Panevezys region - From the paste

	The Panevezys Region is situated in a favorable geographical position. People have been living on the land around the Nevezis and the Lėvuo rivers since the Stone Age. Later, the territory of the nowadays region was the border for the lands populated by the Baltic tribes - Ziemgaliai, Seliai, Lithuanians. Prior to the time the Lithuanian state got established, all of the present territory of the Panevezys Region was a part of the Upyte Land, first time mentioned in 1254. During the war with Livonia Upyte was an important Lithuanian fortress: in the XIV century the Livonian knights made 11 raids to the Upyte Land. Among the settlements devastated during such raids were Molainiai, Nevezininkai, Ramygala, Svaininkai, Vaisvilaičiai, Velzys. In 1413 the Upyte Land became the district of the Trakai Voivode County. On ending of the wars with Livonia, Upyte lost its importance as a defense point, and the castle that used to stand there is reminded only by a mound, which is now called the Cicinskas Hill. The offices of the former Upyte land administration were moved to Krekenava, and later, in 1568, to the rapidly growing Panevezys.
	The XVI century was the significant period in the country’s history. The land reform was followed by the development of agriculture, and felling of trees in the forests yielded larger areas of arable land. First schools appeared: in the years between 1528 to 1533 the catholic parish school was opened in Krekenava, and in 1583 the noblemen Valavicius founded a school to the Reformation church. The centuries that followed were not favorable for development of the region due to various wars, famine, and plague. However, we have the Smilgiai Church, the pearl of architecture in the region, built in 1764 surviving from those times. After the third partition of the Lithuanian-Polish Union in 1795, the Upytė County as well as the biggest part of Lithuania were annexed by the Russian Empire. Our land was affected by majority of the historic events of the XIX century: the Napoleon soldiers’ march through Smilgiai and Panevezys in the direction of Bauska, the uprising of 1830-1831 and to greater extent the uprising of 1863-1864. During the Lithuanian language prohibition period the remote Garsviai Village of the Naujamiestis District for a decade (1885 to 1895) became the center for one of the biggest book spreaders society, members of which were J.Bielinis, K.Udra, A.Ladukas, and others.
	The XIX century was important in economic development of the region. On abolition of serfdom the landlords had to introduce changes - unproductive labor of serfs had to be replaced by work for hire. The economic development was prompted by the broad gauge railway from Radviliskis to Daugavpils built in 1873, and the narrow gauge line from Panevezys to Svencioneliai installed in 1901. Quite a numberof stone buildings was built during the XIX century: the Bistrampolis and Naudvaris manor ensembles, the Rodai, Nevezninkai, Tiltatgaliai chapels, and at the turn of the century the Krekenava and Naujamiestis churches. The start of the XX century gave hopes that new life would start: on abolition of the Lithuanian language prohibition the Lithuanian language schools got established in Eriskiai, Silai, Berciunai, Velzys, and Paistrys. During the Stolypin reform the villages began splitting into homesteads. However, everything was ruined by the WW1.
	In the course of restoration of the independent Lithuania, the battles between the Bolsheviks and the Lithuanian volunteers took place on the territory of the present region. During the Independence period our region was famous for well-developed agriculture. Beside milk, livestock, grain production it was growing good quality flax and sugar beets. Much attention was devoted to building roads and bridges. Already in 1933 the first asphalt roads to Pajuostis, to Ramygala (1935 to 1936) and Pumpenai (in 1937 to 1938) were built. New bridges were built in Krekenava and Paliuniskis, the narrow-gauge railroad Panevezys-Joniskelis was installed. New schools were opened in Bernatoniai, Sujetai, Smilgiai, Ramygala, and etc.
	Again, the first Soviet and the Nazi occupations stopped the growth of the country. During the post-war period the residents of the area actively joined the resistance movement. The first partisan units got together in 1944. The resistance movement was suppressed in 1953, however, for several more years sole partisans continued fighting against heavy odds. The first collective farms appeared on fertile lands of the Panevėžys area during the overall collectivization. In 1947 the Ėriškiai and Smilgiai collective farms, and in 1949 the Atzalynas, Paezerys, Pergale and Tiesa (in 1982 renamed to the SSSR 60^th Anniversary) collective farms got established. As the region was situated around the city of Panevezys, a number of specialized state farms were founded like horticulture farm in Dembava (1948), vegetable growing in Mieziskiai (1959) and Naujarodziai (1966). The collective farms were integrated and amalgamated many times. In 1986 the Panevezys Region had 21 collective farms, 8 state farms and 2 experimental farms. The Ėriškiai and the SSSR 60^th Anniversary farms were famous outside Lithuania. Many famous researchers worked in the Baltic Regional Poultry (founded in 1968) and the Upyte Flax (founded in 1941) research stations.
	On re-institution of Independence the collective farms got dissolved. In 1997 there were 5125 farmers and 167 agricultural companies. The Berciūnai, Jotainiai, Smilgiai and Zibartoniai agricultural companies are the strongest ones. In 1979 the Krekenava Interfarm Livestock enterprise (now-Krekenava Agrofirm) was founded. Out of the industrial enterprises situated in the region the Raguva Dairy plant is famous in Lithuania for its cheese. The Panevezys Region, as an administrative unit, was formed on June 20, 1950 and included 43 countryside districts. The borders of the region have been changing and the last review was done 1980. At present the region has 11 elderates.