page_title: Palanga
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Palanga / History
caption_attribution_description: Lietuvių: Palangos kurhauzas 2013 m. po atstatymo
context_page_description: Palanga is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea.
  It is the busiest summer resort in Lithuania and has beaches of sand and sand dunes. Officially Palanga has the status of a city municipality and includes Šventoji, Nemirseta, Būtingė and other settlements, which are considered as part of the city of Palanga.
context_section_description: 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 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  In historical documents the name of Palanga was first mentioned in 1161 when the King Valdemar I of Denmark disembarked there with his army and captured the castle of the Curonians.
  Between the 13th and 15th centuries, the inhabitants of Palanga had to 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 capturing the Lithuanian sea-coast from Klaipėda to Šventoji. Although Klaipėda (Memel) passed into the hands of the German feudal lords under the Treaty of Melno, in 1422, Palanga and Šventoji remained under Lithuanian control. The two towns gradually developed into harbours and even greater 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 entrance with rocks in 1701.
  After the Third Partition of Poland and Lithuania in 1795 Lithuania became a part of Russian Empire. In 1819 Palanga came from Vilna Governorate to Grobin County of Courland Governorate.
  Palanga was purchased in 1824 by Count Mykolas Tiškevičius. His grandson Juozas Tiškevičius built a pier and engaged ships 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 taking a stroll and other recreation since 1892. Juozas Tiškevičius's son, Feliksas Tiškevičius, commissioned the construction of the neo-renaissance Tiškevičiai Palace, built by the famous German architect Franz Schwechten in 1897. 
  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 Feliksas Tiškevičius was the notary, Jonas Kentra.
  Following the Lithuanian press ban of 1864, Palanga became an important location for the smuggling of Lithuanian publications from the west. The Rev. Marcijonas Jurgaitis, physician Liudas Vaineikis, and notary Jonas Kentra, played significant roles in this activity. After Kentra obtained official permission, a public performance featuring the comedy, America in the Bathhouse (Amerika pirtyje), was performed in the Lithuanian language. This had previously not been permitted. However, later the Tsarist authorities deported Vaineikis and twenty-five other people to Siberia in 1901.
  In 1919, after the breakup of the Russian Empire, Palanga became a part of Latvia, like the rest of the Courland Governorate. In 1921 the town was peacefully transferred to Lithuania following a Lithuanian-Latvian treaty and giving Lithuania access to the sea.
  In June and August 1941, hundreds of local Jews were executed in the Forest of Palanga.
  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 jewelry and other artifacts. Symphonic concerts as well as other musical festivals and events take place in the summer, usually in the evening.
caption: Kurhauzas (German: resort house)
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