Curonian Spit

Image of Curonian Spit

 

Location: Kaliningrad Oblast   Map

UNESCO World Heritage Site

 

Transportation

Hotels, motels and where to sleep

 

Description of Curonian Spit

Curonian Spit is a narrow stretch of land on the shores of the Baltic Sea. Much of this land is covered by sandy dunes, pine forests and small fishermen villages. Curonian Spit National Park sits on the shores of the Baltic Sea on its western side and Curonian Lagoon on the eastern side on the border between Lithuania and Kaliningrad Russian Federation. This sand bar reached a length of 98 km in length and in width it reaches 3.8 km, although in its most narrowest parts it measures just 400 meters. Much of the protected reserve is covered by coniferous pine forests, sand dunes and birches. In 2000 Curonian Spit was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Park covers a total area of 7890 hectares. In addition to picturesque nature, beautiful Baltic Sea, Curonian Spit was also inhabited by people by centuries. The only way to make a living here is by fishing. Hence national park also contains traditional fishermen villages including Lesnoe (Forest in Russian), Rybachiy (Fisherman) and Morskoe (Marine).

 

Curonian Spit is a narrow stretch of land formed about 3rd millennium BC by the glacial deposits that protect Curonian Lagoon. Although local legends claim that it was giantess Neringa that was playing on a shores of a Baltic Sea. A patchwork of sand dunes, pine forests and meadows covered by a carpet of flowers  is easily accessed by numerous trails. Human impact on the region was brief, but devastating. Deforestation quickly decreased soil stability. Alarmed by impeding disaster that could easily swallow up local fishermen's villages, Prussian government put a stop to any ecological destruction in 1825. Since then the Spit was preserved and nature quickly recovered.

 

Curonian Spit despite its modest size plays an important role in the migration route of birds that come here from Finland, Karelia region (Russia) and the Baltic states on their way to southern Europe and Africa. This route probably formed because for most of human history and development, Curonian Spit was never inhabited by any significant amount of people. Thus it became a high density of migratory birds flow in spring and autumn periods.

 

The climate in the region of a Curonian Spit is variable throughout a year. It has mild winters, moderately warm summer, warm autumn and cool spring. The landscapes of the Curonian Spit has an extraordinary beauty and aesthetic effect on the person and provide a unique facility for the development of eco-tourism and recreation.

The special significance of the Curonian Spit is manifested in a rare combination of natural and cultural heritage. Here there is a high level of presence of artifacts of human presence from various chronological periods. Curonian Spit is also famous for numerous well preserved historical fishing villages.

 


Transportation

Get in

Most visitors get into the spit either by taking a ferry from Klaipėda to Smiltynė, or taking a bus from Zelenogradsk.

From Klaipėda
Take a ferry to Smiltynė. The old ferry terminal nearer to the city centre is for passengers and bikes only, and the new ferry terminal is for cars. Fare is €1 for round-trip ticket per passenger. After getting off the ferry, there is an hourly bus connection to the villages until Nida, and a daily bus 239 which runs all the way along the spit to Zelenogradsk and Kaliningrad.

There are also long-distance buses which the bus itself travel on the ferry, from the city centre of Klaipėda to Nida.

From Zelenogradsk
Take any bus to Morskoye (Морское) or Klaipėda. These buses include 210 (Zelenogradsk — Morskoye), 239 (Kaliningrad international bus station — Smiltynė old ferry terminal), 384 (Kaliningrad — Klaipėda), 593 (Kaliningrad — Klaipėda) and 596 (Otradnoye — Morskoye). Fare depends on the distance travelled.

From Kaliningrad
Bus 593 from the city centre to the spit. The journey costs less than 120 rubles and takes about two hours. As departures are few, it is advisable to take a train or bus to Zelenogradsk first and continue by any bus there.

 

Fees and permits

A car or a motorbike entering Neringa municipality that contains most of the spit on the Lithuanian side is charged an ecological fee of €20, and campers are charged €30 (2018 rates). A car entering the Russian part is charged 300 rubles.

Entering some of the nature reserves, including the border zone, is either limited or prohibited.

 

Get around

1. Ferries. The only way to get to Kos from the rest of Lithuania is by ferry. Two ferry crossings across the Klaipeda Strait connect Smiltine and Klaipeda. The old ferry (lit. Senoji Perkėla) has been operating since the 19th century. It connects the bus terminus in Smiltin and the center of Klaipeda. Until 2008, universal ferries operated on it, since 2008 new ferries designed specifically for passenger transportation have appeared, and car crossings are no longer carried out here, although ferries have ramps for loading cars in special cases (firefighters, ambulances). The new ferry has been operating since the 1980s and carries all types of transport.

2. Buses. Local buses: there are 3 routes in the Kaliningrad part of the Spit: 210 Zelenogradsk-Morskoye. In summer, route 593 Kaliningrad-Zelenogradsk-Morskoye runs.

The local bus Nida-Smiltine runs along the Lithuanian part of the Spit (the route is not numbered). In the summer season, there is a minibus route in Nida connecting the bus station with the beach, and in Smiltin there is a bus route from the old ferry crossing to the Maritime Museum.

Intercity buses Kaliningrad-Klaipeda: route 239 serves the ATP from Kaliningrad. The bus does not stop in Klaipeda. Its final stop is at the Old Ferry in Smiltin, from where passengers can ferry to the center of Klaipeda. Route 384 serves the Klaipeda ATP. He reaches the ferry in Smiltin, and then goes to a New ferry, crosses the Klaipeda Canal by ferry and arrives at the Klaipeda bus station. In summer, intercity buses Nida-Klaipeda-Vilnius and Nida-Klaipeda-Kaunas run along the Spit.

3. Road transport. There is one Zelenogradsk-Klaipeda highway along the Curonian Spit. It passes through Lesnoye, the outskirts of Rybachy and Yodokrante. There are exits to the rest of the villages. All roads have one lane in each direction. In addition to visiting the Curonian Spit, this road is also used for transit traffic from the Kaliningrad region to Lithuania. This is largely facilitated by the fact that there are no long queues at the Curonian Spit border crossing. The movement of trucks along the Spit is prohibited (except for transport delivering goods to the Spit).

4. Bicycle transport. Part of the European Cycling Route R1 runs along the Curonian Spit. A bike path has been laid along the entire Lithuanian part of the Spit from Nida to Smiltina. There are also local bike paths in the vicinity of all settlements of the Lithuanian part. The Nida-Klaipeda bike route has the number 10. The Klaipeda-Palanga-Latvian Border and Klaipeda-Shilute-Rusne bike routes also have this number.

 

Eat

In the village of Lesnoy (Curonian Spit, the narrowest part) there are cafes, 1 minimarket of everything necessary, in the summer season there are tents with fruits and vegetables. If desired, after learning the schedule, you can go to Zelenogradsk for food. There is more choice in Zelenogradsk, there are supermarkets. The journey time to Zelenogradsk is about 20 minutes in one direction.

Cafe "Fischhoff" (Fish yard), Rybachy village, Pobedy Street, 27. ☎ +7 911 467 87 67. A small cozy cafe where dishes from local fish are prepared. There is beer and delicious morse. Smoked fish from the local smokehouse can be bought at the store next door. There is a small parking lot near the cafe.

 

Hotels, motels and where to sleep

There are 3 villages on the Russian side of the spit: Morskoye, Rybachye and Lesnoye. It is convenient to live in Lesnoye: 5-7 minutes walk to the sea, and if you get tired of relaxing on the spit, you can easily and quickly get to Zelenogradsk (from where buses run to Svetlogorsk, Baltiysk, Kaliningrad). In Rybachy it is 4 km to the sea. In the village of Lesnoye in the hotel "Curonian Spit" you can rent badminton, balls, play table tennis, go to the sauna. There are also bicycles, but of very poor quality (costs 100 rubles /hour). Excursions along the spit and in the village are organized at the House of Culture on Tsentralnaya Street.Amber, there is a pool table. A good cafe next to the Cooperator store (near the bus stop, Tsentralnaya str.)

The Dune camp site on the Russian half of the spit (since January 2013, the work of the camp site may have been suspended)
Morskoye Hotel in Morskoye
Leisure Guest house complex in Morskoye

The Altrimo Guest Complex.
Guest house Ponart (Zarkau), Lesnoye village, Lesnaya str., 3. ☎ +79062151802. 1500 RUB/2-bed room with amenities. Very cozy, private garden-courtyard, friendly hosts. The room has a TV and a refrigerator. In the courtyard there is table tennis (free of charge), a swing. Bicycle rental - 50 rubles/hour. You can order breakfast (150 rubles) and dinner (300 rubles). To the sea - 7 minutes on foot.
 Guest house Boykova, Lesnoye village, Tsentralnaya str., 38-zh. ☎ +7-921-100-14-51. 1600 (winter) - 2500 (summer) RUB/2-bed room with amenities. A cozy small guest house. There are 5 rooms in total. They heat the bathhouse (for a fee), there is 1 billiard table (free of charge). Shared living room for 10-15 people, banquet table, fireplace, plasma TV with satellite TV. Private territory with a terrace, barbecue, children's and teen bicycles. Breakfast and dinner can be ordered. To the sea - 5 minutes on foot.
Manor "Green yard": village Rybachy, Stepnaya str., 1

It is forbidden to set up tents on the spit

 

Safety precautions

It is forbidden to walk on the dunes: you can simply fall into the sand.
Be careful when meeting wild boars, especially if it is a wild boar with a brood.
There are few mosquitoes on the spit, but when going for a walk in the forest, it is better to stock up on a repellent. After a walk in spring and summer, check yourself and your companions for ticks!

 

Natural features

The body of the spit consists of sand covered with a thin (several centimeters thick) vegetable layer. The formation of this layer has been going on for many decades.

The Curonian Spit is a unique natural and anthropogenic landscape and an area of exceptional aesthetic significance, the largest sandy body, which, along with the Helsk and Baltic braids, is part of the Baltic complex of sandbanks, which has no analogues in the world. The high level of biological diversity due to the combination of different landscapes — from desert (dunes) to tundra (upland swamp) — gives an idea of important and long-lasting ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, riverine, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals.

The most significant element of the spit's relief is a continuous strip of white sand dunes 0.3 — 1 km wide and up to 67.2 m high (Wetzekrugo dune, one of the highest in the world). The Curonian Spit contains the most representative and important natural habitats for the conservation of biological diversity, including those where endangered species are preserved. 72% of the spit's territory is occupied by forests, in which about 600 species of woody, artisanal and herbaceous vegetation grow. The fauna includes 296 species of terrestrial vertebrates (elk, roe deer, wild boar and others).

The Curonian Spit is called the bird bridge. Due to its geographical location and orientation from northeast to southwest, it serves as a corridor for migratory birds of 150 species flying from the northwestern regions of Russia, Finland and the Baltic States to the countries of Central and Southern Europe and further north Africa. Every year in spring and autumn, from 10 to 20 million birds fly over the spit, a significant part of which stop here for rest and feeding. On migration days, up to a million birds fly over the spit every day. 102 species of birds nest here.

 

Etymology

For the first time, the Curonian Spit was mentioned in the order's written sources in 1258 under the name Nestland (German Nestland) — "The Land of nests". According to Lithuanian historian Romas Batura, the original Baltic name of the spit was the word Nerge. According to linguistic data, the Curonian Spit, as well as the northern coast of Sambia, was occupied by speakers of the Letto-Lithuanian linguistic heritage — the Curonians associated with the areas of the historical regions of Kursiai and Kurzeme.

In German, the spit is called Kurishe Nerung (German Nehrung — "spit, sandbank"). In Lithuania, it is called Kurshu-Neringa or Kurshu-Neria (lit. nerija — "narrow long sand spit"). After the transition of the southern part of the spit to the Kaliningrad region, in 1947 it was given the name Kursk Nereus, then in 1959 the name was changed to Kursk Spit, and in 1971 it took its modern form.

 

History

In the X—XI centuries, there was a Viking settlement on the Curonian Spit. It was located next to the current village of Rybachy. For the first time, traces of Vikings were discovered by German archaeologists back in 1893, but only in 2008, during the work carried out by Kaliningrad archaeologists, it was possible to establish that the Vikings had a permanent settlement on the spit. During the excavations, many objects characteristic of the material culture of the Vikings were discovered.

In the middle of the XIII century, the Curonian Spit became part of the possessions of the Teutonic Order and served as the shortest road between the northern and southern parts of the order's lands, connecting its capital Marienburg, Konigsberg Castle with the three surrounding towns and Memel (present-day Klaipeda). The knights built several guard castles here to repel the raids of warlike Lithuania and Zhmudi and a brick factory. At that time, impeccable order was maintained on Kos. But as soon as the order fell into decline, deforestation and grazing began on the spit, which led to the destruction of the vegetation layer that anchored the sands. There was no protection from the wind, the thin layer of soil was trampled by the hooves of cows and the dunes began to collapse. The exposed sands began to move under the influence of the wind and fill up entire villages. In the middle of the XIX century, a real desert was formed here — for fifty kilometers northeast of Zarkau (present-day Lesnoye), sandy treeless hills with a height of 60-70 meters stretched. This state of affairs did not suit the Prussian authorities, and work on landscaping the spit began here. By the First World War, the advance of the dunes was stopped, and the spit was planted with pine trees. To protect the coast from the formation of new dunes, an artificial avenue was built, stretching along the entire hundred-kilometer sea coast.

Fringilla ornithological station, one of the first in the world and the oldest in Europe, located in the village of Rybachy, operates on the spit. It was founded by the German theologian and bird lover Johannes Tinemann in 1901.

In 1937, an order was issued on the creation of the German Elk Forest State Nature Reserve. The reserve created at that time included lands to the east and southeast of the Curonian Lagoon with a total area of 46,550 hectares. In 1939, the forest districts of the Curonian Spit were annexed to the "German Elk Forest". In 1941, the protected forests were removed from provincial subordination and directly subordinated to the Imperial Forestry and Hunting Service. Despite its short history, the employees of this reserve have managed to achieve unprecedented success in the development of hunting and breeding of the East Prussian moose.

Until 1945, the Kursenieks who lived on the Curonian Spit spoke their own Curonian dialect, close to Latvian and Lithuanian. Special pennants were used to indicate the belonging of the kurenas boats to a particular fishing settlement. Most of the students were German citizens. At the end of the war, they evacuated to Germany, and therefore the Curonian Spit lost its own language. Now the Curonian dialect is spoken by several dozen elderly people, most of whom live in Germany.

In Soviet times, the filming of the film Treasure Island (1982) and some others took place on the Curonian Spit. In 2007, the Russian government decided to create a special economic zone of tourist and recreational type on the protected spit. However, five years later (December 2012), the Kurshskaya Spit SEZ was liquidated due to the lack of potential investors.

 

Geography

In fact, the spit is a peninsula, since in the area of Klaipeda there is a strait connecting the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea, through which ships pass to and from the Curonian Lagoon.

On the Lithuanian side, passenger and car ferries run through the strait between Kosa and the city of Klaipeda. The Lithuanian Maritime Museum is located next to the strait in the old German fort.

 

Administrative divisions and localities

Part of the Curonian Spit belongs to Russia, part to Lithuania (as a result of the administrative—territorial transformation in 1999, the Neringian self-government was formed on the Lithuanian part of the spit). The border is located on the 49th kilometer of the spit (if you count from Zelenogradsk).

A small section of the spit, 2 km long, adjacent to the border on the Russian side, is allocated to the border zone. On the Russian half of the Curonian Spit there is the national park "Curonian Spit" (the status was assigned in 1987) and settlements: villages. Lesnoy, Rybachy, Morskoye (Zelenograd district).

The largest settlement in the Lithuanian half is the village of Nida, other settlements are Preila, Parvalka, Juodkrante and Smiltina. To simplify administrative management, all settlements of the Lithuanian side, except Smiltine, which is part of Klaipeda, are formally united into the city of Neringa as part of the Klaipeda county. There is also a national park in the Lithuanian part, founded in 1991.