Zarasai district – located in the North-eastern part of the Republic of Lithuania, in Utena county, in Aukstaiciai highland of the Baltic ridge, its area is 1339 sq.km. In the North there is a frontier border with the Republic of Latvia, in the East – with the Republic of Belarus. Zarasai region was formed on 20 June 1950 from 24 parishes of the former Zarasai county. Today there are 10 elderships in the district. The administrative centre of the district is Zarasai town. According to the data of Department of Statistics a little bit less than 20 thousand citizens lived in the district at the beginning of 2010.

History

The oldest crystalline basement in the depth of more than 700 metre was formed several billion years ago. During geological processes of the Earth the present territory of the district several times appeared at the bottom of the sea and several times arose above it. However, the relief of Zarasai region not common to Lithuania finally formed only during the last ice-age, app. 10 thousand years ago. It is at that time that the majority of the district’s lakes, the total water surface area of which makes up even one tenth of the total area of the region, were formed by melting glaciers in the valleys and hollows made by glaciers.

After glaciers receded, the first nomadic people, who were engaged in fishing, hunting and in gathering berries, mushrooms and other resources, came to Lithuania and to Zarasai region as well. Archaeologists date the first settlements of the Baltic tribes usually founded near rivers or lakes to the II-I centuries B.C. The Baltic tribe Selonians began to spread more actively in the present territory of Daugavpils and Zarasai during the first centuries A.D. The culture of the ancient Selonians was very similar to the ancient Latgalians. Clothing and ornamentations basically did not differ from the Latgalians ones. The Selonians spoke in their language, which is called the Selonian language, approximately until the 15th century. This language belongs to the family of the Indo-European languages, to the group of the Baltic languages. Traces of this language have remained in the dialects of the former Selonian territories. It should be noted that the name of Zarasai district and Zarasai town, as well as such place-names as Antazave, Zalve and other place-names are of Selonian origin. It is supposed that the oldest hill forts in Zarasai region are Velikuske, Vosgeliai, Maniuliske, Sisponiske. It is supposed that the majority of the hill forts were built app. in the 9-12th centuries and one of their main purposes was defence from the Livonian Brothers of the Sword who then lived in the present territory of Latvia and from other enemies.

And present Today Zarasai district is characterized by the wonderful, pure and picturesque nature and by flora and fauna rarely seen elsewhere. Hence, it is not surprising that in the district there are even two regional parks: Grazute and Sartai. Zarasai district is one of the districts in Lithuania that has so many lakes; there are over 300 lakes and small lakes of various sizes. Although the largest Lithuanian lake – Druksciai Lake – as well as Sartai Lake, Luodis Lake and Avilis Lake that are included into the top ten of the largest lakes of Lithuania are situated in the territory of the district, small, up to 10 ha, water bodies prevail in the district. 8 rivers, one of which is Sventoji, cross the district. Despite the wonderful water resources, the district is special for its flora. Forests, mostly pinewoods, cover app. 30% of the territory. The plenty of natural resources create extremely favourable conditions for developing tourism and wellness services, thus, Zarasai has been famous as a territory perfectly suitable for relaxation and recreation for a long time. In 2008 Zarasai town was awarded a status of the resort territory. In 2010 Zarasai district declared as the EDEN destination in Lithuania for aquatic tourism. Tourism – one of the most attractive fields of business and investment trends in Zarasai district. Such situation is presupposed not only by the extremely favourable natural conditions and the picturesque landscapes but also by the plenty of objects of interest (including Stelmuze oak, one of the oldest trees in Europe, Dusetos art gallery and many other objects), spectacular cultural events and the well-known cultural heritage. In the recent years the increase of tourism services, developers of the resources and guests from Lithuania and abroad is seen. Currently the project-based activities which aim at creating more favourable environment for the local people and the guests are being extremely developed in Zarasai district. Zarasai becomes a district open to investments and sustainable development. The local public institutions actively develop international relations; at the moment the partnership relations are maintained with Ballan-Mire (France), Daugavpils (Latvia), Zdunska Wola (Poland), Mottafollone (Italy), L-Isla (Malta). When talking about the district, the distinctive cultural surrounding and the distinctive cultural life have to be mentioned. The fact that the culture has a special place in the life of Zarasai district is proved by the name of the first Lithuanian capital of culture awarded to Zarasai in 2008. Hardly could we find someone who has not heard about the traditional republican harness horserace, which reminds of the ancient traditions of the Baltic people, and which takes place in Sartai on the first Saturday of February. Didzioji Island of Zarasas Lake – unconventional space for culture – has become a place where many traditional summer events for people of various likings and viewpoints take place. Not only the unique events but also a gallery of professional art where works of the most famous Lithuanian artists are exhibited that attract more and more people to Dusetos and Zarasai every year simply cannot be leaved unmentioned. And all this is only a part of all, bigger and smaller, cultural and sport events that take place in the district. You will find all this and much more, if you visit Zarasai district – one of the most interesting, beautiful and attractive districts to live, rest and invest in the whole Lithuania. You are welcome in Zarasai!

Zarasai – a town surrounded by seven lakes located in the North-eastern part of Lithuania, not far from the frontier border with the Republic of Latvia, a centre of the district municipality. According to the data of Department of Statistics under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania 7571 people lived in Zarasai at the beginning of 2010. At the moment there are no extremely accurate data or weighty historical sources that could tell the date when Zarasai town was founded. However many agree that the end of the XV c. – the beginning of the XVI c. should be considered the beginning of foundation of Zarazai. It is supposed that in those days a manor stood in the present town’s territory and on Didzioji Island of the Zarasas Lake there was a monastery and a church. Hypotheses on the settlement which was developing in those days confirm that the terrain and natural conditions were in particular favourable for living; one of the largest trade-route from Riga to Pskov crossed this territory since the old days. The year 1506 is officially considered to be the date of the town’s foundation, thus in 2006 Zarasai commemorated the 500th anniversary. The terrain itself was one of the domains of Vilnius diocese from the XIV c. to the XVIII c. Zarasai manor was mentioned in the written sources of the end of the XV c. and in 1522 – Zarasai small town itself. In 1598 Zarazai was called a volost. The year 1613 was extremely important to Zarasai – Zarazai was marked in the map of the Grant Duchy of Lithuania, true, the place-name was written in Polish – Jeziorosa. Although in 1669 in the small town already lived more than 300 people, there were craftsmen’s workshops and an inn, a network of streets and the main roads to the nearby towns were formed, the further development was obstructed by wars, diseases and fires. The Great Northern War and the plague at the beginning of XVIII c. caused great damage to the small town and its citizens. According to an inventory there lived only 100 people in 1721 and the craftsmen did not develop their activities. At that period the citizens of the small town were mainly engaged in agriculture and carried out their obligations of manorialism. It is important to note that the first Zarasai Orthodox church of the Old Believers was built in Barauka in 1735. At the second half of the XVIII c. the growth of Zarasai is observed – a school and customs, which was responsible for the issue of permissions to sell flax in Riga to the local citizens as well, were founded then. In 1795 after the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Zarasai and the nearby territories were taken by the Russian Empire, Zarasai manor with the town were given to Vilnius Guberniya. The growth of Zarasai was highly influenced by St. Petersburg – Warsaw route (large transport road) the building of which began at the first half of the XIX c., and its section Zarasai – Kaunas was built in 1830-1836. Despite several confrontations between the Tzar’s army and rebels near the town and the big fire of 1834 that burned down practically the whole centre of the town, the number of citizens was increasing and the town was rebuilt and was rapidly developing. In 1836 Nicholas I, the Tzar of Russian Empire, visited the town and was so impressed by the wonderful landscape that he decided to rename the town in the name of his son Alexander. As there were a few towns in the Empire named Aleksandrovsk, Zarasai was renamed to NovoAleksandrovsk and was called so from 1836 to 1918. It should be noted that in 1836 not only the name of the town was changed but also the coat of arms was granted and Zarasai county (Zarasai county covered an area of 7223 sq.m. in 1897) formed out of a part of Braslaw county was attached to Kaunas Guberniya. The year 1837 was extremely important in the history of Zarasai town – then, in order to prevent big fires, Zarasai town’s plan with an interesting and distinctive location of streets was approved. And today the layout of the central part of Zarasai town has remained without any major changes: a quadrangular, on one side semicircular square with radial streets coming out of it which intersect with circular ones give not only grace but also unique looking – Zarasai is the only town in Lithuania which has such plan. Zarasai was liberated from the Bolsheviks’ oppression only at the end of August in 1919, namely in that year a Lithuanian name – Ezerenai – was given to the town. However the town was called by this name relatively not long – ten years – as linguists found out that the place-name of the town was of Selonian origin. Since 1929 the town has been officially called Zarasai. In 1924 a territory of Zarasai county was finally approved; public offices of the independent Lithuania were developed in the town. During the independence period Zarasai was given a status of a summer resort and the increasingly larger number of holidaymakers came to town from all Lithuania. The years of the Second World War and the Soviet occupation were extremely painful for the citizens of Zarasai region. Today Zarasai is one of the most beautiful Lithuanian towns which charms not only with its wonderful nature and distinctive history but also with plenty of cultural events. Didzioji Island of Zarasas Lake – unconventional space for culture where many local and international events take place – makes the town exceptional. The year 2008 was extremely important to Zarasai as the town was awarded not only the honourable name of the first Lithuanian capital of culture but also a status of a resort territory. It is not an accident that lately more and more guests from Lithuania and abroad visit Zarasai. The increasing number of providers of tourism services only confirms that Zarasai is a newly found place for resting. You will find in Zarazai town the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints Orthodox Church of the Orthodoxs and Zarasai Orthodox Church of the Old Believers. Also there are in Zarasai a museum of Zarasai region, a central hospital of the district, a foster home, a Post Office, a territorial Labour Exchange, a tourism information centre, a business information centre, a public library, a culture centre and many other institutions. Zarasai – a town not only of the pure nature and nourished culture, but also a lively, open to investments and sustainable cooperation town.

Heraldry A painter Raimondas Miknevicius is the author of the primary standard of the present coat of arms of Zarasai town and Zarasai district municipality. The standard was created as early as in 1968 but was officially approved only on 6 January 1969. When Lithuania gained its independence, standardization of coats of arms was launched. Thus, prior to submitting the coat of arms of Zarasai to the President of the Republic of Lithuania for approval, the objects were moved on the unified shield, the depiction of a head of a mystical creature and several other details was specified and the metals used in heraldry were introduced. The present coat of arms of Zarasai was approved by the President of the Republic of Lithuania on 7 March 1996. In the centre of the coat of arms there is the mystical silver creature – half deer half fish – with a head of a deer and a body of a fish in a blue background under the golden sun. At the bottom of the coat of arms in a black background there is a bent silver sword which point is turned to the left. The coat of arms particularly reveals the beauty of the nature in Zarasai region and its history full of fights for freedom. It should be noted that every symbol, form and even shade depicted in the coat of arms has a distinctive meaning. The blue colour symbolizes not only wonderful lakes and rivers of the region but also the justice and loyalty, the golden sun – the universal glory that is reached by dignifying wisdom and through generosity, the mystical creature – moral, magnanimity, peace and harmony. The silver sword in the black background symbolizes not only fights of the local people but also the eternal and unchangeable justice. The coat of arms of Zarasai town and Zarasai district municipality is considered to be one of the best creations of Lithuanian heraldry.

Mayor – Nikolajus Gusevas
Nikolajus GusevasTel.: +370 385 37152
Mob.: +370 682 41975
Kabineto Nr.: 211
E-mail: meras@zarasai.lt