Palanga

The origin of the name of Palanga is related to the sea. People say that in ancient times fishermen lived here on the Baltic seashore, and built their huts so close to the water that during storms sea waves rolled over the window-sills meaning “palangė” in Lithuanian. Linguists claim, though, that the name of Palanga is derived from such archaic Baltic words as: palvė, palios, pala, palas (meaning low, marshy area) or from rivers’ names, such as: Palanga, Palangis, Alanga, Langa.

Not only traders from the overseas did land to the seashore or Palanga, but conquerors as well. For the first time Palanga was mentioned in historical documents in 1161 as the landing place of the Danish King Valdemar I and his army.