Zarasai

Sister cities

• Zduńska Wola

History

The lands were inhabited by the Baltic tribe Selonians. The exact date of the city's foundation is unknown, but a date around the turn of the 15th/16th centuries is generally accepted and 1506 is the official date of foundation. At that time, a manor stood in the present town's territory, together with a monastery and church on Didžioji Island in Lake Zarasas. The settlement was located on one of the largest ancient trade-routes from Riga to Pskov. The settlement formed part of one of the domains of the diocese of Vilnius from the 14th century to the 18th century. Zarasai manor was mentioned in written sources at the end of the 15th century and in 1522 Zarasai was recorded as a small town. In 1598, Zarasai was termed a volost. In 1613, Zarasai was marked on a map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with the place-name written in Polish as Jeziorosa. By 1669, the town had a population of over 300. There were craftsmen's workshops and an inn, a network of streets and main roads to the nearby towns. However, further development was obstructed due to wars, diseases and fires. The Great Northern War and the plague at the beginning of the 18th century caused great damage to the small town and its citizens. According to an inventory of 1721, there were only 100 people living in the town, and the craftsmen did not develop their activities. The first Orthodox church of the Old Believers was built in Barauka, Zarasai, in 1735. Significant growth occurred during the second half of the 18th century, when a school and a customs agency were established; the agency issued permits to sell flax in Riga. In 1795 after the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Zarasai and nearby territories were taken over by the Russian Empire. Zarasai manor and the town were given to…