Klaipeda tourist information
Lithuania's third largest city is located at the narrow strait linking the Curonian Lagoon to the Baltic Sea. Today, Klaipėda has a population of more than 206,000 and is vital to Lithuania's economy as the country's main seaport.
Archaeological evidence reveals that this area was once densely populated by the Balts, ancestors to Lithuanians. From the 9th century, their lands were perpetually raided by the Vikings. From the 13th century, the site suffered new invasions by German feudal lords and the Teutonic Order. In a move to consolidate its governance over the territory, in 1252 the Order erected a castle on the delta of the river Danė, named it Memelburg and used it to control the strait between the mainland and the Curonian Spit. After this, Lithuania's main waterway trade route via the Nemunas river to the Curonian Lagoon, Baltic Sea and so to Gotland and Scandinavia was sealed shut.
The site, now controled by the Teutonic Order, was a natural harbour around which a town soon developed (to the east of the castle). In some years the town of Memel was granted similar rights as had the Hanseatic towns of Dortmund (1254) and Lubeck (1258). But, it was a foreign encroachment, a tiny wedge of German territory carved out of Lithuania and for many centuries the native people were subjected to political and economic oppression and denied their true identity. This situation only changed with the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, which took the territory from Germany and temporarily placed it under French control. In 1923, the Lithuanian government seized control of the Klaipėda region from the French, the region was soon recognized a part of Lithuania by the international community.
Klaipėda has developed into a modern city, with the characteristic quays and warehouses of a port, and with clusters of old German fachwerk buildings. The city centre has an eclectic mixture of buildings in various styles, including the old City Hall, the neo-gothic Post Office, the former Louise Gymnasium, the theatre and some private houses. The old town itself is laid out in a rectangular network of streets dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, where it is still possible to see remains of the old castle and citadel, sections of the castle towers, ramparts, bastions, ditches, ravelins and other medieval defenses. At Kopgalis, a restored fortress houses a Marine Museum, Aquarium, and dolphinarium.
Klaipeda aerial map
Please click on any icon on the Klaipeda aerial tourist map, to find close by places, offering hotels and tourist information. You can zoom in and zoom out our touristical map as well as switch between satelite and map view of Klaipeda.
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