small striped lighthouse in Klaipeda

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Klaipėda

There's a distinctly German flavour to Klaipėda (klai-pey-da). Lithuania's third-largest city, formerly known as Memel, was part of the Prussian Kingdom until the region wrestled to autonomy in 1923. Buildings in the compact, cobblestoned Old Town are constructed in the German fachwerk style – that is, with distinctive half-timbered facades. Beyond the orderly historic centre, the modern city sprawls into an industrial forest of cranes and shipyards, sliced in two by the Danė River as it meanders into the Baltic Sea.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Klaipėda Castle Museum

    Klaipėda Castle Museum

    Klaipėda

    The castle museum is spread across four exhibition spaces around Klaipėda's castle – two of these are located in atmospherically lit tunnels and deal with…

  • Pranas Domšaitis Gallery

    Pranas Domšaitis Gallery

    Klaipėda

    This gallery is renowned for the bold works by the Prussian-born expressionist painter Pranas Domšaitis (1880–1965), who spent his last years in South…

  • Clock Museum

    Clock Museum

    Klaipėda

    If you want to know what makes things tick, look no further than this niche museum that explores human measurement of time, from the earliest sundials to…

  • Švyturys

    Švyturys

    Klaipėda

    Klaipėda is home to the country’s second-oldest brewery, where its biggest beer, Švyturys, has been brewed since 1784. Book through the tourist office or…

  • History Museum of Lithuania Minor

    History Museum of Lithuania Minor

    Klaipėda

    This creaky-floored little museum traces the origins of ‘Lithuania Minor’ (Kleinlitauen), as this coastal region was known during its several centuries as…

  • Klaipėda Sculpture Park

    Klaipėda Sculpture Park

    Klaipėda

    Established on the site of the main cemetery of the old Prussian city of Memel (Klaipėda in a former incarnation), in 1977, this L-shaped park became an…

  • Farewell Statue

    Farewell Statue

    Klaipėda

    This poignant statue of a mother with a headscarf, a suitcase in one hand, and the hand of a small boy clutching a teddy bear in the other, stand outside…

  • Black Ghost

    Black Ghost

    Klaipėda

    If strolling near the cruise ship pier, keep an eye out for this grotesque hooded figure, clambering out of the water whilst clutching a lamp. Local…

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