Zervynos

Infobox Settlement
name = Zervynos
nickname =
settlement_type = Village


image_caption = Homestead in Zervynos
pushpin_

pushpin_map_caption= Location of Zervynos
latd=54|latm=7|lats=0|latNS=N|longd=24|longm=30|longs=0|longEW=E
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = LTU
subdivision_type1 = Ethnographic region
subdivision_name1 = Dzūkija
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Alytus County
subdivision_type3 = Municipality
subdivision_name3 = Varėna district municipality
subdivision_type4 = Eldership
subdivision_name4 = Marcinkonys eldership
established_date = 1742
established_title = First mentioned
population_total = 67
population_as_of = 2001
population_footnotes=
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3

Zervynos is an ethnographic village in the Varėna district, Lithuania. It is situated within the territory of the Dzūkija National Park near the Ūla River. The Vilnius–Hrodna railway goes through this village. Zervynos has 48 homesteads; 8 homesteads and 32 separate buildings are officially declared ethnographic monuments. The village was among the sites short-listed for nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage Site. [lt icon cite |url=http://whatson.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=1414394 |title=Į UNESCO Pasaulio paveldo objektų sąrašą siūloma įtraukti Kernavės rezervatą-muziejų |author=BNS |date=2002-10-01 | publisher=Delfi.lt |accessdate=2008-09-21] Though the village is isolated by Dainava Forest, it is a busy place during summer as tourists kayaking in the Ūla River pass through the settlement. [lt icon cite journal| url=http://www.lt24.lt/lt/content/viewitem/5130/ |title=Zervynos dūsta |first=Arūnas |last=Dumalakas |date=2006-07-18 | journal=L.T.]

History

Zervynos was first mentioned in written sources in 1742. However, 24 campsites, dating from the Stone and Iron Ages, show that people lived in the area for much longer time. Inhabitants were mostly fishers, hunters, gatherers of many of the forest's goods. In the 18th century the village was divided by the Ūla River: the right bank was in the Varėna eldership of Trakai Voivodeship while the left side was in the Kaniava eldership of Vilnius Voivodeship.lt icon cite web |url=http://www.dzukijosparkas.lt/gyvenvietes.htm |title=Gyvenvietės |publisher=Dzūkija National Park |accessdate=2008-09-19] The right bank evolved from a village owned by a noble and the left bank from a settlement of forest workers. Both sides had about 10 homesteads and a hundred inhabitants.cite encyclopedia | editor=Simas Sužiedėlis | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Lituanica | title=Zervynos | year=1970–1978 | publisher=Juozas Kapočius | volume=VI | location=Boston, Massachusetts | id=LCC | 74-114275 | pages=314–316]

Architecture

The village was untouched by lands reforms because it is isolated by forests and sandy soil is unfit for agriculture. The village preserved its original layout from the 18th century. The farm houses are aligned to the central street, running in a narrow strip between the river and slopes of river's valley. Various structures in the homestead are arranged depending on the terrain and size of the plot. All buildings are wooden, constructed mostly from pine logs by the families based on old architectural traditions. Older houses are simple with symmetrical composition and plain exterior. They are divided into three areas: two living rooms at the end and an anteroom and larder in the middle. As family sizes decreased, newer houses replaced one living room with a proper kitchen.

In the middle of village there is a group of 3 crosses built in different years. Another two crosses are built on the bank of the Ūla River and at a crossroad near the cemetery. Zervynos was one of the earliest subjects of ethnographic expeditions and a monograph, published in 1964 and devoted solely to the village and its heritage, started a trend of localized ethnographic research. [lt icon cite journal | first=Gediminas |last=Zemlickas |title=Asmenybės švytėjimas (2) |joural= Mokslo Lietuva |url=http://mokslasplius.lt/mokslo-lietuva/comment/reply/1105 | date=2008-05-22 |volume= 10 |issue=388]

Culture

Movies "Niekas nenorėjo mirti" (Nobody Wanted to Die, 1966) about post-World War II resistancelt icon cite book | first=Giedrė |last=Jankevičiūtė |title=Lietuva |publisher=R. Paknio leidykla | year=2006 | pages=406 |isbn=9986-830-97-4] and "Faktas" (Fact, 1981) about Pirčiupiai massacre were filmed in Zervynos. [lt icon cite journal| url=http://www.xxiamzius.lt/numeriai/2004/12/15/kult_08.html |title=Prisimintas "Fakto" kūrimas | first=Rūta |last=Averkienė| journal= XXI amžius |date=2004-12-15 |volume=94 |issue=1297 ] Folk artist Algis Svirnelis, who rebuilt the Zervynos village crosses lives there, as well as 2005 Lithuanian National Prize laureate writer Juozas Aputis. In 2001 the villagers hosted annual Mushroom Festival inviting people, including Speaker of the Seimas Artūras Paulauskas and U.S. Ambassador John F. Tefft, to hunt for mushrooms in the surrounding forests. [lt icon cite journal | title=Grybų šventę apraizgė politika |first= Genovaitė |last=Rafanavičienė |journal=Lietuvos rytas | date=2001-10-01 |url=http://www.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=519052] The village is also known for beekeeping: two old pines with hallows for bees are declared natural monumets.

References