Jieznas

Jieznas
City
Coat of arms of Jieznas Coat of arms
Jieznas is located in Lithuania Jieznas Location of Jieznas
Coordinates:
Country	Lithuania
Ethnographic region	Dzūkija
County	20px Kaunas County
Municipality	Prienai district municipality
Eldership	Jieznas eldership
Capital of	Jieznas eldership
First mentioned	1492
Granted city rights	1956
Population (2005)
• Total	1,423
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Jieznas () is a small city in the Prienai district municipality, Lithuania. It is located 16 km (9.9 mi) east of Prienai along the northern shores of Lake Jieznas.

History

Jieznas church

Jieznas was first mentioned in written sources in 1492 as property of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. In 1633, the settlement was acquired by the Pac family. They sponsored construction of a church, which was reconstructed in Baroque style in 1768–1772.

In 1747, the Pac family built a luxurious palace in Jieznas. The palace had 12 halls, 52 rooms, and 365 windows to match the number of months, weeks, and days in a year. It was decorated with frescoes, gilded engravings, Venetian mirrors. The palace was lost due to family indebtedness in 1807 and was destroyed by a fire in 1837.

In February 1919, Jieznas saw the first battles and casualties of the Lithuanian–Soviet War. Lithuanian victory prevented the Red Army from marching into Kaunas. This battle is commemorated by the coat or arms, designed by Arvydas Každailis in 2002. The coat of arms depicts allegorical figure of a woman symbolizing the victory. She holds a golden oak branch, a symbol of strength.

Name

Jieznas is the Lithuanian name of the city. Versions of the name in other languages include Polish: Jezno, Russian: Езно Yezno, Belarusian: Езно Yezno, Yiddish: יעזנע Yiezne.