Masty

Masty lies on the Neman east of Grodno. Its name, meaning bridges, recalls the importance of passage across the river in this part of Lithuania. The settlement appears in the Lithuanian records in 1486 as a small town and the centre of a district in Grodno county. It remained within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the Third Partition in 1795 brought it under Russian rule. The Neman and its crossing gave this modest place its enduring connection with the surrounding country.