5th Annual International Conference of the Baltic Society of Regional Anaesthesia “KAUNAS ECHO” 2019
 
 

CONFERENCE FINISHED. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!

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 (18 km long and up to 300 m wide) 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.


It is hard to imagine Palanga without the Baltic Sea. The Sea is past, present and future of the city. Since the New Stone Age (IV – II c B. C.), the sea has influenced mental and material culture, trading relations of the peoples living here.

A lot of Lithuanian legends are related to the sea. From generation to generation, by the cradle, mothers would narrate their children about the love of the sea goddess Jūratė for the fisherman Kastytis, about the enchanted prince of the sea Žilvinas and Eglė, a fisherman’s daughter, about the giants Naglis and Neringa or priestess Birutė, the wife of Grand Duke Kęstutis.

The origin of the name of Palanga is related to the sea. People say that in ancient times fishermen lived here on the Baltic seashore, and built their huts so close to the water that during storms sea waves rolled over the window-sills meaning “palangė” in Lithuanian. Linguists claim, though, that the name of Palanga is derived from such archaic Baltic words as: palvė, palios, pala, palas (meaning low, marshy area) or from rivers’ names, such as: Palanga, Palangis, Alanga, Langa.
  
 

Places of Interest

In the summer, a multitude of tourists stay on Palanga, both for its beaches and to enjoy the maritime atmosphere. There is a carnival centered 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. The aforementioned 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 Sculptures Garden, one can find 28 contemporary Art 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.
 

 
 
Amber Museum

One of the most recommended museums is the Palanga Amber Museum. The museum was established on August 3, 1963. It is housed on the estate of Count Feliksas Tiskevicius (1865-1932). The estate, designed by German architect Franc Schwechten (1841-1924), was built in 1897. The Palanga Botanical Gardens, designed by the landscape architect Eduard Francois Andre (1840-1911), surround the Estate. The estate palace in neo renaissance style is an inseparable part of the park's ensemble. A. Brusokas restored the palace in 1957. The Count Tiskevicius family resided in the palace until 1941.

A descendant of the Counts, Alfredas Tiskevicius, now lives in Warshaw, On 22 of May 1997 the Council of Palanga town granted the name of HONORARY CITIZEN of Palanga town to Alfredas Tiskevicius.

The Palanga Amber Museum’s exposition takes up 15 rooms. About 4,500 exhibit pieces are found here. Visitors are acquainted with the formation, processing, practical application, and morphological variations of amber. The museum has a wealth of amber pieces with trapped insects or plants, a collection of unique pieces of amber, and examples of fossilized tree resin brought from all over the world.

The Palanga Amber Museum is a branch of the Lithuanian Art Museum. About 8 million people have come to visit the Palanga Amber Museum.

The Museum is becoming famous for its traditional cultural events. For 30 summers now the terrace has been home to the night serenade concerts. Interesting cultural events and meetings with artists take place in the Fireplace Hall of the Estate.
 

 

Sea Pier  

It is difficult to imagine Palanga without the Pier. A superb view of dunes, beaches and limitless sea opens from it. There You can listen to the murmur of the sea, yell of seagulls, watch the sunsets that are different each time. At the end of the XIX c holidaymakers had a lot of inconveniences when reaching Palanga from Liepaja or Klaipėda by carriages. Intending to build a landing stage for ships, in 1884 – 1888 the Count Juozapas Tiškevičius built a pier leading into the sea. A merchant – passenger vessel “Phoenix” used to carry holidaymakers, goods and food from Liepaja. But every time after storms the landing stage was covered with sand and after a few years it was not usable for navigation. In the course of time, the pier has become one of the most important symbols of Palanga resort. Unfortunately, time, sea waves, and wind have been devastating this construction. In 1998 a new pier of 470 metres length was built. Today it is a favourite place for rendezvous, promenades, and saying good-bye to the sun.

 
Palanga city has more very interesting and fascinating place. So we recommend you visit official Palanga tourism information center site: www.palangatic.lt/en