On this leg of our journey, we’ll pass by a 5.3-hectare development featuring apartments, townhouses, and detached houses. It will take us about seven minutes to get to our next stop, so for now, we’ll discuss what was here before the construction of the new apartment blocks and why collective gardens play an important role in the transformation of this neighbourhood.
The area is bordered by the Klaipėda University Botanical Garden, Kretingos Street, and the Dangė River. During the Soviet era, it was the site of the Klaipėda Planting Trust, the administrative building of the greenhouses, and a flower shop. To this day, the locals fondly remember how they’d come here to buy flowers. Perhaps we have some people with us today who have bought flowers here for 1st September, 8th March, or simply to surprise their loved one, just because. After all, it’s nice when a district is known for its flowers and not its troubles, isn’t it?
A horse farm was established next to the Planting Trust, in the picturesque valley of the Dangė River, and operated until the end of 2017. The construction of the new Žolynai neighbourhood began in 2004, with the development of Senvagės and Žolynų Streets running through the neighbourhood. In 2016, a new modern school was planned in the northern part of Klaipėda, on Senvagės Street, due to the growth in population.
Further on, between the Dangė River and Kretingos Street, on the site of the former collective gardens, new gardening communities have been established. Collective gardens weren’t only a phenomenon in the Soviet Union, but also in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany. They were created for pragmatic reasons: after World War II, cities faced food shortages, so the governments decided to distribute plots of land to residents, allowing them to grow their own food. Of course, the would-be gardeners used the space in different ways – some would come here to relax, while others tended to their gardens through hard labour. This six-acre plot gave people the opportunity to express their creativity, ingenuity, love for agriculture, and passion for nature. The gardens became an extension of their home villages for the new city dwellers, an oasis of peace, and often a necessity for the survival of whole families. As times have changed, gardens on the outskirts of towns and cities have become a desirable, even prestigious, place to settle. Modern houses with neatly landscaped surroundings and luxury fences have replaced small summer houses, greenhouses have given way to beautiful pergolas, storage sheds have been replaced by garages, and gardens have been transformed into manicured lawns resembling golf courses.