Palanga (German: Polangen) is a city in western Lithuania, the capital of Palanga city municipality. Situated on the shore of the Baltic Sea it is the busiest Lithuanian summer resort with beautiful sand beaches (18 km long and in some places about 300 m wide), dunes and an unspoilt natural environment.
According
to a legend, there was a pagan shrine at the foot of a hill during the
14th century. That shrine was where a beautiful priestess named Birute
used to light ceremonial fires. Having heard about Birute, Kestutis,
the Grand Duke of Lithuania, rode over on his horse to take her for
his wife. It is written in the Lithuanian Bychowiec Chronicle[2] that
Birute "did not want to agree, and answered that she had promised
the gods to guard her virginity as long as she lived. Kestutis took
her by force, and with great honor took her back to his capital of Trakai,
where he invited his brothers and threw a big wedding...". After
Kestutis' murder, Birute returned to Palanga and served the Gods until
she died. She is buried in the hill which is now named in her honor.
PALANGA
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