Palanga
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| Palanga | |||
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| Nickname: Vasaros sostinė (Summer Capital) | |||
  Palanga
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Lithuania |
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| Ethnographic region | Samogitia | ||
| County | Klaipėda County | ||
| Municipality | Palanga city municipality | ||
| Capital of | Palanga city municipality | ||
| First mentioned | 1253 | ||
| Granted city rights | 1791 | ||
| Population (2001) | |||
| - Total | 17,623 | ||
| - Rank | 21st | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
.png/100px-Coat_of_arms_of_Palanga_(Lithuania).png)
Palanga (pronunciation ) is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, the capital of Palanga city municipality. Situated on the shore of the Baltic Sea it is the busiest Lithuanian summer resort with beautiful sand beaches (18 km long and in some places about 300 m wide), dunes and an unspoilt natural environment.[1]
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[edit] Myth
According to a legend, there was a pagan shrine at the foot of a hill during the 14th century. That shrine was where a beautiful priestess named Birutė used to light ceremonial fires. Having heard about Birutė, Kęstutis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, rode over on his horse to take her for his wife. It is written in the Lithuanian Bychowiec Chronicle[2] that Birutė "did not want to agree, and answered that she had promised the gods to guard her virginity as long as she lived. Kęstutis took her by force, and with great honor took her back to his capital of Trakai, where he invited his brothers and threw a big wedding...". After Kęstutis' murder, Birutė returned to Palanga and served the Gods until she died. She is buried in the hill which is now named in her honor.
[edit] History
Not far from Šventoji[3], archaeologists have come across a campground which suggests that the area was inhabited some 5,000 years ago. During the 10th and 11th centuries Palanga had been one of the main settlements of Mēguva Land, inhabited by the Curonian tribe, the center of trade and crafts.
In historical documents the name of Palanga was first mentioned in 1161 when the King Valdemar I of Denmark disembarked there with his army and captured the castle which was held by the Curonians.
Between the 13th and 15th centuries, the inhabitants of Palanga had to militarily confront the Teutonic Knights in the south and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the north. Their adversaries were unable to achieve their goal of seizing the Lithuanian sea-coast from Klaipėda to Šventoji. Although Klaipėda (Memel) passed into the hands of the German feudal lords under the 1422 Treaty of Melno, Palanga and Šventoji remained under Lithuanian control. The two towns gradually developed into significant harbours and centers of trade. British merchants established enterprises in Šventoji in 1685. During the Great Northern War, the Swedish Army ravaged Palanga, destroyed the harbour at Šventoji, and blocked up the wharfs with rocks in 1701.
Palanga was purchased in 1824 by Count Michał Tyszkiewicz. His grandson Józef Tyszkiewicz built a pier and acquired a ship to transport passengers and bricks to nearby Liepāja. Palanga began to develop as a resort in the early 19th century. The pier has been a favourite spot for strolling and promenading since 1892. Józef Tyszkiewicz's son, Feliks Tyszkiewicz, built a neo-renaissance palace in 1897. Famous French landscape architect Édouard André designed a large park around the palace, constructed in 1897-1907. The palace became a favourite gathering place for intellectual discussions and concert performances. Prominent among the good friends and advisors of Feliks Tyszkiewicz was the notary, Jonas Kentra.
Following the 1864 ban on the printing of Lithuanian books and newspapers in Latin characters, Palanga had become an important point for the smuggling of Lithuanian publications. Rev. Marcijonas Jurgaitis, physician Liudas Vaineikis and Notary Jonas Kentra played leading roles in this action of cultural contraband. They organized an extensive network of smuggling and dissemination of the clandestine press. With Kentra gaining official approvals, a public gathering in 1899 featured the comedy Amerika pirtyje (America in the Bath) performed in Lithuanian. Unfortunately, the Tsarist authorities stepped in with Vaineikis and twenty-five people were punished by deportation to Siberia in 1901.
The Tyszkiewicz palace park was converted into a botanical garden in 1960 and today it has two hundred different types of trees and shrubs, including an oak tree planted by President Antanas Smetona. The palace, now the Palanga Amber Museum, has an extensive collection of amber jewelry and other artifacts. Symphony performances are conducted in the summer, usually in the evening. It is a very popular place for relaxation with delightful walks behind the dunes and through the park.
[edit] Location
Palanga is a resort town through which the Šventoji River and Rąžė (Samogitian: Ronžē) rivers flow into the Baltic Sea. Palanga municipality extends from Nemirsėta in the south to the Latvian border in the north. The center of the 24 kilometer length of sea - coast is Old Palanga. Palanga is historically subdivided to Nemirsėta, Vanagupė, Kunigiškiai, Manciškiai, and Šventoji - five neighboring fishermen villages which were incorporated into the city after an administrative reform. When Palanga was part of Germany, Nemirsėta was the northernmost village of that country.
[edit] Places of interest
During the summer, hordes of tourists descend on Palanga, both for the beach and the seaside carnival centered on J. Basanavičius Street, which is a pedestrian thoroughfare during the summer months. There are dozens of restaurants, bars, rides, sideshows, and other entertainment, most featuring bright lights, loud music, and thousands of people on the weekends. The previously-mentioned Amber Museum is located within an extensive botanical garden.
There is one of the oldest still working drugstores in Lithuania, established in the mid-19th century. The city is home to a regional radio station, FM Palanga.
[edit] See also
