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What to see
National Park
«Curonian Spit»
Five thousand years ago winds and
currents of the Baltic Sea created
the strip of sand which divides
fresh and salt water. The width of
the spit varies from a minimum of
400 m in Russia (near the village
of Lesnoy) to a maximum of 3,800
m (near the Cape of Bulvikis, to the
north of Nida, Lithuania), with a total
length of 98 km. Since 1987, the
Curonian Spit has been considered
a national park and, since 2000, it
has been on the UNESCO’s World
Heritage List. You will fi nd on the
spit a museum complex, several
observation areas from which you
can view the Curonian lagoon and
the Baltic Sea, one of the highest
dunes in Europe called “Orekhovaya”
(55 m), “the dancing forest”, the
fi eld ornithological station of the
Zoological Institute of the Russian
Academy of Sciences «Fringilla»
and many other things. One can
download a free of charge virtual
guide for smartphones from the
website of the national park
www.park-kosa.ru/cn_guide
Natural Park
«Vishtynetsky»
The natural park is located on the bank
of the Vishtynets Lake that occupies an
area of 16 km². The border between
Russia and Lithuania runs across the
water of this lake.
The park is a part of a forest complex
totalling an area of about 360 km²,
which is called Romintskaya Pushcha
(Rominten Forest). One third of the
forest land is located within the territory
of Poland. Apart from picturesque
landscapes, one can find there traces of
the rich history of the place – medieval
churches in the villages of Krasnolesye,
Chistiye Prudy, Kalinino and Nevskoye,
a huge railway viaduct in the village of
Image: Y. Alekseeva
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