Žemaitija National Park

Žemaitija National Park (also know as Žemaitijos nacionalinis parkas in Lithuanian), or Samogitia National Park, is a 217.20 km² park located in the Samogitian Highlands, part of the ethnographic region of Samogitia in the east of Lithuania. Lake Plateliai is the biggest one in the Park (7% of the Park's extention). This National Park hosts some beautiful villages and towns like Plokštinė, Žemaičių Kalvarija Plungė and Platelai.

How do I arrive to Žemaitija National Park?

 The best way to reach this National Park is going to Plungė because Platelai, in the middle of the Park, is harder get.

• Train: the nearest train stop is in Plungė and here arrive 5 daily trains from Klaipėda (aprox. 1 hour; 3.60€) or 3 daily trains from Vilnius (aprox. 3 hours 20 minutes; 13€).
• Bus: there are at least 8 buses to Plungė from Palanga (aprox. 1 hours 10 minutes), more than 5 buses (aprox. 4 hours; 12€) from Kaunas. There are, at least, 4 buses from Plungė to Plateliai (aprox. 30 minutes), but the frequence is reduced during weekends.
• Car: if you rented a car, it's 1 hour journey to Plateliai from Plungė (aprox. 20 minutes), Telšiai (aprox. 30 minutes), Palanga (aprox. 1 hour), from Klaipėda (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes), Šiauliai (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes). The national park isn't far from the border with Latvia and it can be reached from places like Saldus (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes) or Liepāja (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes).
  

 Once in the Park, a good choice to move along it is renting a bike (the tourist office in Platelai helps to do it) and cycling along it. A very nice trip goes from Platelai to Plokštinė (8 km).

History

Between the 10th and 13th centuries Palanga was a settlement of the Curonians, a center of trade located in the ancient Amber Road. The first mention was in 1161 when the Danish king Valdemar I captured Palanga's castle. Till the 15th century, Palanga was attacked by the Teutonic Knights in the south and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the north, remaining under Lithuanian control. remained under Lithuanian control. 
This area, specially Plateliai and Plungė, had an important Jewish population which started gradually emigrating to America in the last part of the 19th century but the ones who remained, were murdered by Nazis after the German invation in WW2. This National Park was established in 1991.
This zone, as part of Samogitia, is the traditional zone of the Samogitian dialect (sometimes considered a language), whose use is decreasingin favour of standard Lithuanian. 

 

What can I visit in Žemaitija National Park?

These are many things to do in this National Park (1€/ 10€  5 days/ 1 month), explained now according to the village where they are or the nearest one:

• Plateliai (Platelē in Samogitian, Płótele in Polish): 857 inhabitants village that host the tourist center of the National Park and is a good place to set the base to explore it. It's known for its Užgavėnės (Lithuanian Carnival).
  
  • Žemaitija National Park Visitor Center: visitor center where getting more information about the park. It has an exhibition on ethonography and nature in Plateliai.
  • Lake Plateliai: largest and deepest lake in Samogitia.
    
  • St. Petro ir Pauliaus Catholic Church: 18th century wooden church, one of the oldest wooden churches in all Lithuania. It has many old paintings, liturgical clothes and accessories as well as nice Baroque altarpieces.
  • Plateliai Manor Homestead: manor property of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the 18th century with a small but nice garden.
  • Plateliai and Siberija Observation Point: 15 m high viewpoints with nice views of lake Plateliai and the rest of the park.
  • Memorial Garden of Litvaks: monument to honour the destroyed Lithuanian Jewish communities.
  • Šeirė Trail (4.1 km): nice trail on the shore of lake Plateliai.
• In the south of Plateliai there's Beržoras (Beržuors in Samogitian), a 76 people small village that has a nice 18th century wooden church, St. Vyskupo Stanislovo Catholic Chuch, and its cemetery is thought to be one of the oldest in Lithuania. 
• In the small 13 people village of Plokščiai (Pluokštē in Samogitian), in the area of Plokštinė forest, it can be found Cold War Museum (9-18 Wed-Fri; 10-17 Sat-Sun; 5€/ 2.50 €  adults/ kids), a museum located in a former Soviet Union base, which hosted 2 thermonuclear warheads for 15 years. Around it, it can be enjoyed Plokštinė educational walking trail (4 km), discovering the area where the former base is located and its beautiful forests and a bit further is located Paplatelė educational walking trail (2.3 km), route that goes around Sultekis pond.
• Žemaičių Kalvarija (Žemaitiu Kalvarėjė in Samogitian), in the northeastern part of the park, is a 696 inhabitants town that has preserved the 9th-13th century characteristics. In July there's a celebration in a Path of Cross (with 19 chapels) where people go on pilgrimage (Great Žemaičių Kalvarija Festival). Among all the churches located here, the most spectacular one is St. M. Mergelės Marijos Apsilankymo Catholic Chuch, Neo-Baroque church built in 1822 after the previous one was burnt on a fire. Not far from here it's Šarnelė (Šarnielė in Samogitian), a small village founded in the 16th century, with 150 inhabitants, full of farmstead and where the poet Vytautas Mačernis was born.
• One of the most popular routes in the National Park is the cycling route around Lake Plateliai (24 km).
• Plungė (Plongė in Samogitian, פלונגיאן in Yiddish, Płungiany in Polish): historic town in Samogitia, with 16,750 inhabitants, first mentioned in 1567 and belonged to Platon Zubov (and later to Oginskiai), that was home of a very large Jewish population before WW2 (44%).
  
  • Žemaitija Art Museum (10-21 Tue-Sun; 1.16€/ 0.58€  adults/ kids): museum located hosted in Plungė Manor, a 19th century Neo-Gothic manor that was the former residence of Ogiński family. Nowadays it hosts exhibitions of works of art by local Samogitian artists.
  • Plungė District Municipal Public Library and Park: 19th century building and park belonged and Platon Zubov. It's architecture is very similar to Palazzo Vecchio palace one, in Florence.
  • St. Jono Krikštytojo Catholic Church: Neo-Romanesque church built in 1933, one of the largest churches in whole Lithuania.
  • Visų Šventųjų Catholic Chapel: Romanticism style chapel buitl for Zubov and his family.

Catholic Church of Žemaičių Kalvarija

Lake Platelai

Telšiai Clock-Tower

Near Žemaitija National Park, in Gargždelė (25 km from Plungė), it is Orvydas Garden (10-19 Tue-Sun; 2.32€/ 1.16€  adults/ kids), a garden was built by the quarry worker Kazys Orvydas and his son Vilius, which was in the beginning put in a cementery. To reach it, there are buses between Kretinga and Skuodas, stopping at Salantai (from there, there's a 1 km walk). Another nice place near the National Park is Telšiai (Telšē in Samogitian), a nice 22,039 town, unofficial capital of Samogitia (one places where Samogitian language/dialect is preserved), with a nice preserved old town. It has an important cathedral with features of Baroque and Classicism styles, Telšiai Cathedral, dating back to the 18th century and seat of the Diocese of Telšiai. Other interesting things to visit here are the famous Telšiai Clock-Tower, the Orthodox Church of St. Nicolaus, St. Mergelės Marijos Ėmimo į dangų Catholic Chuch (19th century church, with Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Neo Byzantine styles, that used to use by Russian Orthodoxs) and Museum Alka of Samogitian History (10-17 Tue-Sun; 3€/ 1.50€  adults/ retiree, students and kids), museum that teaches about Samogitia, its history, culture and traditions. Traces of Jews culture can also be found all over the town because they were the largest community in town before WW1.

Where can I eat in Žemaitija National Park?

The best choice in this National Park is booking a B&B, with awesome farms and houses, and buying at supermarkets food to eat out.

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