RUSNE village
Rusnė - one of the oldest village in the Nemunas Delta,
founded in the XV century. This is the only city in Lithuania
that is in the island. The modern bridge Atmata not always
saves the local population from the spring floods. During
the flood 40 thousand hectares of grassland is covered in
water. People of Rusnė are kept safe from the floods by
mound. Island has a Polders system equipped with 20
water lift stations. At the lake Dumblė the land surface is
1.3 m below sea level. During the summer Rusnė becomes
particularly popular place. Tourists are coming not only
from Lithuania but also from Germany, Denmark. In 2002,
in Rusnė there was established an information center. The
old tradition of fishermen revives – there was built and old
sailing yawl according to the old drawing. In island Rusnė we can visit the restored church, the old post office,
ethnographic K. Banys farmstead, Uostadvaris lighthouse (1876), the first water lifting station (1907). Rusnė border town – on the other side of Skirvytė there is a region of Kaliningrad, Russian Federation.
MINIJA (MINGE, MINE) village
Minija is also called "Lithuanian Venice"
because of its unique landscape. Village was fist
mentioned in 16th century and originates for
the river name, but earlier it was called only
Minė. Germans called the village Minge. River
Minija divides the village into 2 parts, but there
are now bridges. Every house in Minija is facing
the river and people say, that river is the street
there. The town was flooded periodically. In
19th century there were 76 houses and more
than 400 people lived in Minija. In the
beginning of 20th century there were more
than 100 houses. But before the Second World
War, only 28 habitable homesteads were left.
There are 11 nineteenth and twentieth century monumental buildings now. Each house in the village has it's own
pier for boats. The majority of housings are double-ended, sheds with raised roofs are built of red bricks. There
are also wooden buildings - their plans, design, external shape, volume, decor is typical of folk architecture of the
Pomeranian region.
UOSTADVARIS village
Uostadvaris - a village in the
municipality Rusne, south from Kroku
Lanka, in the left river Atmata bank,
about 6 km from Rusne village. It was
created by mapping out drainage
ditches flooded grasslands. In 1907,
there was built the first water
pumping station near Dumble canal,
which was equipped with a steam
turbine, attracting excess water from
meadows and drawing it down
towards the Nemunas.
VENTE village
Ventė horn is the most wandered away western point of Šilutė region. In its tip for more than a hundred years
(1863) there is a working lighthouse. Vessels and rafts this place was particularly dangerous. Until the excavation
of King Wilhelm Canal, which brought together the Nemunas with Klaipėda, a lot of the ships were crashing here.
In Ventė horn in 1929, Tadas Ivanauskas founded a bird-ringing station. Here in seven catchers birds that were
caught and ringed, subsequently were detected in Iran, Egypt and even in South Africa. In Ventė horns
ornithological station operates a
museum. In 1999, Ventė hold a
short film festival "Networks", in
which the famous director Peter
Grynavėjus was present. Ventė
horn is wrapped by legends and
some real events. In 1360 y. in
Ventė the Teutonic Order built a
castle, which secured the water
way to Nemunas. However, the
castle was washed away by the
Kuršiu sea waves and tumbled into
the water. Even though the Ventė
castle is under the water it still
remained famous and it is marked
on the map.
SKIRVYTELE village
In 1949, the radial Rusne town was connected to peripheral street, which runs east-west direction. Then it was
called Skirvytėlė and since 1953 - Žvejų st. This is the only one of the - Nemunas Regional Park Village Delta an
architectural monument of national importance, which consists of 20 dwellings. The inhabitants of the village
were established in the sixteenth century. It finally formed after the abolition of serfdom in divided manor lands.
The fishermen settled in Pakalnė and Vorusnė wooded shores in the individual farms, which eventually formed
groups and the addition of the rampart connected them with one street. Former Skirvytėlė village, ran Vorusnė
and Pakalnė valley, slightly enrich
the wavy landscape. All the village
houses are wooden and most of
them are built in the nineteenth
centuries’ second half. In many
plots there are a dwelling house,
barn and shed. Buildings are set
around
a
rectangular
and
trapezoidal
courtyard.
Home
planning and architecture remained
without major changes.
PAKALNE village
Pakalne is a fishing village. The first time this village is mentioned in
1613-09-27, when the fishing master V. Baugartas who received a plot
of land and privilege, established a tavern here. In 1897 Pakalnė already
been a significant village, which was to become Rusne suburbs. Since
1736 there was an elementary school in the village.
VORUSNE village
Vorusnė - a village in the municipality Rusne, a few kilometers away
from the Rusne village. The Vorusne village is near the Vorusne river
mouth on the shore of the Curonian Lagoon. Vorusne is one of the
oldest settlements in this region. In 1366, in the Teutonic Order letter
the village is referred to as Variszkin. In the nineteenth century
documents Vorusnė is referred to as the poor fishermen and
precariaus workers settlement.