Šventoji In Your Pocket

People have been living in the area where the tiny seaport of Šventoji now stands since at least 3000BC. Translating as The Holy, Šventoji is situated at the mouth of the river of the same name, a body of water that’s brought it both fame and ruin over the centuries due to its past importance as a gateway in and out of the Baltics. First marked on a map in 1542, Šventoji’s fidelity has been tested by almost everyone, including the British, who briefly ran the port at the end of the 18th century. Destroyed in 1701 during the early stages of the Great Northern War, the town never fully recovered and spent the next two centuries in relative obscurity. After a short stint over the nearby border in Latvia at the end of WWI, Šventoji was embraced back into the Lithuanian fold just two years later. Technically part of Palanga since 1973 and just 13km to the north, Šventoji has been building a reputation of late as a resort town to vie with its two big rivals Nida and Palanga. Instinctively charmed by an underdog, In Your Pocket recently spent time in this traditionally Curonian backwater to see what all the fuss was about.