Juodšiliai Eldership

The name Juodšiliai means "the black groves" . The village was named sometime after 1920, and takes its name from the surrounding coniferous forests.[2]

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

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.[3]

The cleared space near the railway gave rise to a railroad worker village Reslerava.[3]

The scenic area was favoured by the intelligentsia of Vilnius, and a campsite was built there.[2]

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.[2]

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.[2]

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

• 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

According to the 2011 census:[4]

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

• 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.

• 
  Church of Juodšiliai
• 
  Juodšiliai in 2013
• 
  Prūdiškės in 2014
• 
  Miškiniai
• 
  Former railway station at Valčiūnai