Curonian Spit - Lithuania HD
Curonian Spit - Lithuania Travel, Tours, Vacations HD
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The Curonian Spit is a 98 km long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea coast. Its southern portion lies within Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia and its northern within southwestern Lithuania. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by the two countries.
Geography
The Curonian Spit stretches from the Sambian Peninsula on the south to its northern tip next to a narrow strait, across which is the port city of Klaipėda on the mainland of Lithuania. The northern 52 km long stretch of the Curonian Spit peninsula belongs to Lithuania, while the rest is part of the Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia (see the map). The width of the spit varies from a minimum of 400 m in Russia (near the village of Lesnoy) to a maximum of 3,800 m in Lithuania (just north of Nida).
Geologic history
The Curonian Spit was formed about 3rd millennium BC.[1] A glacial moraine served as its foundation; winds and sea currents later contributed enough sand to raise and keep the formation above sea level.
The existence of this narrow shoal is inherently threatened by the natural processes that govern coastal shoreline features.[2] It depends on a dynamic balance between sand transport and deposition. If (hypothetically) the source area to the south-west were cut off, say, by a large port construction with a pier, the Spit would erode and eventually disappear. It is thus a geologically speaking ephemeral coast element. The most likely development, however, is that the shallow bay inside the Spit will eventually fill up with sediment, thus creating new land.
Current state
The Curonian Spit is home to the highest moving (drifting) sand dunes in Europe. Their average height is 35 meters, but some attain the height of 60 meters. Several ecological communities are present on and near the Spit, from its outer beaches to dune ridges, wetlands, meadows, and forests.[4] Its location on the East Atlantic Flyway means it is frequently visited by migratory waterfowl. Between 10 and 20 million birds fly over the feature during spring and fall migrations, and many pause to rest or breed there.
The largest town on the spit is Nida in Lithuania, a popular holiday resort, mostly frequented by Lithuanian and German tourists. The northern shoreline of Curonian Spit is the site of beaches for tourists. Both the Russian and Lithuanian parts of the spit are national parks. The settlements of the Curonian Spit (from north to south) are:
Smiltynė
Alksnynė
Juodkrantė
Pervalka
Preila
Nida
Morskoe
Rybachy
Lesnoy
The first six are on the Lithuanian side, while the last three are on the Russian side. The Russian side of the Curonian Spit belongs to Zelenogradsky District of the Kaliningrad Oblast, while the Lithuanian side is partitioned among Klaipėda city municipality and Neringa municipality.
There is a single road that traverses the whole length of the Curonian Spit. In the Russian side it goes to Zelenogradsk, while on the Lithuanian side it goes to Smiltynė. The spit is not connected to mainland Lithuania. Car ferries provide a transportation link between Smiltynė, located on the spit, and the port town of Klaipėda.
Human history
According to Baltic mythology, the Curonian Spit was formed by a giantess, Neringa, who was playing on the seashore. This child also appears in other myths (in some of which she is shown as a young strong woman, similar to a female version of the Greek Heracles).
From ca. 800 to 1016, the Spit was the location of Kaup, a major pagan trading centre which has not been excavated yet. The Teutonic Knights occupied the area in the 13th century, building their castles at Memel (1252), Neuhausen (1283), and at Rossitten (1372). The Spit may have been the home of the last living speaker of a now-extinct Baltic language, Old Prussian.
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