Grand Duchy of Lithuania Ašmena is mentioned first as a town in the
Duchy of Vilnius in the 1350s. The first reliable mention of Ašmena is in the
Lithuanian Chronicles, which tells that after
Gediminas' death in 1341,
Jaunutis inherited the town. In 1384, the
Teutonic Order attacked and destroyed the town with the goal of destroying Jogaila's hereditary state. The Teutons recorded the town as "Aschemynne". The Teutons managed to destroy the town, but it quickly recovered. By 1384, there is a manor of the
Grand Duke of Lithuania in Ašmena. The
Roman Catholic was built after 1387. This church was one of the first in the whole of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The church was administrated by the
Franciscans. In 1402, the Teutons attacked once more, but were bloodily repelled, so the Teutons withdrew to
Medininkai. In 1413, the town became one of the most notable
trade and
commerce centres within the
Vilnius Voivodship. Hence, in 1432 Ashmyany became the site of an important battle between the royal forces of
Jogaila under
Žygimantas Kęstutaitis and the forces of
Švitrigaila, who was allied with the
Teutonic Order. After the town was taken by the royalists, it became the private property of the
Grand Dukes of Lithuania and started to develop rapidly.
Hanseatic trade routes passed through the town in the 15th century. On 1 September 1432, Švitrigaila was deposed from the throne in Ašmena. On 8 December 1432, Ašmena was the site of the
Battle of Ašmena between
Švitrigaila and
Sigismund Kęstutaitis. There was a residential palace in Ašmena from the early 15th century to the end of the 18th century. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven burnt down in 1505, but was rebuilt. The
Muscovite army destroyed and burnt Ašmena to the ground in 1519, during the
Fourth Lithuanian–Muscovite War. The town was granted the
Magdeburg rights in the 16th century. From 1566, Ašmena was the centre of the . Ashmyany did not recover as quickly as previously after 1519, and in 1537 the town was granted several royal privileges to facilitate its reconstruction. In 1566, the town finally received
Magdeburg rights, which were confirmed in 1683 (along with the privileges for the local merchants and burghers) by King
John III Sobieski. In the 16th century the town was one of the most notable centers of
Calvinism in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, after
Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł founded a college and a church there.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Muscovite army occupied Ašmena in 1655. Due to the widespread destruction and impoverishment during the
Deluge, the town was exempt from taxes in 1655, 1661 and 1667. In 1667, the
Dominican Order was built. In 1792, King
Stanisław August Poniatowski confirmed all previous privileges and the fact, that
Oszmiany, as it was then called, was a free city, subordinate only to the king and the local city council. With this, the town received its first ever
Coat of arms. Composed of three fields, it featured a
shield, a hand holding
scales and the bull from
Ciołek coat of arms, the monarch's personal coat of arms. During the
Uprising of 1794, Ašmena was the site of the insurgent staff under
Jokūbas Jasinskis. At the same time, an insurgent group led by
Mykolas Kleopas Oginskis was organised in the town.
Russian Partition In 1795, the town was annexed by the
Russian Empire in the last
Partition of Poland–Lithuania. The Church of Saint Michael the Archangel burnt down in 1797 but was rebuilt. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven was also rebuilt in bricks in 1812; however, the church decayed over the 19th century. During the
French invasion of Russia, the Grande Armée took over Ašmena in 1812, and during several battles, the town partially burnt down.
November Uprising (1830-1831) During the
November Uprising, it was liberated by the town's citizens, led by a local priest, Jasiński, and Colonel Count
Karol Dominik Przeździecki. However, in April 1831, in the face of a Russian offensive, the fighters were forced to withdraw to the
Naliboki forest. After a minor skirmish with Stelnicki's rearguard, the Russian punitive expeditionary force of some 1,500 officers and soldiers proceeded to burn the town and
massacre the civilian population, including some 500 women, children and elderly, who sought refuge in the
Dominican Catholic Church. Even the local priest was murdered. Nothing is known of the fate of Ashmyany's Jews. In the
Uprising of 1831, the
Imperial Russian Army razed the town and
massacred 150 locals in one of the town's churches.
Rebuilding In 1845, as the town was rebuilding, it received a new coat of arms, in recognition of its population increase. It never recovered from its earlier losses, and by the end of the 19th century it became rather a provincial town, inhabited primarily by Jewish immigrants from other parts of Russia 'beyond the
Pale'. The Church of Saint Michael the Archangel was closed down in 1850, but rebuilt in 1900–10. In the late 19th century, a tavern was built and the Russian authorities built a
Russian Orthodox church. In 1912 the local Jewish community built a large synagogue.
World War I After the end of World War I and the withdrawal of the
German army from the German-ruled
Lithuania District in 1919, Ashmyany came under Polish jurisdiction. According to the
Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty, signed on 12 July 1920, Ašmena was part of Lithuania. However, the Lithuanian territory was seized by the
Polish Army that same year. After the
Polish–Soviet War, Ashmyany was given to Poland by the
Peace of Riga.
In interwar Poland It was a county center, first of
Wilno Land, then of
Wilno Voivodeship during Polish rule. The town was capital of Oszmiana County. According to the census from 1931, Poles constituted 81% of the inhabitants of the Oszmiana County. On the other hand, Poles and Jews dominated the town of Oszmiana.
World War II Following the Soviet-German
invasion of Poland in 1939, the
Soviet Union occupied the area until 1941. Ashmyany was given to the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Ashmyany was a
raion center in
Vileyka Region between 1939 and 1941. At the very end of the Soviet occupation, on the night of June 22 and morning of June 23, 1941, the
NKVD murdered and buried in one mass grave 57 Polish prisoners from Ashmyany. The town was captured by German forces on June 25, 1941. Around two weeks later, the Germans committed a massacre of some 40 Jews and Poles, accused of collaboration with the Soviets. After the Wehrmacht drove out the Soviet occupiers, the town was part of the
Generalbezirk Litauen in
Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941–1944. On July 26, 1941, the
Einsatzkommando 9 committed a massacre of 527 adult male Jews. Either in September or October 1941, a
ghetto was established for Jews from the town and nearby villages. The Jews were subjected to overcrowding, foot shortages and single executions. In August 1942, 280 Jews (80 men and 200 women) were deported to
forced labour in German-occupied Lithuania. On 23 October 1942, the German occupiers with the participation of the Jewish Police from
Wilno rounded up and massacred 406 elderly Jews. In March and April 1943, the ghetto was liquidated and Jews were deported to forced labour camps in occupied Lithuania or to the
Vilna Ghetto, whereas 713 people were massacred in the
Ponary massacre. On July 7, 1944, it was reoccupied by the
Red Army during the
Vilnius offensive. In 1945, the town was annexed by the USSR to the
Byelorussian SSR. After 1944, the town was once more part of Vileyka Region, and between 1944 and 1960 it was incorporated into
Molodechno Region until that region was disestablished. At that point Ashmyany became part of the
Grodno Region, where it remains today.
Recent history Since 1991, it has been a part of
Belarus. ==Climate==