Information AboutPalanga |
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Palanga is a Town in western Lithuania , the Capital of Palanga City Municipality . Situated on Baltic Sea it is the busiest Lithuanian holiday resort. MYTH According to legend, there was a pagan shrine at the foot of the hill during the 14th century. That shrine was where a beautiful priestess named Birute used to light ceremonial fires. Having heard about Birute, Kestutis , the Grand Duke of Lithuania , rode over on his horse to take her for his wife. It is written in the Chronicles Of Lithuania that Birute "did not want to agree, and answered that she had promised the gods to guard her virginity as long as she lived. Kestutis took her by force from that place, and with great honor took her back to his capital of Trakai , where he invited his brothers and threw a big wedding...". After Kestutis` murder, Birute returned to Palanga and served the Gods until she died. She is buried in the hill which is now named in her honor. HISTORY Not far from Sventoji, archaeologists have come across a campground which suggests that the area was inhabited some 5,000 years ago. In historical documents the name of Palanga was first mentioned in 1161 when the king of Denmark disembarked there with his army. In the 13th-15th centuries, Palanga had to deal with the Order of the Crusaders in the south and the Knights of the Sword in the north. The enemies never reached their goal of seizing the Lithuanian sea-coast from Klaipeda to Sventoji . Although Klaipeda passed into the hands of the German feudal lords under the 1422 Treaty Of Melne , Palanga and Sventoji remained under Lithuanian rule. The two towns gradually developed into significant trade harbours. British merchants settled in Sventoji in 1685. The prosperity ended in 1701, when the Swedish Army ravaged Palanga, destroyed the Sventoji harbour, and blocked up the wharfs with rocks. 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 Tyszkiewicz 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 . His Gardener Edward André built a large park around the palace in 1897-1907. The palace became a favourite gathering place for intellectual discsussions 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. Alas, the Russian authorities stepped in with Vaineikis and 25 other people punished by deportation to Siberia in 1901. The Tyszkiewicz palace park was converted into a botanical garden in 1960 and today it has 200 different types of trees and shrubs, including an oak tree planted by President Antanas Smetona . The palace, now the ''Amber Museum,'' has a nice display of amber jewelry and other artifacts. Symphony performances are conducted in the summer in the evening. LOCATION Palanga is a resort town through which the Sventoji and Raze Rivers run to the Baltic Sea. Palanga extends from Nemirseta in the south to the Latvian border in the north. The center of the 24 kilometer length of sea - coast is Old Palanga. Palanga includes Nemirseta, Vanagupe, Kunigiskiai, Manciskiai, and Sventoji - five neighboring towns which were incorporated into the city after an administrative reform. SEE ALSO |
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