Priekulė information stand "Old road"

1. HISTORICAL PART OF THE TOWN OF PRIEKULĖ (Klaipėda District, Priekulė, Turgaus Street)
The old Klaipėda-Tilsit road, upon reaching the village of Elniškės, went down through Priekulė towards the Minija River and the inn operating under the Kulm Law (Kulmer Recht) that stood there. As of the 16th century, it was used by merchants, couriers, and subsequently, for transporting mail parcels and passengers. Following the construction of the new highway to Klaipėda in the first half of the 19th century and the railway tracks with the railway station in 1875, the importance of the old road decreased, however, it is known that public transport ran on this road even after the war. This section of Turgaus Street in Priekulė is a remnant of that old road. Within the 16th-20th century period, various purpose buildings and establishments were emerging and built along it. Some of the buildings are still standing there today, and others are no longer existent or are changed externally. Some other places known from historical sources, such as the old market place and the fish market, are no longer there. Ernst Vichert, a judge and writer, used to walk along this road. He described beautifully in his Lithuanian Stories the houses, people and merrymaking at Priekulė, as well as the pine trees growing by this road, whose trunks shone with gold in the evening just before sunset. Now this section of the road has become a part of St. Jacob’s Way, an international, educational, cultural pilgrimage route.

2. HOTEL-INN (Klaipėda District Municipality, Priekulė, Turgaus str. 8)
The building stands in a very significant place, marking the western border of the old market square (today only two buildings mark it - this one and one at Turgaus str. 6), which was an intersection of important streets and, at the same time, the end line of the market place. The hotel-inn was built in the historicist style in 1911. The first floor was occupied by the inn, where trading went on. The hotel operated in the attic. Perhaps an old inn stood here at the beginning of the 17th century, out if which later evolved the estate operating under the Kulm Law (Kulmer Recht). After World War II, the writer Ieva Simonaitytė used to stay in this hotel (prior to the construction of her summerhouse). Until 1948, the building was still a hotel, and in 1953, it was divided into 10 flats and a commercial space below. In 1992, the building was awarded the status of an architectural monument.

3. OLD MARKET PLACE (Klaipėda District, Priekulė, Turgaus Street)
Behind the inn operating under the Kulm Law (Kulmer Recht), on both sides of the old road, there was the old market place, where the trade in cattle and horses, and maybe other things, took place. Next to the inn of Fritz Schultz was a covered market place where various goods were sold. It also operated in the post-war period for selling piglets and agricultural produce. Subsequently, it served quite a long time as a place for selling second hand clothing, and was demolished quite recently. The former space of the old marketplace is now occupied by the buildings of the Soviet era, kitchen gardens and gardens of residents, and low-value auxiliary structures.

4. FISH MARKET (Klaipėda District Municipality, Priekulė, Turgaus str. 7)
The fish market started operating at the beginning of the 20th century. The selection of the location for it was not accidental: there was a considerable empty area near the intersection of Turgaus and Pamarių streets right next to the market square and the livestock market, as well as markets of other goods, that operated there. The market traded in sea and river fish, offering fresh eels, pike, and perch arranged in wooden boxes. During the Soviet era, a typical domestic service building (now residential) was built on this site.

5. INN/RESTAURANT (Klaipėda District Municipality, Priekulė, Turgaus str. 9)
In the past, it was a very significant building - an inn (tavern) owned by Fritz Schultz that stood in the old market place itself. However, during the Soviet era, the picturesque building was demolished, with only foundations left, on which an unsightly two-story house made of silicate bricks was erected.

6. CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA (Klaipėda District Municipality, Priekulė, Turgaus str. 11)
Until 1923, there was no Catholic community in Priekulė, with only individual Catholics mentioned. The Catholic community was established in the years of Lithuania’s independence, after the Klaipėda region was incorporated into Lithuania. Until the 1940s, the Catholics of Priekulė did not have their own house of worship, services were held in community houses rented from the Evangelical Lutheran parish of Priekulė and in other buildings. Catholic priests from Klaipėda used to come to lead the Mass. In 1936, the church construction committee of the Priekulė community purchased a plot of land in a previously undeveloped area, which was former lands of the Gleich manor parcelled out at the beginning of the 20th century. Thanks to the initiative of Nikodemas Juozapas Petkus, the church construction committee was established, the plot of land purchased, the foundations of the church installed in 1937, and, in 1937-1938, a brick church of St. Anthony of Padua erected. The church was consecrated on 3 July 1938. The author of the project was Vsevolodas Kopylovas, the creator of architecture in Lithuania. The architecture of the church has features of the modernist style that gained popularity in the first half of the 20th century. Until the second half of the 20th century, the interior and decoration of the church were modest, and the high altar was particularly simple with solely the Merciful Jesus statue standing in the centre. In 1965, Dean Henrikas Šulcas bought from the nun Augustina Ona Galdikaitė and brought from the Padvariai Chapel a skilfully made, ornate, neo-gothic wooden altar depicting the Crucified Jesus, which was created by Joseph Rieffeser, an Italian sculptor, in the late 19th century - early 20th century. An old painting of the Crucifixion of Jesus painted on canvas by the Italian artist Rossini is installed in the altar. Funds for the purchase of the great altar were donated by a parishioner who herself lived quite poorly. The walls of the church are decorated with paintings of the Stations of the Cross. The interior of the church is decorated with the statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Anthony of Padua made by master Vladas Čižauskas. The bell tower of the church has a bell founded by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia. Prior to the war, the Catholic Church of Priekulė was a part of the Warmia Diocese. During World War II, Polish, French, and Belgian prisoners of war used to attend the Mass in this church in large numbers. During the war, when an infirmary was installed at the Priekulė School, school classes were held in the Catholic Church.

7. GROTTO OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES FOR FAMILIES (Klaipėda District Municipality, Priekulė, Turgaus str. 11)
The Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes was installed next to the Priekulė Catholic Church and is intended to strengthen Christian family traditions in commemoration of the Year of the Family in Lithuania announced by Pope Francis. The author of statue of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary installed in the grotto is sculptor Kazys Bimba. The authors and implementers of the grotto project: Remigijus Bičkaitis and Jonas Gabalis, parishioners of the Priekulė St. Anthony of Padua parish. The boulders for installing the grotto were donated by parishioners, religious and political leaders, and various organizations. On 19 June 2022, the Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes was consecrated by Algirdas Jurevičius, bishop of Telšiai.

8. HOUSE OF PRAYER OF THE BLUE CROSS SOCIETY OR TEMPERANCE SOCIETY (Klaipėda District Municipality, Priekulė, Turgaus Street)
It is believed that a building that stood north of Turgaus Street on the edge of the settlement was a place of a small prayer house of the Blue Cross Society or the Temperance Society founded in the area in the first half of the 20th century. The purpose of the society was to fight against alcohol consumption. Its members made a written commitment not to drink a single drop of intoxicating drinks, except for medicines and Lord’s Supper wine. After the war, evangelical Lutherans, who lost their church and parish house, used to gather in that building. In 1948, the building was no longer existent.