Luksnėnai ir jų apylinkės

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Luksnėnai; Alytaus kraštas; Kaimo istorija; Luksnėnai; Alytus region; Village history.

ENLuksnėnai is a village in Alytus parish, about 6 – 8 km away from Alytus town by the road Alytus – Simnas – Marijampolė, on the eastern shore of Luksnėnai Lake. There are no exact data when the village of Luksnėnai was founded. The name has been found in the archives since 1807, it was then written Luksneni, in 1914 it was Luksniany, and in 1957 and to date it has been Luksnėnai. In 1933 old graves were found on the shores of the lake, and only in 1989 archaeologists became interested in them. Seven tombs dating back to the middle of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century were found in an excavated digging. Just across the road from Luksnėnai settlement is Luksnėnai Lake. The lake has an area of 62 ha, a length of 2.2 km, and a width of 0.5 km. The maximum depth of the lake is 7.4 m, and the average depth is 4.2 m. The inhabitants of Luksnėnai did not escape exile in the postwar period. The families of Šakaliai, Platūkiai, Daugininkai, Baciuškai, and Ivašauskai suffered exile. The deported families were suspected of being partisan or holding more than 20 acres of land. In 1952 «The Young Guards» collective farm was founded, including Luksnėnai. Ignas Šakalis, the landless and the illiterate, was elected the first chairman of the collective farm, but he was quickly replaced. In 1958 the collective farm was reorganized into a Soviet farm and named the Luksnėnai Arboretum. In the Soviet period, Luksnėnai was the central settlement of the Soviet horticultural economy. In 1973 Luksnėnai Arboretum was merged with Alytus district «Ateitis» collective farm and was named after Luksnėnai Horticultural Farm. Around 1918 – 1920 the first school was founded at Ališauskai house in Luksnėnai village. Later, the primary four-elementary school was opened in the Česynai house until 1936 when Laurynas Radžiukynas Elementary School of Kurnėnai was opened.The cultural life of Luksnėnai became very famous when, in 1970, Genovaitė and Raimundas Švabai started working at the Luksnėnai Culture House, at the invitation of the farm manager Mindaugas Šatkauskas. About 2 km north-west of Luksnėnai there is Anniškis mound, at about 11 km to Alytus from Anniškis village. It is one of the oldest settlements in the district with two lakes Pluvija and Aniškis. The 180-hectare Aniškis Manor, which was established in 1519-1522, is also widely known. Archaeological remains were found in Aniškis mound. There are legends to this day about the mound. Another notable place is the village of Balkūnai (only about 3 km from Kurnėnai school), where the museum of the artist Antanas Žmuidzinavičius is established. [From the publication]