Palanga’s Invisible Side Shown: The Beach Of Rich Dating Ads And The House Of Stormy Fun

Although Palanga has been the inviolable leader of Lithuanian resorts for many years, most tourists come here for just two things: the beach and night entertainment. Going deeper into other things, looking for some special curiosities? Many don’t even think about it or are lazy, so the setting for a vacation from year to year is the same. The sea and the western street of Basanavičiaus with its restaurants and bars.

I did a test and asked some people specifically what they knew about this complex, maybe they heard its story, maybe they read some interesting facts. Unfortunately, passersby shook hands. “I remember there was a very good barbecue here, and we danced there at the” Laukių vakarų salūna “a couple of years ago, I don’t know anything else,” Laima laughed out loud when he came on vacation from Joniškis. The boy who accompanied her also recalled that in her childhood, when there were no mobile phones, there was a long line of people standing at the Palanga post office who wanted to call loved ones on a public phone. “The only historical fact that I remember,” explained the athletic guy, who did not want to make his name public.

The facts may be historical, but not as important and significant as a professional guide, the historian Agnė Adomaitytė, may say. A few years ago, he worked at the popular Turkish resort of Kemer, where he met groups of Lithuanian tourists. Finally realizing that the job was not for her, Agnė returned to live in her native Klaipėda and began working as a guide in nearby Palanga.

“I realized that most tourists lack basic knowledge: who founded this resort, where it all started, what the beaches were like, how people rested.” Together with our colleagues, we gathered many historical facts and prepared a two-hour excursion, during which we revealed the special side of Palanga, “says Agnė and is pleased that many tourists are surprised. Not a single person after such a walk admitted that after a tour of this complex you will see yourself with different eyes. “Since ancient times, not only the main streets of the city have survived, but also some houses that had great significance for the history of Palanga,” explains the guide.

Agnė begins the tour from the Jonas Basanavičius monument. It is a sad fact that most tourists know the patriarch of the nation and the central street that bears his name well, but they cannot even imagine where the monument dedicated to him is located.

“Right in front of Basanavičiaus Street, you will see his monument, next to the photo vendors, on the corner,” shows the guide. Tourists also cannot respond to what used to be called the noisiest and most popular street in the city. “Basanavičiaus Street was Grafų Tiškevičiai Alley, because it was they who turned a small fishing village, Palanga, into a thriving complex,” says the tour organizer.

Alongside the legendary Palanga Kurhaus, the guide shows old photos of this important building and reveals that it was the first entertainment venue in Palanga. Here not only dances and concerts were held, but even games of chance.

There was so much stormy fun that they were talked about even in foreign countries, so foreigners also liked to come here. True, the reputation of the Palanga Kurhaus was not bad, only a select audience could enter, who knew how to have fun in their minds, control themselves and not cause scandals, and here are the stories about parties at the Nemirseta Kurhaus near Palanga. “Everything seemed much worse there, there was alcohol, fights, etc.,” says the historian.

Little is known of another interesting fact: the Agnė guide stops at the old Palanga cinema “Naglis” and asks tourists what makes this place special. He hardly ever gets the correct answer, and then he takes a historical photo and shows who was in that place before. “It is hard to believe, but this was the first manor house in Tiškevičiai. Wooden, modest-looking,” says the guide. And around it, on the corner of today’s Vytautas and Basanavičiaus streets near the Kurhaus and the Hall of Concerts Palanga, all the life of the city was boiling, and the luxurious wooden villas were at that time.

One of the old wooden houses, on what is now Kęstučio Street, currently houses the Palanga Civil Registry Office. In this place, the guide tells about the fact that in the old days, around 1925-1930, Palanga was a tourist center for girls and single women. It is joked that at the time there were ten women per man. The singles were going on vacation and trying to find, if not a permanent gentleman, at least a temporary lover. As now, tourist novels flourished, and Palanga’s then-newspaper Pliažas even had a separate column in which men and women openly sought the other side. “It just came to our attention then. They wrote where, what time they saw the person, described their appearance and offered to get to know each other better,” says the Agnė guide.

Today, it is popular to relax in spas, and at that time there were specialized bathing places in Palanga. The guide takes us to show the surviving buildings and says that the representatives of the Tiškevičiai family had the goal of expanding the network of bathing areas and wanted tourists to come to our summer capital throughout the year, regardless of the weather.

The wealthy of that time liked bathing much more than the sea, so many did not even step on the Baltic. Like many people today going to Turkey to rest and lie by the pool all the time, without seeing the sea, it was similar then.

Tourists are more interested in stories about current beach rules. For example, guide Agnė reveals that in Tiškevičiai’s time there was a strict division: rich and noble people rested on the left side of the bridge, and peasants and fishermen could sunbathe and swim on the right side, where it is located. currently the Palanga rescue station.

Men and women went to the beach at different times, with precise times written on the tables whenever possible. Women burn, then men come. Another rule strictly specified the time until which one could swim in the sea. The public accepted that at 5 pm all tourists should dress, since it is at this time that it is time to walk. Couples flooded the beach.

At that time, there was exceptional service in Palanga: the ladies of the nobility, who did not want to stain their luxurious bathing suits and sand-covered legs, ordered a special carriage with a horse. He brought a wooden post similar to an outside toilet a little closer to the shore so the lady could jump straight into the sea. They bathed a little, then went back up and the horse carried the carriage to shore. It sounds strange enough, but at the time it seemed completely normal and even modern.

The guide ends the tour for a couple of hours with a story about the times of President Antanas Smetona, shows him where he was resting and tells him with which team he came on vacation. It is interesting that the President has spent up to six weeks in Palanga and has dragged two personal rescuers to the beach.

Tours called “Old, Dear, Unknown Palanga” can be ordered on Facebook, on the page “Weekend tours” or by contacting the Agne guide in person at [email protected], the price of educational entertainment per person is of 12 euros.