Pieštvė

Pieštvė
Seredžius, Lithuania
Palemon Hill above Seredžius
Pieštvė
Coordinates	55°4′48″N 23°24′23″E / 55.08000°N 23.40639°E / 55.08000; 23.40639Coordinates: 55°4′48″N 23°24′23″E / 55.08000°N 23.40639°E / 55.08000; 23.40639
Type	Hill fort
Site history
Built	Built before 1293 Rebuilt in 1412
Built by	Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Materials	Wood, earthworks
Fate	Burned down in 1363 Abandoned after 1422
Battles/wars	1293, 1298, 1318, 1319, 1322, 1363
Events	Lithuanian Crusade

Pieštvė (also known as Beisten, Bisten, Pistene, Pista, Pestwa, etc. in medieval chronicles) was a wooden fortress of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Lithuanian Crusade. It stood on a hill fort that is known as Palemon Hill in Seredžius, Jurbarkas District Municipality, Lithuania, located near the confluence of the Neman and Dubysa rivers. It was an important Lithuanian defensive outpost against the Teutonic Order. It was first mentioned in written sources in 1293 and attacked numerous times by the Order. Because it stood near Junigeda (Veliuona), both fortresses were often attacked together. It was burned down in 1363, a year following the fall of Kaunas Castle. It was rebuilt in May 1412 but lost its strategic importance after the Treaty of Melno (1422) and was abandoned. Earlier historians thought that Pieštvė was identical to Bisena.

Archaeological excavations show that people lived on and around the hill fort long before the Teutonic crusade. A burial ground from the 7th century is located about 500 m (1,600 ft) southeast of the hill; it was excavated in the 1980s. At the foot of the hill, towards east and west, there was a settlement from the beginning of the 1st millennium CE to the beginning of the 2nd millennium that covers an area of about 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres).

The 16th-century Lithuanian Chronicles recorded the legend of Lithuanian origin from noble refugees of the Roman Empire. According to the legend, Palemon and his entourage sailed up the Neman River until the mouth of Dubysa. There they saw a tall hill and decided to build the "New Rome". The legends became popular and the hill, where once Pieštvė stood, became known as the Palemon Hill. The historical name was preserved by Pieštvė, a small rivulet that flows by the hill into the Neman, and Peštvėnai, a former village located about 2 km (1.2 mi) north of Seredžius.