Seredžius
Seredžius | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Country |  Lithuania |
| Ethnographic region | Samogitia |
| County | Tauragė County |
| Municipality | Jurbarkas district municipality |
| Eldership | Seredžius eldership |
| Capital of | Seredžius eldership |
| Population (2001) | |
• Total | 749 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Seredžius is a town in Lithuania, situated on the right bank of the Neman River near its confluence with Dubysa River. According to the 2001 census, it had population of 749.[1]
History
Southeast of the town, archaeologists discovered graves from the 3rd–4th centuries.[2] The town also has a large hillfort, identified by historian Zenonas Ivinskis as Pieštvė, which was attacked by the Teutonic Knights numerous times in late 13th and early 14th centuries.[2] According to the Palemonids legend, noble refugees from the Roman Empire settled on the hill, now named after Palemon, and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[3] After the Battle of Grunwald, the location lost its military purpose and became a private property of the Sapieha family. The Sapiehas built a residential palace, which did not survive. The town's first Catholic church was built around 1608–1612.[2] The church was destroyed in 1829 after a landslide caused a by large flooding. The residents built a wooden church, which was replaced by a Neo-Renaissance John the Baptist church in 1913.
The town also had a large Jewish population prior to the Holocaust. In 1900 (when part of the Russian Empire) the town's Jewish population numbered 1,174.[4] The Yiddish name for the city was סרעדניק (Srednik), corresponding to the Polish and Russian names Średniki and Средники (Sredniki).[5]
Seredžius was the birthplace of the American singer, comedian, and actor Al Jolson, born into the town's Jewish community in 1886 as Asa Yoelson.[6]
References
- ^ Template:Lt icon Tauragės apskrities kaimo gyvenamosios vietovės ir jų gyventojai (PDF). Vilnius: Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. 2003. p. 33. ISBN 9986-589-95-9.
- ^ a b c Template:Lt icon Kviklys, Bronius (1965). Mūsų Lietuva. Vol. II. Boston: Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla. p. 333–336. OCLC 3303503.
- ^ Template:Lt icon Ivinskis, Zenonas (1953–1966). "Palemonas". Lietuvių enciklopedija. Vol. 21. Boston, Massachusetts: Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla. pp. 400–401. LCC 55020366.
- ^ JewishGen Seredžius page
- ^ Other recorded forms of the town's name include Srednike, Seredžiaūs, Seredzhyus, Seredzhus and Seredius. See previous reference.
- ^ David Spiller, "Great Singers of the Twentieth Century", Lulu.com, 2008
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