Švenčionys

Sister cities

• Wejherowo
• Świdnica

History

One of the oldest towns in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the settlement was a major center of Nalšia. Grand Duke Vytautas settled Lipka Tatars in the town and built a Catholic church in 1414. The place grew from the 14th to 16th centuries, becoming the site of a local court and monastery. After the Third Partition of Poland–Lithuania in 1795, Švenčionys came under Russian rule. From 1801 the town was part of the Russian Vilna Governorate. During the 1812 French invasion of Russia, Napoleon stayed in the town for 12 hours to write orders and receive an envoy from the King of Naples. The town was one of the main centers of the November Uprising (1830–1831) in Poland and Lithuania against the Russian Empire. It grew significantly after completion of the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway in 1862, but eventually was out-competed by Švenčionėliai, which grew up around the train station. At the turn of the 20th century the town had one Greek Orthodox church and one Roman Catholic church. During World War I, it was the location of the German Sventiany Offensive. The city was part of the Second Polish Republic for most of the interwar period. It was a powiat centre in Wilno Voivodeship as Święciany under Polish times between 1920 and 1939. It had a significant Jewish population (according to the 1897 Russian census – 52%), but during World War II, under German occupation, the Švenčionys Ghetto was established. It operated from July 1941 to April 1943. At its peak, the ghetto housed some 1,500 prisoners. The Jewish inhabitants were deported and murdered. On 18 September 1939, Švenčionys was occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. The Soviets placed it first in part of Vileyka Oblast of the Belorussian SSR in 1939, then into…

Most-observed species

• Common Blue Damselfly

  Enallagma cyathigerum (Charpentier, 1840) · Insecta
  79
• Dark Whiteface

  Leucorrhinia albifrons (Burmeister, 1839) · Insecta
  62
• Common Crane

  Grus grus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  59
• Azure Damselfly

  Coenagrion puella (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  53
• Creeping Lady's-tresses [Goodyera repens]

  Goodyera repens (L.) R.Br. · Liliopsida
  46
• Pipsissewa

  Chimaphila umbellata (L.) W.P.C.Barton · Magnoliopsida
  37
• Ruddy Darter

  Sympetrum sanguineum (Müller, 1764) · Insecta
  36
• Common Heath

  Ematurga atomaria (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  36