Geisiškės

History

In 1860, Geisiškės was briefly described by Władysław Syrokomla in his ethnographic study of the environs of Vilnius city. He writes: In the early 19th century, the first wave of Slavic migrants came to Geisiškės, who established an Orthodox community in 1839. In the middle of the 19th century, there were 30 families of Belarusian settlers from Grodno Governorate in Geisiškės. This community established an Eastern Orthodox church in 1865. In 1903, the second wave of Orthodox migrants came, when first 42 families from Brest settled in the village. These settlers came to Brest in the second half of the 19th century from Volhynia, Ukraine, but in 1900 Nicholas II of Russia ordered the construction of a new artillery bombing range for Brest Fortress, thus inhabitants of nearby villages had to be resettled. The Tsar offered for these Ukrainians return to Volhynia, relocate to Siberia or chose a place in Trakai County of the Vilnius Governorate, and they chose the latter. Before World War I, in Geisiškės, Airėnai I and Airėnai II there were 173 Ukrainian families of this second wave migration. In 1946, Geisiškės Orthodox parish counted 642 members. During the Soviet period, local kolkhoz was rich and advanced, compared to others and shown as exemplary. After a wave of migration of local inhabitants to Vilnius in the second half of the 20th century, Geisiškės benefits from its proximity to both Vilnius and touristic Kernavė.

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  122
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  110
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  98
• Great Spotted Woodpecker

  Dendrocopos major (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  91
• Yellowhammer

  Emberiza citrinella Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  88
• Common Crane

  Grus grus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  80
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  80
• Great Crested Grebe

  Podiceps cristatus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  74