Wall mural “Plan of the Old Town”

The founding date of Klaipėda is considered to be 1252. The city began with the construction of a castle surrounded by water on all sides. Only one bridge connected the castle to the nearby settlement. The structure of the current old town was formed by two perpendicular streets – Turgaus and Tiltų. The oldest quarters of Klaipėda were formed along the first streets. They were of different sizes. At the beginning of the 15th century, the city was planned by the locator Johan Lankau. He relied on already established traditions: the houses of merchants and officials were located near markets and main streets, and artisans according to their specialties were settled in separate streets. In the first half of the 16th century there were already blocks of houses between Kurpių, Kepejų, Tiltų and Vežėjų streets. Later – between Turgaus and Tomo streets. The oldest stone pavement of the street dating back to the beginning of the 16th century was found on Turgaus and  Mėsininkai streets.

The rectangular network of streets of the old town, which has remained almost unchanged to this day, was finally formed after the city fire of 1540. It corresponds to the principles of Roman city construction, when the city structure served military purposes. Strict, parallel streets were directed towards the fortress, and the blocks were 13×49 m size. The longitudinal streets were about 12 meters long, and the transverse ones – 5.5 meters wide. The street leading to the fortress was much wider (25 m) and was built in the middle of the island where the city began. Although in the 17th century some houses protruded out onto the street or were recessed into courtyards, after the fire of 1854, when the city was  rebuild  with brick buildings, the blocks were adjusted and some streets were straightened.

The plan of the old town on the house at 21 Turgaus St., was created by the order of Klaipėda municipality in 2004, to mark Lithuania’s accession to the European Union. The plan depicts and names of the main city streets, significant buildings, and the mural is decorated with the coat of arms of Klaipėda. Over time, the mural on the wall disappeared, but the inhabitants of the port city and the city’s guests liked it very much, so it was decided to preserve the map. In 2017, six Rotary clubs of the  city (“Aditė”, “Concordia 1826”, “Karalienė Luizė”, “Klaipėda”, “Maris”, “Senamiestis”) united and financed the renewal of the old town plan. This is a gift to Klaipėda and Lithuania, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the State’s Independence.

The project manager: Vakaris Bernotas

Authors of the drawing: Raimondas Žičkus, Virginija Žičkuvienė, Linas Dzimidas

The author of the mural: Rodion Petrov