History
SVENTOJI:
HISTORY
Prepared
by “Encyclopedia Lituanica”. II. Boston, 1972. P.
344-345
SVENTOJI,
fishing village and seaside resort on the Baltic
seashore, at the mouth of the Sventoji river, 13 km
north of Palanga. Its population was 835 in 1970 (410
in 1923, 784 in 1959). There are fishing harbor
facilities, trawler repair shops, and a
fish-processing plant. Recent archaeological research
(1966-69) turned up several dozen Stone Age habitation
sites from the middle of the 3rd millennium B. C.
Found were fishing implements (oars, floats, linden
bast nets), clay pots, flint scrapers, amber beads,
and other artifacts. Most interesting and rare is a
well-preserved black alder pole with a sharpened butt
and the top carved into a human bust. The entire pole
is 195 cm long, of which the bust takes up 32 cm. This
is the only such find in Lithuania and one of few in
northern Europe. The sex of the image is not evident.
It is believed that such Neolithic sculptures were
placed near fishing waters, but it is not exactly
known for what purpose.
The Sventoji harbor is
mentioned in chronicles of the Teutonic Order (13th
century) and in several maps of Livonia (1562-73). The
Polish-Lithuanian Diet of 1589, held at Warsaw,
decided to clean up the bed and mouth of the river so
as to enable ships to bring goods from Samogitia. King
Sigismund Vasa (1587-1632) granted an English company
permission to instal new harbor facilities, spurring
competition between Sventoji and the German merchant
ports of Klaipeda (Memel) and Liepaja (Libau).
Pressured by the more powerful representatives of the
latter, King Ladislas Vasa (1632-48) ordered a stop to
further expansion of the harbor, but King John
Sobieski (1674-96) reached a new agreement with the
English merchants. In 1685 he allowed them to
establish their agency at Palanga on condition that
they would improve the port facilities of Sventoji, to
which he granted a town charter and a 40-year
dispensation from all taxes. As a result, commerce
once again expanded, and the port began to compete
anew with those of Liepaja and Riga. At the outbreak
of the Great Northern War, the merchants of the latter
two cities hired Swedish troops to block up the port
of Sventoji with stones (1701). From that time on it
remained dormant until it was revived again during the
period of Lithuania's independence. In 1925 a 380 m
southern mole was built; in 1926 - a 230 m northern
mole, warehouses, meteorological and hydrographic
stations, and other installations. A year later new
piers were constructed and the harbor was deepened.
Annually about 300,000 kg of fish, mostly cod and
flounder, were brought in at Sventoji. Towards the end
of the period of independence a development plan for
the village was put in action, resulting in the
construction of new buildings, a school, a Roman
Catholic church, and summer villas. During World War
II the harbor fell into disuse, but since then it has
been revived once more. Recently the village was
administratively joined to the town of Palanga (1970).
