of cognitive tours through historical places. Besides, with developing urbanisation, the attention was paid to the banks of the Neris and the beauty of the nature was evaluated. The nature of the banks of the Neris and the historical past attract a present-day man. [From the publication]