Bazilionai | |
---|---|
Town | |
Coordinates: 55°47′40″N 23°08′20″E / 55.79444°N 23.13889°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) |
Bazilionai 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]
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]