Clapeida's Old Town

The old town of Klaipeda is located on the left bank of the Dana River. It has preserved all the outlines and atmosphere of times long gone. On its narrow streets lives the history of Lithuania and houses, renovated in a modern way, peacefully coexist with German half-timber buildings. Since its foundation, in 1252, the city was called Memel and belonged to the Germans.

Lithuanians were forbidden to live in old Klaipeda and settled in its vicinity. During World War II, Soviet troops entered the city and occupied it, and after the victory, all Germans were sent to their historical homeland. For a while, Memel remained abandoned, but later voices were heard again on its streets, and windows were lit in the houses. The city was inhabited by Lithuanians, Belarusians and Russians. The same national composition remains in it to this day. At the expense of budget financing, the central part of the Old City, which suffered greatly during the war, is gradually restored and reconstructed.

From the architectural buildings that have survived to this day, one can distinguish part of the fort on the Curonian Spit and some fragments of the Memelburg Castle, as well as narrow medieval streets that delineate the city into even parts. Walking on them you can spend hours looking at the pretty houses of merchants and burghers, built of stone with a wooden cobblestone frame. And around the corner to meet a bizarre little bronze sculpture. An eared mouse, a cat, a Doberman peeking out of a house near an old market, a chimney sweep sitting on the roof of a house on Curpiu Street - all of them can bring luck to someone who rubs their nose, button or ear.

There is a house in old Klaipeda that tells tourists and everyone who is interested in it, the history of the name of the city. It stands on Thurgaus Street and is known for its three-meter red dragon, from the mouth of which a stream of water flows during the rain and falls on the trail of a human foot. According to legend, the imprint left one of the two brothers of the ancient pagan tribe. When people needed a new land suitable for life, the brothers Wolf and Deer went in search of it. They parted ways. The deer went to the coast, saw the sand and sea surface and decided that this was their new home. The wolf never came back. Only one of his tracks found the Deer in the swamps. He gave the name to the city, because "klampi peda" is translated from Lithuanian as "sweep trail".