The Wędziagoły area was once a cluster of manor houses and hamlets of the gentry, as mentioned by the Nobel laureate himself in his poem "Where the Sun Rises and Where it Sets". There was a lot of homestead nobility in the area, which differed from the Miłosz family, which belonged to an old noble family sealing with the Lubicz coat of arms.

History of the town

Wędziagoła was one of the elements of the defensive line protecting Lithuania from the Teutonic invasions. It was there that the vice-admiral of Ragneta, Markward Sulzbach, who was in alliance with Duke Vytautas against Skirgielle, clashed with the local population in 1382 or 1384.

One of the most important points of resistance of the 1863 uprising was the manor of the Milosz family in Uzhumiškės. It was here that the January insurgents hid. One of the most ardent enemies of the Tsar was Eugene Edward Arthur Milosz. An aide-de-camp to the leader of the January Uprising in Lithuania, Sigismund Sierakowski, he was, along with Antoni Mackiewicz, the strongest pillar of the uprising troops. He did not share the fate of the aforementioned leaders, who were executed. According to Andrzej Miłosz, his grandfather managed to avoid death thanks to the guarantees of the community of Old Believers from Iben, who confirmed that he had stayed at the Uzhumiški manor during the uprising skirmishes.

Holy Trinity Church

Another important event in the history of the village is the construction of the Holy Trinity Church in 1664. The church was built thanks to the efforts of Marianna of Łopaciński and Jan Rostworowski. Until 1852, services were held here in Polish and Lithuanian, and later only in Polish. In 1777 a parish school was opened here, which was russified after 1863. The church burnt down in 1817, and a new one was built, thanks to the efforts of Father Mikolaj Kozlowski and his parishioners, in 1826 or 1830. In later years, the church was rebuilt and a bell tower was added.

Bells

Three historical bells were placed here. The largest, weighing 800 kilograms, is dedicated to St John the Baptist. It was a gift to the home church from a benefactor of the parish, the noblewoman Teresa Kaszewska. The medium one, commemorating St Michael the Archangel, weighs 480 kilograms. It was presented to the parish by a nobleman, Michal Kaszewski. The bell is cracked and has not been used for a long time. The smallest of the bells (weighing 320 kilograms) is also the oldest. It was cast in Königsberg in 1721. Its patrons are the apostles Peter and Paul. It so happens that this Peter and Paul called the nation twice to an uprising - first in November and then in January. During the Second World War, the bells were removed and buried in the church courtyard. Due to damage to the beam on which they are hung, they are now rarely used. Pilgrims used to come here to pray in front of the miraculous statue of the Merciful Jesus. During the January Uprising, a local unit fought a battle with the Russians near the village of Ibeny, for which the village was wiped out and the inhabitants exiled to Siberia.

"The Republic of Viadagolsk"

At the end of 1918 and the beginning of 1919, when the independent Lithuanian state was being established, the present-day Vėgaugolė district and part of today's villages of the Kėdainiai and Janov districts were assigned to the Vėgaugolė municipality. Residents of Polish origin from the town of Vėgauliai and its surroundings formed the self-government of their municipality, calling it the "Parish People's Committee", and their own police force. White and red flags then appeared on various institutions in the town. Pro-Polish slogans were heard more and more loudly; it was widely hoped that Pilsudski's legions would enter Vidzagola. They also refused to pay taxes, join the Lithuanian army, and ignored orders written in Lithuanian. The activities of the committee were presided over by manor owners: Chmielewski, Chołod, Helena Skirgajło-Jagiełłowicz and others. Kazimierz Mockus, the then parish priest, also contributed to the organisation of the committee. At that time, Lithuanian officials summoned a detachment of the Lithuanian army stationed in Kaunas to the village. It then ended with verbal arguments and taunts, as well as a tussle with the Shaulis (Union of Lithuanian Riflemen).

Until the Second World War, the majority were Poles (90%). However, the long-lasting Lithuanianisation, forced resettlements and deportations, the lack of Polish schools since World War II, resulted in the depolonisation of Kaunas. However, Poles in the town are still so numerous that in the local church, as the only one in Lauda, mass is also celebrated in Polish.

The cemetery and the grave of the Miłosz family

In the cemetery in Vėgaulė rests the nobility from the surrounding manors and hamlets, which belonged to well-known Polish families in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Miłosz, Wilkiewicz, Chłopicki, Górski and Zabiełłos. Today's residents of Vištiai refer to the traditions of these families.

Representatives of the Miłosz family were also buried in the local cemetery from the 16th century. More representatives of the Milosz family are buried there than are engraved on the tombstones. There are catacombs where the ancestors of the Nobel Prize winner are buried. The poet's family tomb is surrounded by a metal railing, interspersed here and there with widely spread ferns. On the tall tombstone one can read the inscription:

sp. Eugeniusz Edward Arthur Miłosz - Born 20 December 1836 Died. 28 December 1895.

On the second smaller tombstone the inscription reads:

Eleonora née Sopoćka Miłoszowa departed this world in R.1858, aged 60 years.

And below:

S.P. Józef Miłosz b. 1799, d. S.P. Kamilla Miłoszówna d. [...] April. 1860, in the 26th [?] year of her life.

Andrzej Miłosz, who charged the Swedes at Kircholm in 1605 with his Lithuanian hussars, is buried here. Also buried here are the remains of Czesław and Andrzej Miłosz's grandfather, Artur - adjutant to Zygmunt Sierakowski, head of the Kaunas uprising, and Józef - grandfather of Oskar Miłosz and others from this family. Wędziagoła becomes a symbolic entanglement of the Miłosz family with its Lithuanian branch, represented by Czesław and his brother Andrzej, and the Belarusian branch, represented by the writer and Lithuanian diplomat Oskar Miłosz.

The poet will call this place "a microcosm on the Narew River" or "nesting Lithuania". He will describe his nest many times, filling it with the characters of his ancestors, whose history he will learn from family chronicles and stories and archival documents. In his poem "Where the Sun Rises and Whence it Sets", the poet wrote that his father Aleksander was born in Serbiny near Wędziagoła, as the son of Artur Miłosz and Stanisława née Łopacińska. The Miłosz family had lived in Lithuania since at least the 16th century, since the time of the poet's youth was marked by a contract signed by one of them in 1578. Their ancestral seat was precisely Serbiny near Vędziagoła, not far from Szetejń.