Aukštadvaris

	Aukštadvaris
	coat of arms
	coat of arms
State :	Lithuania
District :	Marijampolė
Municipality :	Birštonas
Coordinates :	54 ° 35 ' N , 24 ° 32' E Coordinates: 54 ° 35 ' N , 24 ° 32' E
Inhabitants (place) :	977 (2011)
Inhabitant (municipality) :	2,935
Time zone :	EET (UTC + 2)
Status:	City and ; Seniūnija
	Aukštadvaris
	Aukštadvaris

City center with monastery area (far right)

Church of the city

Aukštadvaris ( Polish Wysoki Dwór , German Augstdwar or Rahden ) is a town (miesteliai) in the southern part of Lithuania . The city is part of the Aukštadvario seniūnija in the Trakai district in the Vilnius district .

geography

The city is located about 30 km west of Vilnius . Less than 1000 people live in the city area and the district has a little over 2900 inhabitants.

To the east of the town is the Sienis Lake with an area of 1.02 km². The Verknė connects it over 400 meters with the Aukštadvaris reservoir (Aukštadvario tvenkinys) . When the dam was built in 1959, the lakes Nava (1.2 km²), Baluosėlis, Baluosiukas and Zamkelis were covered by the reservoir with an area of about 3 km². Two 180 kilowatt turbines have been delivering one million kilowatt hours a year since 1960 . Aukštadvaris is the only large settlement on the Verknė river.

history

Remains of the Aukštadvario piliakalnis hill fort

A Stone Age settlement was uncovered on the Sienis . The remains of numerous ramparts from the 10th to 14th centuries have been preserved in the region , in the area of the Kartuvių kalnas and the Aukštadvario piliakalnis .

Aukštadvaris received city rights in 1569 . The village's wooden church was built in 1518. In 1832, the tsarist government closed the Dominicans - Monastery of 1667 and the corresponding school. A barracks was set up in the monastery buildings. Antoni Malewski built a manor house (Aukštadvario dvare) in 1837 near the remains of the Aukštadvario piliakalnis hill fort . Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855) was a frequent guest there. The ichthyologist Mykolas Kazimieras Girdvainis (Polish : Girdwoyń , 1841–1925) set up trout breeding tanks around 1900 . The proceeds were delivered to the dining table of the Russian tsars. A new church was built in 1913. During the First World War , German troops set up a grain store in the monastery church . After the war ended, the Catholics got the Dominican church back.

During the Second Polish Republic , the city became the seat of Gmina Wysoki Dwór . This community had about 225 square kilometers and in 1932 nine offices with 7545 inhabitants.

The town twinning with Barby in Germany has existed since 1994.

Nature and sights

Regional park

Aukštadvaris reservoir (Nava)

The Aukštadvaris Regional Park ( Lithuanian Aukštadvario regioninis parkas ) was established in 1992 to preserve the natural and cultural landscape of the Verknė and Strėva rivers . The IUCN Category V protected area currently covers an area of 170 km². In terms of area, it is the seventh largest regional park in the country.

This regional park includes the Aukštadvaris reservoir and more strictly protected nature reserves east and west of the lake.

A circular cycle path will be set up in the regional park. The Verknė allows water tourism. Close to the city there is a go- kart track where the Lithuanian championships are held.

Architectural and natural monuments

Benedictine Church
Church from 1913
Aukštadvario dvare with a manor house, castle hill and Mickiewicz oak

education

After the end of the First World War, an agricultural school was set up on the monastery grounds and existed until 1980. From it the technical center was created and in 1994 the education center (profesinio rengimo centras) , which belongs to the König Mindaugas vocational training center in Kaunas.