Cemetery in Vilnius, Lithuania From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rasos Cemetery (Lithuanian: Rasų kapinės, Polish: cmentarz Na Rossie, Belarusian: Могілкі Росы) is the oldest and most famous cemetery in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is named after the Rasos district where it is located. It is separated into two parts, the old and the new cemeteries, by a narrow Sukilėliai Street. The total area is 10.8 ha. Since 1990 new burials are allowed only to family graves.
Tomb of Jonas BasanavičiusGrave of Jozef Piłsudski's mother. The huge black tombstone is inscribed: "Matka i serce syna" ("A mother and the heart of her son") and bears evocative lines from a poem by Słowacki.Tomb of Antoni Wiwulski (Antanas Vivulskis) in Rasos Cemetery
The year 1769 is cited in many sources as the date when the cemetery was founded. However, some historians believe it is a typo and the real date should be 1796.[2] On April 24, 1801, the new cemetery was consecrated. Two days later Jan Müller, the mayor of Vilnius, became the first person to be buried there. A formal document was signed in July 1801. It specified that the cemetery received 3.51 hectares (8.7 acres) of land and that the cemetery will be free of charge to all city residents. It was the first cemetery in Vilnius not located next to a church.
In 1802–1807 two columbariums were built. They reached up to five stories in height and were joined at a right angle. At the end of the 19th century the columbariums began deteriorating. In between the columbariums, a neo-gothic red brick chapel was built in 1844–50. In 1888 a matching belltower was added to the chapel. At first the cemetery was surrounded by a wooden fence, but it burned down in 1812. A brick fence was rebuilt in 1820 and portions of it survive to this day.
In 1814 the cemetery was expanded as authorities bought additional land from a city resident. The addition is now known as the Hill of the Literati (Lithuanian: Literatų kalnelis). In 1847, members of the Eastern Orthodox church opened their own cemetery next to Rasos. It was used to bury soldiers from a nearby monastery hospital and poor city residents. Therefore, it became known as the Cemetery of Orphans (Lithuanian: Našlaičių kapinės).
After World War II, the Soviet authorities demolished the right columbarium and in the 1970s razed the left columbarium. The whole necropolis was to be destroyed in the 1980s as the Soviet authorities planned a major motorway to be built directly through the cemetery. Due to a press campaign led by the Polish-language Czerwony Sztandar[pl] (Red Banner) newspaper and economic difficulties, the destruction was halted. After Lithuanian independence (1990) and the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991), Lithuanian and Polish authorities collaborated in a restoration of the cemetery.
Until September 18, 1939, when the Red Army entered the city, an honorary guard of three soldiers stood there at all times. Three unknown soldiers who refused to give up their arms to the Soviets in 1939 were shot on the spot and are now buried next to Marshal Piłsudski's heart. Part of the cemetery contains graves of Polish Home Army soldiers, who fell during the Wilno Uprising. Their graves, demolished after World War II, were rebuilt by the funds of the Republic of Poland in 1993.
Jonas Ambrozaitis (1856–1916), Lithuanian cultural figure, organizer of secret plays of then banned Lithuanian theater, Lithuanian book smuggler and distributor
Kristupas Čibiras (1888–1942), Lithuanian priest, cultural figure, political activist, active member of Lithuanian cultural and educational organization Lietuvių švietimo draugija "Rytas"
Aleksander Dalewski (1827–1862), Polish political activist, founder of "Związek Bratni"
Viktoras Dasys (1895–1944), Lithuanian cultural activist
Rimantas Daugintis (1944–1990), famous Lithuanian sculptor; committed suicide by self-immolation protesting Soviet regime in Lithuania
Adam Jocher (1791–1860), Polish librarian, founder of the first public library in Vilnius
Aleksandras Jurašaitis (1859–1915), Lithuanian photographer, one of the first Lithuanian filmmakers, founder of his own photographic studio ("Jurašaičio ateljė") on Gediminas Avenue of Vilnius (1902–1922), Lithuanian cultural activist
Aldona Didžiulytė–Kazanavičienė (1892–1968), Lithuanian children's literature writer
Vincas Kisarauskas (1934–1988), Lithuanian painter, graphic artist, scenographer. One of initiators of ex-librīs movement, one of the first Lithuanian artists, who popularized collage, assemblage, photomontage techniques
Franciszka Kleczkowska (1827–1889), Polish educational activist
Juliusz Kłos (1881–1933), Polish architect, author of the guidebook to Vilnius
Cenotaph to Anton Luckievich (1884–1942), Belarusian politician, historian, cultural figure, head of Belarusian museum in Vilnius
Ivan Luckievič (1881–1919), Belarusian cultural figure, bibliophile, collectionner, historian, archaeologist, whose collection was a base for Belarusian museum in Vilnius (established in 1921)
Rafał Radziwiłłowicz (1860–1929) Polish psychiatrist, social activist, professor at the University of Stefan Batory, co-founder of the Society for Social Medicine, co-founder of the Polish Psychiatric Association (1920)
Albinas Rimka (1886–1944), Lithuanian economist, publicist, journalist, politician, Finance minister (1926) of Interwar Lithuania, Kaunas and Vilnius university professor
Ksaveras Sakalauskas–Vanagėlis (1863–1938), Lithuanian book distributor, poet, writer, contributor to Lithuanian newspaper Aušra, organizer of Lithuanian choruses and secret Lithuanian theater plays, chairman of Lithuanian culture society of Warsaw (1923–1934), cultural figure
Ludwik Sokołowski (1882–1936), Polish engineer, architect, professor at the University of Stefan Batory
Marek Konrad Sokołowski (1818–1883), famous Polish, Ukrainian and Russian guitarist, composer, inventor of his own type of Harp guitar, generally known as "The king of guitarists", was awarded the diploma of "The first guitarist of Europe" in 1858 in Carltheater, Vienna, the first professional guitarist of Lithuania
Euzebiusz Słowacki (1772–1814), Polish theorist and literary historian, father of Juliusz Słowacki
Jurgis Šlapelis (1876–1941), Lithuanian linguist, translator, founder of the first Lithuanian bookstore in Vilnius, cultural and political figure
Marija Šlapelienė (1880–1977), cultural figure, actor, active member of Lithuanian "Vilniaus aušra" society, cultural Rūta Society, founder of the first bookstore ("Marijos ir Jurgio Šlapelių lietuvių knygynas"), dedicated to Lithuanian language and literature in Vilnius (1906–1949)
Jonas Vengris (1877–1935), Lithuanian mountain engineer, Lithuanian cultural activist, sponsor of Lithuanian charity organizations, school and policlinic in Vilnius
Antanas Vileišis (1856–1919), Lithuanian physician, humanist and sponsor of cultural and charity organizations, Lithuanian schools, newspapers, Lithuanian political activist
Antanas Viskantas (1877–1940), Lithuanian priest, writer, cultural figure, founder of the Society of Saint Casimir and "Vilniaus lietuvių meno ir literatūros draugija" ("Lithuanian art and literature organization of Vilnius")
Stanisław Karol Władyczko (1878–1936), Polish neurologist and psychiatrist, professor at the Institute Psychoneurological in St. Petersburg and the Stefan Batory University
There is also a mass grave of Poles kidnapped in 1919 from Vilnius by the Bolsheviks and shot at Daugavpils.
In the middle of the cemetery, on the so-called Hill of Angels (Angelų kalnelis) there is also cenotaph of an angel, dedicated to unborn babies.
Deptuła, Katarzyna (2001-04-19). "Cmentarz na Rossie". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Warsaw. Archived from the original on 2009-11-29. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
Kviklys, Bronius (1985). Lietuvos bažnyčios. V tomas: Vilniaus arkiviskupija, I dalis (in Lithuanian). Chicago, Illinois: Lithuanian Library Press. pp.407–413. ISBN0932042546.