Palanga - The Summer Capital of Lithuania, Palanga, Lithuania

Palanga on the west coast of Lithuania was founded by a Polish-Lithuanian Count, a member of the Tiškevičiai dynasty. The family had land in both Poland and Lithuania including most of the land that surrounded what was then a small fishing village named Palanga. Around the mid-nineteenth century they used Palanga as a summer retreat and built some splendid wooden villas there including their Palanga Mansion. Many of these wooden villas can still be seen today. When Lithuania achieved independence in 1990 a Register of Immovable Cultural Heritage Properties of the Republic of Lithuania was created and many of these lovely villas were added to this register ensuring their protection. Several of them have been restored and are now being used as restaurants, hotels and residences. All these villas were given names, mostly romantic, which they still retain today. For example, Villa Romeo that stands beside Villa Juliet.

Count Feliksas Tiškevičiai was governor of Palanga from 1891 until 1940. He decided to make Palanga his home and built many more villas and was also responsible for improving the amenities of the town. This including funding the construction of the grandiose, neo-Gothic Most Holy Virgin Mary’s Ascension Church. When this brick church was completed in 1907 it replaced the small wooden Catholic church that had served the town for 140 years. The old wooden church was subsequently demolished. At seventy-six metres high the church is still the tallest building in Palanga and it is generally accepted that no building in town should rise above it.  ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).