Blogger Evgeniy Zolotukhin writes:
The streets and houses in this place are like the scenery from a beautiful movie. Cleanliness, silence and incredible comfort envelop these places, and people live here, and other people can come here, this is definitely the best place in Lithuania. The stunning resort village of Nida is located on the Curonian Spit, literally on the border with Russia
The Curonian Spit is a narrow and long sandy strip of land separating the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The length of the spit is almost 100 kilometers, somewhere in the middle there is the state border of Russia and Lithuania. On the territory of the spit there is a huge number of unique representatives of flora and fauna, for which the Curonian Spit is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Lithuania occupies approximately half of the spit, which is about 50 kilometers, and several thousand people live on this territory. On the spit is the city of Neringa, stretching for all of 50 kilometers and consisting of four resort villages: Juodkrante, Pervalka, Preila and Nida. Nida is the administrative center of Neringa; this village is located literally immediately beyond the border crossing.
The first mentions of a settlement with the name Nida in the chronicles of the Teutonic Order date back to 1429 and 1497. For a long time, the main activity of the local population was fishing. In Soviet times, a resort was built here for the Soviet nomenklatura. In recent years, bicycle paths have been organized in Nida, everything has been put in order and the village has been turned into a real European resort.
The entire territory of the spit is protected, and construction is prohibited here, so most of the houses here were built at the beginning of the last century. But look what they look like! It's like something out of a fairy tale!
It's hard to believe that this is not a set for some movie, that this is all real! Considering that it is impossible to build anything new here, and the village is a tourist one, almost every house has a small private hotel.
The houses are almost 100 years old.
By Lithuanian standards, Nida is an expensive place, but here you can meet a huge number of German pensioners vacationing.
House by the sea (bay).
Fabulous place!
There are no major attractions, large monuments, there is a small fountain and benches in front of it, and it’s incredibly nice here.
Wooden sculptures are very common on the Lithuanian side of the spit; they are everywhere here.
The central square of Nida.
You can ride a bicycle to the very end of the spit, and then take a ferry to Klaipeda. Many take this opportunity and simply leave for a day to ride around the territory of the spit.
There are dozens of walking routes around the village. There is nothing unusual in this forest, but walking here is good and pleasant.
While walking along the routes, you can periodically find yourself in different interesting places. For example, a sundial, and yes, it really shows the correct time!
Sand dunes, exactly the same as in Russia.
And here is Russia, hundreds of meters from the border.
A little evening Nida.
Old fishermen's weather vanes have now become symbols of the modern resort.
And there is such a thing here :)
Neringa and Nida are the most worthy places in Lithuania, a must-visit for anyone!
Several years ago I visited the Curonian Spit from the Russian side. And since then I really wanted to drive it completely - comparisons for. True, this time it didn’t work out completely anyway - we had a one-time entry into the Schengen zone and big plans for Europe ahead. But we were able to see what the Lithuanian part of the braid looks like and the post is just about that. True, there are no highly artistic photographs under the cut, but you can get a general idea. In case anyone needs...
Unlike “our” part, you can only get to the spit from this side by ferry. It’s easy to find: drive into Klaipeda and follow the signs. The ferry runs frequently, I can’t say for sure, it seems like once every 20 minutes. 
There are several villages on this part of the Curonian Spit, the most popular of which are Nida and Juodkrante. They are built up with approximately the same houses, although there are prettier and taller ones. Typically hotels. 
And there are also such... Several “streets” of garage houses. In some, the lower part has also been converted into a living room. 
In Juodkrante there is one of the popular places on the Curonian Spit -. 
The name appeared a long time ago: at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, Jonines was celebrated on this hill (the holiday of Ivan Kupala in our opinion) and they looked for fern flowers in the night. Wooden sculptures began to appear here in 1979 - this year the first gathering of woodcarvers and blacksmiths took place. Now they come here almost every year. All figures are related to folklore - fairy tale heroes, devils, witches. 
Juodkrante also has a museum of weather vanes, a park of stone sculptures on the embankment and Amber Bay. In 1861, in Juodkrante, our amber treasure was discovered, in which jewelry and amulets from the Stone Age were discovered. 
The Curonian Spit is a unique place. On one side is the salty Baltic Sea, and on the other is the fresh Curonian Lagoon. Its total length is 98 kilometers, now it is divided almost in half between countries: Lithuania accounts for 50 kilometers. The narrowest point of the spit is 400 meters (it is on the Russian side), and the widest is 3.8 kilometers in the Nida area. 
The highest point is Mount Vetsekrugo with a height of 67.2 meters. The spit consists almost entirely of sand. The soil layer to which the plant’s roots manage to cling is only a few centimeters. At the same time, at the moment, 70% of the spit has managed to be overgrown with forest. The Curonian Spit began to be landscaped artificially in the 19th century. 
The flora is quite diverse - about 960 different species. The fauna is not so diverse, but not everything is bad either. At the end of the 19th century, moose began to be bred here and a cult of this animal was created. Now, they say, the livestock is no longer the same, but there are a lot of wild boars. By the way, there are no wolves on the spit. 
Not far from Nida (its roofs turn red there) there is an observation deck at an altitude of 52 meters. In the center there is something symbolizing a sundial. The height of this stone column is almost 14 meters, which allowed it to collapse safely during a hurricane. Later, the “tip” was built on and now this structure pleases with its colorful colors. 
Unfortunately, we don’t have any photographs of Nida: it was already getting dark and time was running out - we had to catch the ferry. Therefore, you will have to take my word for it that Nida is a very nice and cozy place. Or check it yourself...
The whitish sandy beaches of Neringa stretch in a strip 25-70 meters wide along the coast of the Baltic Sea. They are equipped according to all European standards, including special descents, telephones and toilets for the disabled, and are kept impeccably clean. This allowed local beaches to acquire the honorary “Blue Flag” - an international certificate guaranteeing the safety and environmental friendliness of the territory.
Tourist Information Centers:
- Nida - Tajkos, 4, tel.: 8 469 523 45, fax: 8 469 525 38, [email protected]
- Juodkrante - L.Rezos, 54, tel.: 8 46 534 90
How to get there
By plane or train to Vilnius, Kaunas, Kaliningrad, then by bus routes Vilnius-Nida, Kaunas-Nida, Kaliningrad-Nida. Bus schedule on the website. From Klaipeda, you can only get to Kos by ferry. The old ferry (lit. Senoji Perk?la) connects the final bus stop in Smiltyne and the center of Klaipeda, transporting passengers only. The new crossing is equipped with ferries transporting all types of transport. Domestic routes: Nida-Smiltyne bus, minibus connecting Nida bus station with the beach (only in summer), bus from the old ferry crossing to the Maritime Museum. If you prefer to use your own or rented car, then the only Zelenogradsk-Klaipeda highway is at your service. It passes through Lesnoye, the outskirts of Rybachy and Juodkrante, with exits branching off to the rest of the villages. Throughout its entire length, the highway has only one lane in each direction. Entry into the territory of the National Park is paid. The Alksnine post is equipped with payment machines that accept only cash and only banknotes; change is issued in coins. When paying on the panel, you need to select one of the buttons corresponding to the vehicle being paid for. Thus, travel for a passenger car with a capacity of up to 9 people in the summer will cost 5 EUR. The nearest ATMs are located next to the crossing.Part of the European cycling route R1 runs along the Lithuanian side of the Curonian Spit - from Nida to Smiltyne. In the vicinity of other villages there are local bicycle paths. The bicycle routes Nida - Klaipeda, Klaipeda-Palanga-Latvian border and Klaipeda - Silute - Rusne are also open.
Popular hotels in Curonian Spit
Entertainment and attractions of the Curonian Spit
The northern half of the Curonian Spit, which is part of Lithuania, is the Curonian Neria National Park (26.5 thousand hectares), which in 2000 was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The uniqueness of the Curonian landscape lies in the endless sand dunes, reaching up to 70 meters in height and stretching in a continuous chain for tens of kilometers. The spit is also located on the White Sea-Baltic migration route for migratory birds, which stop here to feed and rest. The approximate number of feathered “nomads” reaches 10-20 million per season, among them there are rare endangered species. The exhibition of the Kursiu Neria Museum of Nature tells in detail about the geographical and geological features of the formation of the landscape, about archaeological finds, about the flora and fauna of the region.Sights of Neringa
You can get acquainted with the history of the region and the Curonians, the people who originally inhabited these lands, in the Historical Museum of Neringa (Pamario St., 53, Nida). Here are finds from the Stone Age, an exhibition dedicated to traditional local crafts, including crow catching, photographs, documents and items from family and state archives. Another source of local history is the Ethnographic Fisherman's Estate (Naglyu St., Nida), located in one of the residential buildings of Old Nida (circa 1900). The decoration, furniture, utensils and the organization of the interior itself represent a living illustration of the fishing life of the late nineteenth - early. XX century. Here, near the house, there are 4 original fishing vessels: from a boat to a kurenas.
Sights of Nida
The miniature Amber Museum (20 Pamario St., Nida) tells about the origin of Baltic amber, its rich morphology - external features: from transparency to different shades, and the history of local fishing. Here you can also see a unique collection of inclusions - minerals with insects inside. The museum's gallery offers designer jewelry and accessories that differ from most local products in their original modern design. And in the exhibition hall of the Nida cultural center “Agila” (street, Taikos 4) you can view and buy paintings, graphic works, sculptures and photographs by Lithuanian artists.
Sights of Juodkrante
Near the village of Juodkrante lies the Mountain of Witches - a sacred place professing the old Vedic cults, the Curonians. During the Inquisition, pagans from all over Europe flocked to this mountain, then resting on a small island and perfectly protected from the “guardians of law and order” by shallow waters, to worship the forces of nature and the Mother Goddess. In the XIX - early In the 20th century, residents of Lithuania Minor loved to celebrate the summer solstice here - Jonines. Guests, choristers and musicians from Klaipeda, Tilsit, Rusne came to the spit on sailing boats and small steamships. During the Nazi era, they tried to revive ancient Germanic and Aryan cults on the mountain. At the end of the 1970-1980s, a park of wooden sculptures appeared on a sacred hill, carved by Lithuanian craftsmen and illustrating scenes from local ancient beliefs and epics. In the gallery of Daiva and Remigijus Zadeikis (G. Rezos str. 13, Juodkrante) - Weathervane Galleries - you can find out about all the secrets of Kush weathervanes, the color, shape and combination of plot elements of which are by no means accidental. This space also hosts various ethnographic and historical exhibitions and fairs selling paintings, graphics, sculpture, ceramics and products made of flax and amber.
Aquarium
At the northern tip of the Curonian Spit in the Smiltyne region, in a German bastion fortress from the second half of the 19th century, the Maritime Aquarium Museum (website) is located. The museum complex includes many thematic exhibitions dedicated to marine flora and fauna, the history of Lithuanian shipbuilding, shipping, military and merchant fleets. The restored central redoubt houses aquariums that are impressive with their exotic life; on former gun platforms and ramparts there is a collection of ancient anchors collected throughout Lithuania; the life of Pomeranian fishermen is shown in an ethnographic exhibition set up on the site of a former fishing village - traditional huts are lined up here and ships on which fishermen went out into the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. The aquariums contain about 40 species of fish from Lithuanian rivers, lakes and the Baltic Sea (catfish, chub, barbel, grayling, eels, sabrefish, whitefish, etc.), tropical freshwater fish (including the huge moray eel), invertebrate inhabitants of coral reefs (starfish, mollusks, sea urchins, etc.). The museum is also famous for the richest collection of rare species of corals and shells in Lithuania. The exhibition of prepared animals, according to scientific taxonomy, covers the entire spectrum of marine animals: from sponges to birds and mammals. In the outdoor pools you can observe penguins, seals, and sea lions. There is a dolphinarium a stone's throw from the museum. During the summer season, colorful performances are held here with the participation of Black Sea dolphins and California sea lions. The dolphinarium also has a dolphin therapy center.
Amateur fishing
The Curonian and Klaipeda Lagoons are excellent places for fishing. Bream, perch, pike-perch, roach, raw fish, herring, etc. readily bite here. Ice fishing for burbot and capelin is also very popular here. In the Baltic Sea, flounder, herring, cod and halibut are caught from boats. You can fish from the shore with a float rod at any time of the day and without “documents” in compliance with the rules of amateur fishing. Fishing at a distance of more than 500 meters from the shore and using various fishing equipment is permitted only with a special license issued by the Ministry of Nature Protection; for a fishing raid in the Baltic Sea, permission from the border police is required. The total weight of fish caught per day should not exceed 5 kg per person.- Nature Protection Agency of the City of Klaipeda st. Birutes, 16, tel.: (8 46) 21 71 06)
- Nature Protection Agency of the city of Neringa, Taikos Ave., 2, tel.: (8 469) 5 12 32)
In winter, I have already been to the river, which rises from the mainland near Zelenogradsk (Kranz) and ends opposite Klaipeda. Even then, I made several assumptions about the similarities and differences between the two halves:
1. The Russian side has richer and more exotic nature.
2. On the Lithuanian side there are more settlements and historical monuments.
3. The Lithuanian half is more “cultured” and more convenient for tourists.
The first two points turned out to be correct, the third - with one caveat: “a striking contrast with the Kaliningrad region” is shown not even by the Lithuanian Spit itself, but specifically by the settlements on it, primarily Nida.
In general, the Lithuanian Spit is structured very interestingly - its “edge” belongs to Klaipeda, and there is the Lithuanian Maritime Museum shown there. The rest of the spit with 4 villages (Juodkrante, Pervalka, Preila and Nida) since 1961 has been united into the city of Neringa (3.6 thousand inhabitants), stretching for 50 kilometers, and I think it’s not worth explaining that 95% of its area is forests and dunes. Neringa is also the only regime city in Lithuania - only the “regime” here is set by the national park and the UNESCO protected zone. There will be a separate post about Nida, but now about the road to it through the dunes and the village of Juodkrante with the picturesque Witch Mountain.
I already told the story of the Curonian Spit in the “Kaliningrad” post, and I’m too lazy to retell it in detail. But, in short, the Curonian Spit is a man-made work: the fact is that back in the 17-18 centuries, people completely cleared away the forests that covered it, thereby releasing the Sand Demon. There is no mysticism: the wind quickly scattered the last soil, and a natural desert with creeping sands and multi-meter dunes was formed on the Baltic coast, burying entire villages. Now this period is called the Sandy Catastrophe - it became almost impossible to live on the spit, the Curonians went so far as to start catching crows with nets and salting them in barrels, like herring. As a result, Prussia began a grandiose environmental project to restore the forests of the Curonian Spit, the implementation of which dragged on for a century and a half. Basically, the spit was planted with common pine trees (59% of its forests), but in general it was a real “acclimatization testing ground” - here there are plantings of a variety of trees, which continued to be planted until the war. In 1987, a national park was created on the Russian side of the spit, in 1991 - on the Lithuanian side, and in 2000-2003 (first Lithuanian, then Russian) both of them were included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, and not as “natural”, but precisely as “ cultural" object.
2.
But the fact that the national park appeared earlier on the Russian side is generally not surprising: the southern half of the spit is much more beautiful and exotic. First of all, there is a braid at the same (from 2 kilometers to 400 meters versus 2-4 kilometers in Lithuania); secondly, there are more extensive dunes there; finally, the forest there is much more diverse - there are five species of pines alone, and there are also all sorts of exotics such as giant thuja: apparently, in the part adjacent to Königsberg, they worked out which tree would be most convenient to plant a spit, but here, in the far part, they worked with showed the greatest effectiveness. In general, the forest here is mainly of two types - deciduous crooked forest (as in the frame above) and pine forest:
3.
That is, it may be, of course, that the forest here is more diverse - but still in the southern half it is more noticeable. Specially protected areas, like a border, are separated by a strip of loose earth in which traces are imprinted:
4.
Even before entering the national park, the top of one of the dunes (and the dunes here are all hills - the only difference is that some are lightly covered with soil, while others are not) covered with a patch of growing forest. It seems that in 1997 there was a fire here that destroyed the entire forest - and if measures had not been taken immediately, the burning area would have quickly turned into a sandy desert.
5.
Near the first farm Alksnine(Erlenshorst), founded in 1898-1907 as a ranger post to look after the dunes and forests - a national park checkpoint. There is an entry fee, and in addition to the huntsman, we were met by a grim-looking policeman. On the way back, our documents were checked here one of two times during the entire trip... however, the work is like this: what if we sailed from the Kaliningrad region on an illegal ferry?!
The shift house is covered with fair thatch:
6.
An interesting fact is that in the 1870s there were prisoner of war camps on the spit: after the Franco-Prussian War, several thousand French prisoners were sent to these sands to plant trees (which was hard work). One of their camps was near Nida, the other was here. And half a kilometer from the checkpoint there is a very impressive monument to the Great Patriotic War (1967) made from a boulder from the bottom of the Curonian Lagoon.
7.
In principle, there are many attractions on the spit - here is a lighthouse, there is a cape, here is some kind of museum, or a Curonian cemetery, or a village with a church or an old school (we never went to Preila and Pervalka) - but as always, see everything without exception We didn't even plan it. From the entrance we first went to Nida, and from there we moved back to the crossing with stops. Therefore, the first large settlement from the entrance Juodkrante(900 inhabitants) we examined only in the evening, when an impressive thundercloud crawled onto the spit:
8.
In German, Juodkrante was called Schwarzort, in Russian, respectively, the Black Beach. One of the ancient settlements of the spit, it was inhabited by primitive people (a treasure trove of amber items was found here in 1882), and was first mentioned in the Teutonic chronicles in 1429. In the middle of the 19th century, before the discovery of the famous Palmniken mines (nowadays), there was the largest deposit of yanatra here - a total of more than 2000 tons were mined, and apparently those developments gave the shore a characteristic “broken” shape. But in general the village is quite serious - there is even a church (1884-85):
9.
And the main buildings are fishermen’s houses and “art nouveau” villas: at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the village turned into a resort. Here is an interesting house - built in those days when Memelland did not belong to any state, and most likely some French officer took a break here.
10.
On the shore of the bay, which still looks like a giant river here, there are all sorts of stone figurines, which in fact are nothing more than the works of sculptors from different countries on the theme “Earth and Water” (1997-98). An obvious attempt to surpass the Witch Mountain created at the “wrong” time is, in my opinion, absolutely ridiculous.
11.
Witch Mountain is, without exaggeration, one of the most famous attractions in all of Lithuania. Covered by a virgin forest that survived the Sand Disaster, the dune (42 meters high) of a regular parabolic shape was a popular place for various Lithuanian festivities such as Midsummer's Night back in the 19th century. In 1979, a festival of Lithuanian woodcarvers was held in Juodkrante, who made a dozen or two sculptures based on folklore. Later, gatherings were held every year, and their creations were installed on the crest of the dune - this is how Witch Mountain, the best reserve of Lithuanian wooden sculpture (not counting church sculpture, of course), arose. At the entrance, it seems, Egle the Snake Queen:
12.
Entry sign. The lever raises the weirdo's eyes... that weirdo who is to the left, of course. Judging by my round face, you can clearly assess what the Lithuanian national cuisine, consisting mainly of potatoes, does to people.
13.
And then... All these are folklore characters, whom every Lithuanian probably knows by sight, as we know from childhood Baba Yaga, the Serpent Gorynych or Koshchei the Immortal, but I don’t know Lithuanian folklore well. Maybe someone can tell me?
14.
And the path makes a loop along the crest of the dune, and you yourself don’t notice how the sculptures managed to form a plot that you begin to follow, and with each subsequent clearing the tale becomes more and more terrible:
15.
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17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
And then the rooster crows:
28.
Evil spirits will hide in the darkness:
29.
And the heroes of the fairy tale will play a wedding:
30.
Overall, it's really impressive. A few more sculptures that probably no longer had a place on the trail - after the happy ending:
31.
Latest. But I showed, of course, only a small part - in total there are more than 80 subjects on the trail and there is even something like credits at the end (sculptor - sculpture):
32.
And the path leads out into some back streets - you can’t accidentally pass it backwards. I wonder what kind of residential garages these are? Temporary buildings where locals live while their houses are rented by tourists?
33.
While we were walking along the path, a cloud just rolled in. By the way, all the villages of the spit, except for Lesnoy, which is located on a narrow dam, face the Curonian Lagoon - shallow, quiet and warm, this is a real gift from Nature to fishermen. But for holidaymakers, the sea is still the best - the bay blooms and smells unpleasant in places:
34.
Although there are swans here too. I wonder what kind of sailboat is at the pier (obviously a remake):
35.
But the main thing on the spit is still the dunes, areas of uncovered sand, also always facing the bay (since the wind blows from the sea, that side was landscaped first). On the Russian part, I climbed the Efa dune, which is considered the highest (about 70 meters). On the Lithuanian side the dunes are lower, but wider. There are two main massifs here - the long Pelkosjos dune (just south of Juodkrante) and the shorter and higher Paranidis beyond Nida, as well as the Paraglider dune, divided in half by the border - even under the Germans, the center of this sport. We (even before Juodkrante) stopped at Pelkossos, which is half a kilometer from the road through the forest.
36.
But the forest opens up - and here they are, creeping sands! Or rather, most of the dunes were secured with grass (1854). Its height is up to 52 meters, and the most interesting thing is in front, where the wooden flooring leads:
37.
38.
Oh, the Karakum is wide,
There is no saxaul anywhere
There is no uchkuduk anywhere
And the village is not visible!
39.
My wife is the evil Shaitan,
My head scolds me
We ate our donkey
To the last gut.
40.
Fifth day without water
All the camels are coming
Allah help us
Get to the water!
41.
In fact, it was only at the observation deck that we realized that we had broken the law. The fact is that a group of schoolchildren left before us into the desert... and at first I mistook their language for Lithuanian, but I began to doubt more and more and by the middle of the hike I was already sure that they were Latvians. And so it turned out when I saw their bus - and these were not just Latvian schoolchildren, but a children’s and youth basketball team (or some kind of regional team in Latvia). The children are very nice, and the Latvian language turned out to be unexpectedly beautiful to hear, so soft and melodic - despite the fact that in toponymy, on the contrary, I like Lithuanian more. The funny thing is that although at the end of the trip we stopped in Latvia, only here we had the opportunity to hear Latvian speech.
42.
However, the point is not that they are Latvians, but that the children are without the supervision of rangers (and, by the way, there are none on our dunes!) They immediately ran away in all directions, jumped all over the hills and, in general, I suspect caused considerable damage to the reserve :
43.
We, succumbing to euphoria, simply followed the tracks and also wandered into the wrong places, catching ourselves only when the schoolchildren began to leave. Well, I won’t even compare the landscapes of the two dunes - they are equally impressive, only it was winter in Efa, and here it’s summer:
44.
A tree in the sand is really just like saxaul:
45.
Pine trees and sandy desert - what a strange sight!
46.
And across the bay, windmills are waving - I think the same ones we passed by after Rusne:
47.
In the next part - about Nida, the capital of the spit and the best Lithuanian resort, as well as the ethnography of the Kursenieki who lived here.
LITHUANIA-2013
and table of contents.
Border of the Principality of Lithuania.
. Smolyany, Lepel and Babtsy.
. Begoml, Budslav, Vileyka.
. Smorgon, Krevo, Medininkai.
Vilnius.
Pages: 1
Along the coast of the Baltic Sea, partly in Russia and partly in Lithuania, stretches a 98-kilometer strip of saber-shaped land: the Curonian Spit.
Its name, like the name of the bay it separates from the sea, is associated with the ancient Curonian tribes who lived here before the colonization of Prussia by the Germans. For its amazing relief and biodiversity, the Curonian Spit was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 as an outstanding cultural landscape.
The width of this sandy strip ranges from 400 to 3800 meters. The Russian-Lithuanian border is located at the 49th kilometer, if you count from the city of Zelenogradsk, Kaliningrad region. From both Russia and Lithuania, the Curonian Spit is officially a protected area with the status of a national park. 72% of the territory is occupied by forests, in which more than 600 species of trees, bushes and plants grow.
Elk, roe deer, wild boar, fox and other animals live here: a total of 296 species. But there are even more birds on the Curonian Spit: the ancient migration route of 160 species of birds from the northern regions of Europe to the south of the continent and North Africa runs along it.
During migration days, up to a million birds fly over the spit every day, and another 102 species nest constantly. This gave the Curonian Spit the unofficial name “bird bridge”, and these representatives of the fauna are studied by scientists working at the oldest ornithological station in Europe, the foundation of which was laid by the German ornithologist I. Tiineman back in 1901.
Along the entire length of the spit there are sandy beaches that allow you to swim both in the freshwater bay and in the salty Baltic Sea. The holiday season itself is short, but you can enjoy the natural attractions of the Curonian Spit from May to November. Many interesting tourist routes have been created here, which can be seen in our panoramas.
Unfortunately, the Curonian Spit is a very vulnerable natural area. Already by the beginning of the 17th century, deforestation brought this area of land to the brink of an environmental disaster: roads, trees and buildings began to gradually be blocked by wandering dunes.
Only after wandering sands caused shallowing of the coastal part of the bay and began to threaten the existence of navigation, local authorities (at that time they were the rulers of East Prussia) began to take decisive measures to combat desertification and erosion. And in order to cut off the direct supply of sand from the sea beaches, a protective dune rampart was built - a foredune, stretching along the entire hundred-kilometer sea coast.
Efforts to preserve this natural monument continue today, but the elements are constantly one step ahead.
Due to frequent Baltic storms accompanied by strong winds, sandy beaches are washed away and dunes slide into the water. Our panoramas allow you to preserve the picturesque landscapes of the Curonian Spit at least in a virtual format.
