Lazdijai

Lazdijai grew beside the small river Lazdija in the southwestern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Sigismund II Augustus established the settlement in 1570, and Sigismund III Vasa granted it Magdeburg town rights in 1587. A parish church was founded around the same time. In 1689 John III Sobieski permitted Jews to settle here, adding another community to the town. Its Polish name, Łoździeje, and Lithuanian name both recall a place shaped by the neighbouring river and the mixed history of the borderlands.