Gražiškiai

History

The town's origins can be traced back to the 16th century during the resettlement of Sudovia region after the lengthy Lithuanian Crusade, during which the region was largely abandoned. The newly established village consisted of a hill with surrounding land and was named Graža or Gražiai. In 1598, Jonas Naruševičius, the forester of Nemunaitis and supreme judge of the Lithuanian Tribunal, appointed Vaitiekus Gintautas as the first landlord of the village, and he founded the Gražiai manor. On the initiative of Gintautas, the first wooden church was built around 1600, for which Naruševičius allocated a tithe from all the inhabitants of the Nemunaitis area. In 1606, Gražiai manor had 16 valakas of land, 90 morgen of forest, and a watermill by the Dotamas River. In 1623 it is mentioned that there was a parish school near the church. The church decayed over time and was replaced by a new wooden church in 1745. In 1746, Gražiškiai was granted the market right of holding weekly markets and 4 annual markets. In 1781, the parish school was restored. In the mid-19th century, in addition to the primary school, there was also a higher school, which trained scribes for the parish. In 1863, during the January Uprising, a group of rebels led by a peasant, G. Martinaitis, was active in the area around Gražiškiai. In 1877–1881, the present brick church of Gražiškių was built in the town. In 1925 a new wooden school was built, which was destroyed during the World War II and rebuilt in 1951. The townspeople of Gražiškiai took part in the Russian Revolution of 1905, and in 1918 they supported the work of the State Council of Lithuania through a mass collective petition. In 1935, the residents of Gražiškiai took part in the Suvalkija farmers' strike. After World War II, the Lithuanian…

Geography

Gražiškiai is located in south-western Lithuania, in the Sudovian Upland, in the south of Vilkaviskis District. The town is located 7.8 km north of the border with Poland and about 12 km east of the border with Kaliningrad Oblast. The Vištytis Regional Park is located 5 km south-west of Gražiškiai. In the surrounding area, there are lakes of Talaikė, Vygris, Beržinis, Armudiškės, and Dotamas.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  525
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  516
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  471
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  441
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow

  Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  424
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  420
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  414
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  392