Juodšiliai Eldership

Juodšiliai Eldership (Juodšilių seniūnija) is an eldership in Lithuania, located in Vilnius District Municipality, south of Vilnius.

Etymology
The name Juodšiliai means "the black groves" . The village was named sometime after 1920, and takes its name from the surrounding coniferous forests.

Geography and nature
Rudaminėlė, a tributary of Vokė, flows along the northwest border of the eldership.

History
The settlement appeared relatively recently. Until World War I, the area was a forest (named Juodasis Šilas), which was felled by German soldiers. A railway was laid to transport the timber, and a train station was built nearby.

The cleared space near the railway gave rise to a railroad worker village Reslerava.

The scenic area was favoured by the intelligentsia of Vilnius, and a campsite was built there.

In 1919, a school was opened in the village, and a monastery worked between 1920 and 1939. An orphanage also worked from 1924 to 1946.

The construction of a church was started in 1936, but was halted due to the war. After it, the church building was used to establish a foster home, later a hospital, but a fire in 1991 damaged the building. In 2001, the church was returned to its original purpose, and the church was officially inaugurated in 2016.

Populated places
9 villages are located in the eldership, the largest of which are Juodšiliai and Valčiūnai.

Notable locations

 * Juodšiliai Church of the Blessed Mykolas Sopočka
 * Juodšiliai tumulus
 * Dusinėnai tumuli
 * Prūdiškės Manor ruins
 * Writer Józef Mackiewicz farmhouse in Juodšiliai
 * Kelmytė ancient charcoal-burning place

Ethnic composition
According to the 2011 census:


 * Polish - 46.1%
 * Lithuanian - 27.9%
 * Russian - 13.7%
 * Belarusian - 6.8%

Notable people

 * Uršulė Leduchovska (1865-1939), nun, actively helped the impoverished and young women. Recognized as a saint in 2003.
 * Mykolas Sopočka (1880-1975), catholic priest, professor of theology, who sheltered in the village from Soviet deportations.
 * Józef Mackiewicz (1902-1985), Polish writer, publicist and politician. Lived in Juodšiliai during the Soviet occupation.