Kruonis

thumb|left|Kruonis church thumb|left|Bohdan Ogiński tombstone in the church of Kruonis Kruonis (, , Kron) is a small town, located east of Kaunas, in Kaunas County, central Lithuania. The name of Kruonis comes from a small creek Kruonė. In 2011 it had a population of 661. The center of Kruonis is a state-protected urbanistic monument. The only in the Baltic States Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant (the KPSP) is situated north of Kruonis. Each year a music festival Renesanso naktys Kruonyje (The Nights of Renaissance in Kruonis) takes place in the church where the classical music of the composers of 16th-17th centuries being performed.

==History== thumb|left|Kruonis (Crono) in the old map of Kingdom of Livonia|Livonia - Livoniae nova descriptio, 1573 In the 15th century, a small settlement started to establish itself around the Kruonis' manor of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. The first church was built in Kruonis by Kazimieras Jogailaitis in 1472. It was built in the Catholic cemetery, using wood. Current Catholic church is located in the building which was built as a Uniate church in 1626 by the colonel of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, distinguished in the battles with the Muscovy, Cossacks and Livonia, Podkomorzy of Trakai Bohdan Ogiński. It was a first Uniate church in Lithuania – its architecture is a rare blend of the styles of Lithuanian Renaissance and Byzantine architecture. In 1628–1629, by the church a monastery of Basilian monks was established. In the beginning of the 17th century, the palatial Renaissance manor was built, but did not survive up to this day, except some ruins – it was badly damaged in 1812 during Napoleonic Wars. The people of Kruonis were active participants of the January Uprising. Many of them after deported to the remote territories in Russia and were replaced by the colonists from Russia which were transferred to Kruonis. The Catholic church was closed in 1866 and demolished by Russian authority as a reaction to January Uprising. In the beginning of the 20th century cultural and social life revived – a branch of the Lithuanian Catholic Women Society (Lietuvių katalikių moterų draugija) was established in 1913, Lithuanian spectacles were shown, Kruonis had a choir.