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Photo: via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Only a single bastion remains of this moated castle, built in 1253 by the Livonian Order of Teutonic Knights; its wooden predecessor on the opposite river bank has long disappeared. For the next 500 years rival powers queued up to smash it down then build it up again, with the last reconstruction in 1763. Thereafter even the Prussians couldn't think of a military role for it, so it fell derelict and its masonry was stripped. It now houses a museum exhibiting the troubled story of the castle and the city.
Klaipėda Castle, also known as Memelburg or Memel Castle, is an archeological site and museum housed in a castle built by the Teutonic Knights in Klaipėda, Lithuania, near the Baltic Sea. The Teutons called the castle Memelburg or Memel, and Klaipėda was generally known as Memel until 1923, when Lithuanian military forces took over the city. The castle was first mentioned in written sources in 1252, and underwent numerous destructions and reconstructions in the centuries that followed. During the 19th century, having lost its strategic importance, the castle was demolished. Archeological work was performed at the site during the 20th century, and in 2002 a museum was established underneath one of its bastions. The museum has reopened following restoration, which was completed in 2021.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Juodasis Vaiduoklis
A creepy bronze sculpture by the footbridge spanning the outlet of the castle moat, next to Old Port Hotel. It is a hollow, cowled wraith dragging himself from the water and supposedly terrifying to children, but probably more so to any drunk who's dropped his keys and is scrabbling along the wharf in search.
Sūduvis was a West German minesweeper, in service from 1958. It was handed over to Lithuania in 1999 and retired in 2021.
Etnografinė pajūrio žvejo sodyba
This annex of the Sea Museum is a Skansen-type outdoor museum of fishermen's cottages and equipment.
Lietuvos jūrų muziejus
Displays of marine life plus maritime history. You pay as much again for the dolphin shows in the Dolphinarium.
The 19th century breakwater at the very tip of the spit, reached by a paved track.
The most substantial of the World War II fortifications dotted along the spit. This group of overgrown ruins was Schweinsrücken artillery battery.