Naglis Hill

Naglis Hill is a 15-metre-high dune on the Baltic coast, which used to be higher and covered with pine trees, most of which were cut down during World War I. According to legend, this is the grave of the giant Naglis, and his wife Brukšva was buried here. Her tears were the source of the stream that runs through the village. The hill was also known as the Dutch Cap because it was a good landmark for sailors. The old inhabitants of Palanga called the hill Žuvėdrų (Swedish) kapai (fish eaters) Graves or Kopų, Kapų kalnu (hill of graves). Grandparents used to say that unbaptised babies, drowned people, suicides and people who died by violence were buried there. For this reason, the mountain was called Nagla’s Hill of Death, and later Naglis Hill. Archaeological research has shown that there may have been a shrine on Naglis Hill in the 15th and 16th centuries. Pagan rites could have been performed on Naglis Hill after the abandonment of Birutė Hill. Sources mention that in 1613-1614 the Jesuits visited the seaside and found pagans worshipping their gods here. Around the middle of the 16th century, the inhabitants of the old Palanga began to bury their dead, and later the cemetery on Naglis Hill declined because the people who lived nearby moved away, or perhaps because the hill became too crowded. Archaeological research has confirmed that in the 18th and 19th centuries people from Palanga who had died under unclear circumstances were buried here.

Palangos m., Palangos m. sav.