Maišiagala is a historic town in Vilnius district municipality

Vilnius district municipality

Vilnius district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It surrounds the capital on 3 sides, and the Trakai district municipality touches it on one....

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. It is located about 25 km (15.5 mi) northwest of Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

 near the Vilnius–Panevėžys highway

A2 highway (Lithuania)

The A2 motorway is a highway in Lithuania . It connects the capital city of Vilnius with the Panevėžys, via Ukmergė.Its length is over , making it the third longest highway in Lithuania . The Vilnius - Ukmergė highway was the first section opened...

. According to the 2001 census, it had population of 1,634.

History

Maišiagala, first mentioned in 1254, is one of the earliest Lithuanian settlements. It had a large defensive castle, which was part of the defensive network around Vilnius against the Teutonic Knights

Teutonic Knights

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

. The wooden castle was destroyed in 1365, but was rebuilt. According to Jan Dlugosz

Jan Dlugosz

Jan Długosz was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków....

, Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas

Algirdas

Algirdas was a monarch of medieval Lithuania. Algirdas ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377, which chiefly meant monarch of Lithuanians and Ruthenians...

 died in this castle in 1377. After the Christianization of Lithuania

Christianization of Lithuania

The Christianization of Lithuania – Christianization of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that took place in 1387, initiated by the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila and his cousin Vytautas, that signified the official adoption of Christianity by Lithuanians, one of the last pagan...

 in 1387, Maišiagala was one of the seven towns in Lithuania where a Catholic church was built. In 1390, during the Lithuanian Civil War of 1389–1392

Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392)

The Lithuanian Civil War of 1389–1392 was the second civil conflict between Jogaila, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his cousin Vytautas the Great. At issue was control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then the largest state in Europe. Jogaila had been crowned King of Poland in...

, the castle was burned down and was not rebuilt.

The town continued to exist, growing as a trading center, and was granted city privileges sometime in mid-16th century. Its coat of arms depicted Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony of Padua

Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, O.F.M., was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. Though he died in Padua, Italy, he was born to a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, which is where he was raised...

. At the time it was royal property and King Sigismund I the Old

Sigismund I the Old

Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...

 built a castle for his Italian wife Bona Sforza

Bona Sforza

Bona Sforza was a member of the powerful Milanese House of Sforza. In 1518, she became the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and became the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.She was the third child of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his wife...

. Therefore the old hill fort

Hill fort

A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

 is sometimes known as Bona's Hill. Sigismund also reconstructed the town church. After extinction of the Jagiellon dynasty

Jagiellon dynasty

The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...

, Maišiagala lost its status as royal summer residence and began to decline. It became property of various nobles: first Sapieha

Sapieha

The Sapieha is a Polish-Lithuanian princely family descending from the medieval boyars of Smolensk. The family acquired great influence in the sixteenth century.-History:...

, then Tyzenhaus family. In 1805 the Houvalt family bought the town from heirs of Ignacy Massalski, Bishop of Vilnius. They built a manor, which now houses a school, in the Classical style

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

.

After World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the town was a target of clashes in the Polish–Lithuanian War

Polish–Lithuanian War

The Polish–Lithuanian War was an armed conflict between newly independent Lithuania and Poland in the aftermath of World War I. The conflict primarily concerned territorial control of the Vilnius Region, including Vilnius , and the Suwałki Region, including the towns of Suwałki, Augustów, and Sejny...

. After the Żeligowski's Mutiny

Zeligowski's Mutiny

Żeligowski's Mutiny was a sham mutiny led by Polish General Lucjan Żeligowski in October 1920, which resulted in the creation of the short-lived Republic of Central Lithuania. Polish Chief of State Józef Piłsudski had surreptitiously ordered Żeligowski to carry out the operation, and revealed the...

 in 1920, it became part of the Second Polish Republic

Second Polish Republic

The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

. After the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty

Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty

The Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty was a bilateral treaty signed between the Soviet Union and Lithuania on October 10, 1939. According to provisions outlined in the treaty, Lithuania would acquire about one fifth of the Vilnius Region, including Lithuania's historical capital, Vilnius,...

 of 1939, Lithuania acquired the town.

Among its natives was the great Jewish philosopher Rabbi David ("the Nazirite") Cohen

David Cohen (rabbi)

David Cohen was a rabbi, talmudist, philosopher, and kabbalist. A noted Jewish ascetic, he took a Nazirite vow after making aliyah to Israel.-Biography:...

.