The Death Dunes on the Curonian Spit

After visiting Vilnius and Kaunas, we arrived in Klaipėda, Lithuania's third-largest city with over 200,000 inhabitants. Klaipėda has a complex history due to its strategic ice-free port. Founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1252 as Memelburg, it became an important trade and military hub. It has been part of Prussia, occupied by Sweden, and served as the temporary capital of Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars. After World War I, it was administered by the League of Nations, seized by Lithuania in 1923, and annexed by Nazi Germany in 1939. Post-World War II, it became part of the Soviet Union and was rebuilt as an industrial center. Since Lithuania’s independence in 1991, Klaipėda has been a major economic and cultural hub. We stayed in Klaipėda for its proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Curonian Spit. The Curonian Spit is a 98-kilometer long sand dune peninsula featuring towering dunes, pine forests, and rich biodiversity. It hosts charming fishing villages like Nida and Juodkrantė. This picture was taken during our hike on the Death Dunes, notorious for their shifting sands that have buried villages and forests - Curonian Spit, Lithuania