Gelgaudiškis
Encyclopedia
Gelgaudiškis is a city in the Šakiai district municipality
, Lithuania
. It is located 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Šakiai
. The city is just south of Neman River
.
name of the city. Versions of the name in other languages include Polish
: Giełgudyszki, Russian
: Гельгудишки Gel'gudishki, Belarusian
: Гельгудiшкi Gel'hudishki, Yiddish: גלגודישק Gelgudishk.
. In 1504, King and Grand Duke Aleksander Jagiellon gave it away as a gift to his royal secretary Sapieżyc, progenitor to the szlachta
family of Sapieha
. Afterwards, the grange belonged to families of Massalski, Dembiński, Oziembłowski, Giełgud, Czartoryski, the Prussian barons von Keudell, and finally Komar family (till the beginning of World War I
). In the interwar period, the establishment was nationalized and housed an orphanage and later a school.
The classicist palace was built in the first half of the 19th century by the family of von Keudell. After the fire of 1979 the palace was rebuilt and since remains unoccupied. It is surrounded by a garden and forested park with an area of 112 ha
leading to Neman River.
The city and nearby castle is mentioned in John Gielgud
: The Authorized Biography, (by Sheridan Morley), as being the actor's ancestral home and from where his family name originated.
Šakiai district municipality
Šakiai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. It is located 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Šakiai
Šakiai
Šakiai is a city in the Marijampolė County, Lithuania. It is located west of Kaunas. It is presumed that Šakiai first expanded from Šakaičai village. By 1719 a church in Šakiai was built. By the 19th century Šakiai already had city rights; it also had a school, Catholic and Lutheran churches, a...
. The city is just south of Neman River
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
.
Name
Gelgaudiškis is the LithuanianLithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
name of the city. Versions of the name in other languages include Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
: Giełgudyszki, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Гельгудишки Gel'gudishki, Belarusian
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
: Гельгудiшкi Gel'hudishki, Yiddish: גלגודישק Gelgudishk.
History
Before the end of the 14th century the area of Gelgaudiškis settlement and manor, positioned on the upper bank of Neman, belonged to the Grand Dukes of the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaGrand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. In 1504, King and Grand Duke Aleksander Jagiellon gave it away as a gift to his royal secretary Sapieżyc, progenitor to the szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
family of Sapieha
Sapieha
The Sapieha is a Polish-Lithuanian princely family descending from the medieval boyars of Smolensk. The family acquired great influence in the sixteenth century.-History:...
. Afterwards, the grange belonged to families of Massalski, Dembiński, Oziembłowski, Giełgud, Czartoryski, the Prussian barons von Keudell, and finally Komar family (till the beginning of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
). In the interwar period, the establishment was nationalized and housed an orphanage and later a school.
The classicist palace was built in the first half of the 19th century by the family of von Keudell. After the fire of 1979 the palace was rebuilt and since remains unoccupied. It is surrounded by a garden and forested park with an area of 112 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
leading to Neman River.
The city and nearby castle is mentioned in John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
: The Authorized Biography, (by Sheridan Morley), as being the actor's ancestral home and from where his family name originated.