title: Ažytėnai
text: # Ažytėnai
  
  Ažytėnai (formerly Polish: Ożytany, Russian: Ожетаны, Ожитаны) is a village in Kėdainiai district municipality, in Kaunas County, in central Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, the village had a population of 239 people. It is located 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from Krakės, by the Ažytė river and its tributary Ažytėlė. There are library, school, medicine station, agriculture cooperative.
  
  Ažytėnai is famous for being a living place of Lithuanian writer, agronomist Mikalojus Katkus (1852–1944). His house now is a memorial museum.
  
  ## History
  
  On 1 April 1863 a big battle of the January Uprising occurred between Ažytėnai and Lenčiai villages. About 600 insurgents, led by Bolesław Kajetan Kolyszko, Bolesław Roman Dłuski and K. Ciszkewicz had confronted Russian imperial army. In 1910 the first school was opened in Ažytėnai.
  
  During the Soviet era, Ažytėnai was a kolkhoz center and between 1950 and 1963 a selsovet center.
  
  ## Demography
  
  | Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1859 | 370 | — |
  | 1902 | 450 | +0.46% |
  | 1923 | 312 | −1.73% |
  | 1959 | 265 | −0.45% |
  | 1970 | 236 | −1.05% |
  | Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
  | 1979 | 289 | +2.28% |
  | 1984 | 253 | −2.63% |
  | 1989 | 322 | +4.94% |
  | 2001 | 314 | −0.21% |
  | 2011 | 239 | −2.69% |
  
  Source: 1902, 1923, 1959 & 1970, 1979, 1989, 2001, 2011 :
  
  ## Images
  
  * Mikalojus Katkus house
  * A barn in the Mikalojus Katkus homestead
  * Traditional house in Ažytėnai
  * Village cross
  