Old Town Square

The town of Plungė is of a radial layout. The rectangular Old Town Square can be found in the centre. The streets branch out of it in five directions. They branch out further down the road, thus dividing the city into districts. Finally, a total of eight roads branch out of Plungė. The city is slowly expanding, while the centre is becoming the Old Town. The old town is the centre of Plungė and, as of the 19th century, the location of the former market square. According to the old Plungians, all of the buildings, surrounding the market square, have burnt down in the summer of 1894. The owner of the land within Plungė at that time was Duke Mykolas Oginskis. In 1902, following the great fire, he built a large red brick building, on both sides of which there were premises for small stores. Oginskis specifically built and gifted this structure to the Jews of Plungė. The stores were not heated, so the storekeepers had to dress warmly in winter, during which almost every store had a pot of live coal placed on the bricks, so that the storekeepers could warm their hands. The small stores would come alive every Monday and Friday because of the market. People traded herring, fabrics, crockery and various other wares. The famous Mižuikiai potters traded crockery, such as pots, bowls, pitchers, and decorated clay plates, while the farmers brought agricultural goods, cattle and other wares to trade in the market. The small stores have burnt down in 1951 and they were never rebuilt. A statue of Stalin and a commemorative plaque were placed in the market square after Stalin’s death in 1953. The statue was taken down just three years later, when the persecution of the Stalin’s cult of personality was initiated. In 1961, a monument to Vladas Rekašius, a revolutionary, was built in the square. The square itself was named after Rekašius. When Lithuania declared independence, the monument of the revolutionary was moved to Grūtas Park and the square was renamed into Old Town Square. The location was rebuilt in 2007 (architects involved: L. Dringelis, A. Lamauskas, E. Ramanauskas, and R. Pulkauskas). Presently, the purpose of the Old Town Square is to host cultural events, and to serve as the location of commerce and recreation.

Sources: Plungės centrinės aikštės istorija / Bronislovas Pocius // Plungės žinios. – May 9th, 2014. 9.

Šimtmečių takais / Eleonora Ravickienė. – Plungė, 1997. – p. 44–45.