Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Palanga

If you climb the hundred steps of the staircase leading upward, you can see almost the entire Lithuanian resort from the observation deck of the church. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the tallest building in Palanga. And, perhaps, the most beautiful thing here.

The history of the most famous temple in Palanga begins earlier than the current building in the neo-gothic style was erected. Back in the second half of the sixteenth century, the wife of King Stefan Batory, Anna Jagiellonka (locals call her She Yogailaite), a wooden church was built here - cruciform, with a turret and a bell tower. Later, in 1767, it was thoroughly rebuilt. However, as time went on, Palanga gradually turned from a small fishing village into a popular resort. Over time, the wooden temple ceased to correspond to the changing urban landscape - with luxurious villas and Tyszkiewicz's palace in the park. And he was no longer able to accommodate all believers during Sunday and holiday services.
Therefore, at the very end of the nineteenth century, next to the old one, the construction of a new, stone church began. Its architect was the Swede Karl-Eduard Strandman. A fundraising campaign was announced, with Count Felix Tyszkiewicz covering a significant part of the costs. The first stone in the foundation of the temple was laid in 1896 year. The stones for the foundation were taken directly from the sea - and along wooden tracks specially laid on top of the sand, they were transported on carts to the construction site.
In plan, the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Latin cross with a five-pointed viper. The neo-Gothic building of red brick is reinforced from the outside with a stepped buttress, and its central nave is surrounded by a series of flying buttresses. The stone bell tower with a toothed shock ends with a spire that continues the vertical lines of the building - its peak is at the 70-meter mark. In 1931, a clock made in Germany was installed on it, the mechanism of which is synchronized with the largest of the four bells of the belfry. On August 15, when, according to the church calendar, the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin Mary to heaven is celebrated, a big temple feast is celebrated in the church. And the next Sunday after the holiday of Zholines, the day of St. Roch (Rokas) is celebrated here no less solemnly.
The interior of the Palanga church is designed in red and white colors and is incredibly beautiful. An expressive pulpit, three altars decorated with bas-reliefs - the marble for the latter was specially brought from France. In the central altar, decorated with wonderful stained-glass windows, there is an image of the Blessed Virgin, which is much older than the church itself: the first mention of it dates back to the seventeenth century. The side altars, wooden, were transferred here from the old church, which, as already mentioned, was entirely made of wood (after the completion of the stone church in 1907, the old wooden one was dismantled).
Of the sculptures placed inside, the most noteworthy are the images of the Blessed Virgin and the Savior in the side aisles, St. Roch and St. Anthony of Padua with the Infant Jesus Christ in his arms, as well as the Apostle Simon the Canonite with a saw, from which, according to Legend, he was martyred. There are, of course, many other sculptural and pictorial images. By the way, at one time the church in Palanga was visited by Pope John Paul II - his portrait, presented to the temple as a prayer memory, can also be seen here.
The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located behind a red brick fence in the middle of a picturesque park. The temple grounds can be accessed by entering the original-shaped gate, crowned with a cross. As in many other Christian churches, Catholic and Orthodox, in the courtyard of the church there is a small churchyard with gravestones and memorial inscriptions. In particular, on the wall of the building there is a memorial plaque dedicated to the pastor of Palanga Juozas Shnyukšte, who greatly contributed to the construction of the temple - in particular, raising funds for it was he who led the construction of the stone church. The burials on the territory of the courtyard reveal to an inquisitive visitor other, no less important pages of the history of the church, which together form its chronicle.
And at the end of the story - one curious fact. For the construction and decoration of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Palanga, the builders used 18 different types of bricks. So the beauty and integrity of this church was created by the architects very carefully, carefully, scrupulously. And it was definitely worth it. The temple with red walls and white ceilings, with pointed arches directed into the sky, with an organ that sounds at Sunday service, beckons those who once visited it to return and again enjoy its beauty and sublime spirit.

You can write a letter to God or light a candle in the temple .