If you’re going to Lithuania this summer…
The Curonian Spit is a unique landscape by the Baltic Sea. It was formed by the sea, wind and human activity and continues to be shaped by them.
The history of the Curonian Spit is dramatic: 5,000 years ago, a narrow peninsula (98 km in length and 0.4-3.8 km in width) – the Great Dune Ridge – separating the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Lagoon was formed on moraine islands from sand transported by currents, and later covered by forest. After intensive logging in the 17th and 18th centuries, the dunes began moving towards the Curonian Lagoon, burying the oldest settlements. At the turn of the 19th century, it became evident that human habitation would no longer be possible in the area without immediate action. Dune stabilization work began, and has continued ever since. By the end of the 19th century, a protective dune ridge was formed along the seashore to prevent inland sand migration, and the Great Dune Ridge was reinforced with trees and hedges. Currently, forests and sands dominate the Curonian Spit. Urbanized areas (eight small settlements) cover just about 6% of the land.
The most valuable elements and qualities of the landscape are its unique size and general spatial structure, the characteristic panoramas and the silhouette of the Curonian lagoon. Interesting elements include the remains of tracks and villages from the 10th and 11th centuries, traditional fishing villages and other archaeological heritage sites covered by sand, the distinctive Great Dune Ridge and individual dunes, relics of ancient parabolic dunes and moraine islands, seacoast and littoral forests and littoral capes, ancient forests and unique sand flora and fauna and a bird migration path.
Mobile dunes, covered with meagre flora, are being constantly ruffled by the wind, and they move leeward from several centimetres to several metres a year. The highest mobile Lithuanian dunes in the Curonian Spit are Parnidis, Urbas and the Great Dune, which are over 50 metres high.
Mobile dunes were once a great threat to the residents of the seaside. Many stories of villages buried by the dunes remain to this day. One of them was the village of Naglis, buried by the Agila Dune formed by the wind 150 years ago. Seven generations tried to stop the sand from covering their dwellings, but to no avail – the sand would creep over the streets and flood the dwellings. Eventually the residents retreated, taking the buildings with them. The village had migrated for two hundred years – the residents would constantly move back a few kilometres until eventually they stopped fighting nature and left the territory to settle in other villages – Preila and Pervalka.
These settlements could have encountered a similar fate, but people found out a way to “calm” the moving dunes. They brought plants from abroad with long and widely spreading roots, and planted the dunes with them. This method of reinforcement has kept the mobile dunes from eroding or encroaching on the villages. Mobile dunes are most often planted with shrubs and dwarf pines, the roots of which seem to wrap the dunes and protect them from spreading.
The highest Lithuanian dead coastal dune is Vecekrugas Dune. It reaches a height of 67 metres. The dune was named after a tavern that once stood at its base. In the language of the ancient seaside residents, the Curonians, the word “vece” means “old”, and the word “kruogs” means a tavern. At the top of the dune, planted with Danish pines, there is an observation deck, which gives visitors a spectacular view of the forests of Nida and Pervalka, the sea and the lagoon.
A dune called Skirpstas is nearby. Having buried the whole village of Karvaičiai in the 18th century, this dune is now also planted with trees. At the top of the dune are the poems of famous Lithuanian poet Liudvikas Rėza, who engraved his poems into an oak monument dedicated to the power of the dunes.
More information about the Lithuanian dunes is available on the bilingual website www.lietuvosgamta.lt, with pictures of the most famous dunes, short videos and audio stories.
