Palanga
Palanga | |
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City | |
UTC+3 (EEST) | |
Postal code | LT-00001 |
Dialing code | 370 |
Website | palanga |
Palanga (; Samogitian: Palonga; Polish: Połąga; German: Polangen) is a resort city in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea.
Palanga is the busiest and the largest summer resort in Lithuania and has
Officially Palanga has the status of a city municipality and includes Šventoji, Nemirseta, Būtingė, Palanga International Airport and other settlements, which are considered as part of the city of Palanga.
Legend
According to legend, there was a
Kęstutis then resorted to take her by force, and with great pomp brought her back to his capital, Trakai, where he invited his kinsmen and celebrated with a lavish wedding..."[5] Kęstutis was later murdered and Birutė returned to Palanga and resumed serving at the shrine until her death. The legend claimed that she was buried in the hill which is now named after her.
History
Not far from Šventoji, archaeologists discovered an encampment which indicates that the area was inhabited some 5,000 years ago. Between the 10th and 13th centuries Palanga had been one of the main settlements of Mēguva Land, inhabited by the Curonians. Situated upon the trail of the ancient Amber Road, it became a centre of trade and crafts.
In historical documents the name of Palanga was first mentioned in 1161 when King Valdemar I of Denmark disembarked there with his army and captured the castle of the Curonians.
Between the 13th and 15th centuries, the inhabitants of Palanga had to confront the
The first small wooden Catholic church in Palanga was built in ~1540 at the behest of Grand Duchess Anna Jagiellon.[8]
The harbour of Šventoji gradually developed into a trading centre. British merchants established enterprises in Šventoji in 1685. During the Great Northern War, in which the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth allied with Saxony, Denmark and Russia against Sweden, the Swedish Army ravaged Palanga, destroyed the harbour at Šventoji, and blocked up the entrance with rocks in 1701.
After the
In 1824, the manor of Palanga was purchased by
The French landscape architect Édouard André designed a large park around the palace, between 1897 and 1907. The palace became a favourite gathering place for concert performances. Amongst the good friends and associates of Feliks Tyszkiewicz was the notary, Jonas Kentra.
Following the
In 1919, after the breakup of the Russian Empire, Palanga temporarily became a part of
Before World War II, nearly half the population of the town was Jewish. The production of decorative objects and jewellery made from amber found on the seashore, for which Palanga is famous, was formerly a Jewish industry. Many Jews also earned their livelihood by providing various services for summer vacationers. Between the world wars Jews were active in local government, serving on the city council as mayor or deputy mayor. The deteriorating economy resulting from antisemitism caused many to immigrate to South Africa, the United States, and Palestine. Soon after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war on June 22, 1941, Palanga was occupied by the Germans and all the Jews were concentrated at the bus station. The males aged 13 and above were taken outside the town and murdered in pits they were forced to dig. The women and children were held for a month in the synagogue, and then executed.
The Tiškevičiai Palace's park was converted into a botanical garden in 1960. Today it contains 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 jewellery and other artifacts. Symphonic concerts as well as other musical festivals and events take place in the summer, usually in the evening.
Location
Palanga is a resort city through which the
Transportation
The municipality is accessed by roads from
Places of interest
In the summer, many tourists come to visit and stay in Palanga, both for its beaches and to enjoy the maritime atmosphere. There is a carnival centred on Jonas Basanavičius Street, which is a pedestrian-only thoroughfare during the high season. There are dozens of restaurants, bars, rides, and other forms of entertainment. A new observation wheel opened in ~2021 scaling 40 meters. It is claimed its to be the tallest wheel in all of the baltic states.
The aforementioned Palanga Amber Museum is open to the public, as are as the museum's extensive botanical gardens. Anaičiai Ethnographic Cemetery holds a collection of 19th- and early 20th-century graves. In the Sculpture Garden, one can find 28 contemporary statues by artists from Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.
Also found in Palanga is one of the oldest operating pharmacies in Lithuania. It was established in the mid-19th century.
The city is also home to a regional radio station, FM Palanga.
Of interest is Villa Anapilis built in 1898 and recently restoresd to its interwar state. Its name refers to the Anapilis mountain, allegedly ther lece of the afterlife in Lithuanian pagan mythology.[11]
Notable people
- Vytautas the Great
- Julius Brutzkus (1870–1951) a Lithuanian Jewish historian, scholar, and politician.
- Bolshevikgovernment in 1922
- Vladas Jurgutis (1885 in Joskaudai near Palanga – 1966 in Vilnius) a Lithuanian priest, economist, and professor
- Liudvikas Narcizas Rasimavičius (born 1938) a Lithuanian politician. In 1990 he was among those who signed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania
- Edmundas Benetis (born 1953) a Lithuanian architect
- Raimundas Palaitis (born 1957) a Lithuanian politician, Minister of the Interior from 2008 to 2012
- Indrė Šerpytytė (born 1983) a Lithuanian artist in London, works with photography, sculpture, installation and painting.
- Renaldas Seibutis (born 1985) a Lithuanian professional basketball player
- Justė Juozapaitytė(born 1994) a Lithuanian model, beauty pageant contestant and entrepreneur.
- Karolis Laukzemis(born 1992) a Lithuanian professional footballer.
Twin towns – sister cities
- Bergen auf Rügen, Germany
- Bucha, Ukraine
- Eilat, Israel
- Jūrmala, Latvia
- Kobuleti, Georgia
- Liepāja, Latvia
- Simrishamn, Sweden
- Ustka, Poland
The city was previously twinned with:[12]
- Chernyakhovsk, Russia
- Primorye, Russia
- Svetlogorsk, Russia
- Svetlogorsky District, Russia
Significant depictions in popular culture
- Palanga is one of the starting towns of Lithuania in the turn-based strategy game Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms.[13]
See also
References
- ^ "GYVENTOJAI GYVENAMOSIOSE VIETOVĖSE" (XLSX). Osp.stat.gov.lt. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Palanga City". Randburg.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
- ^ "Palanga City in Lithuania". Adventures.com. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ a b c Grajauskienė, Livija. "Legendomis apipintasis Birutės kalnas, Šv. Jurgio koplyčia ir Lurdas". Palangostiltas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 11 February 2023.
- ^ "Birute". Pgm.lt. Archived from the original on 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
- ^ a b Matutis, Vidmantas. "Istorikai, kaip ir kunigaikščiai, nerado jūros". Kauno diena (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Dokuments par robežu starp Livoniju un Lietuvu no Dobeles apgabala līdz Sventājas grīvai Latvian translation of the Courland-Lithuanian border treaty of 1426. Source: Bielenstein, A. Grenzen des Lettischen Volksstammes und der Lettischen Sprache in der Gegenwart und im 13. Jahrhundert. Ein Beitrag zur Ethnologischen Geographie und Geschichte Russlands. St.Petersburg: Commissionäre der Kaiserlichen Akädemie der Wissenschaften, 1892. S. 453.
- ^ "Palangos Švč. Mergelės Marijos ėmimo į dangų bažnyčia ir apžvalgos aikštelė". Palangos turizmo informacijos centras (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 11 February 2023.
- ^ "Palanga: History". Pgm.lt. Archived from the original on 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
- ^ Latvijas iegūtās un zaudētās teritorijas, NeoGeolv, November 10, 2011]
- ^ Villa Anapilis In Palanga
- ^ a b "Tarptautinis bendradarbiavimas". palanga.lt (in Lithuanian). Palangos miesto savivaldybė. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
- ^ "Lithuania (M2TW-K-TC faction)". wiki.totalwar.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
External links
- Palanga Tourist Centre (in Lithuanian)
- Palanga Town Council
- Baltic Amber Road
- Historic images of Palanga
- Palanga for tourists
- ^ "Palangos miesto savivaldybė". Retrieved 7 March 2023.