Šešuoliai is a small town in central 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 just east of the Lake Šešuoliai. According to the census of 2001, it had 189 residents. The town's central square and street layout is protected as an urban monument.

The town was first mentioned in the Chronicle of Hermann von Wartberge

Hermann von Wartberge

Hermann von Wartberge was a chronicler of the Livonian Order. Born in Westphalia, Wartberge was a Catholic priest and author of the valuable Latin chronicle Chronicon Livoniale covering the history of the Livonian Crusade from 1196 to 1378...

 when it was attacked by the Livonian Order

Livonian Order

The Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights...

 in 1334. Since the times of Grand Duke Vytautas, there was an estate, which became a property of Kristinas Astikas

Kristinas Astikas

Kristinas Astikas was a leading Lithuanian noble and statesman of the Astikai family. Kristinas was a supporter and a companion of Vytautas the Great, his brother Sigismund Kestutaitis and nephew Casimir Jagiellon, he became the Castellan of Vilnius in 1419.Kristinas is mentioned in 1389 in the...

. Sometime before 1478, Šešuoliai passed to the Bishop of Vilnius. Bishop Walerian Protasewicz

Walerian Protasewicz

Walerian Protasewicz was bishop of Lutsk and Vilnius . To combat Reformation he invited Jesuits to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He funded the Jesuit college in Vilnius and obtained Papal and Royal privileges to convert the college into Vilnius University in 1579...

 sponsored construction of a Catholic church and establishment of a parish. Protasewicz also directed the priests to open a parish school, but it is known only from 1777. The settlement grew into a town and center of a volost

Volost

Volost was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe.In earlier East Slavic history, volost was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz, a principality; either as an absolute ruler or with varying degree of autonomy from the Velikiy Knyaz...

. The town burned down in 1656 during the Russo-Polish War

Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)

The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, also called Thirteen Years' War, First Northern War, War for Ukraine was the last major conflict between Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1655 and 1660, the Second Northern War was also fought in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,...

. Šešuoliai recovered; the church was reconstructed in 1698 and 1751. The priests sponsored a parish school and a shelter for the poor. Šešuoliai Manor had a library and alcohol distillery. During the interwar years it was briefly owned by Jonas Variakojis

Jonas Variakojis

Jonas Variakojis was a Lithuanian army officer....

. Today it is a school building. The town had 100 residents in 1814, 64 in 1845, 169 in 1890, 317 in 1923, 156 in 1959, 193 in 1970, 123 in 1979.