Klaipėda City Municipality
Klaipėda
historic training sailing ship and restaurant
Danė (Dangė) quay near Biržos Bridge, Klaipėda
55.71041, 21.13502
15-30 minutes on the quay; 1-2 hours if visiting the restaurant
evening, when the sailing ship is lit on the Danė quay
Barquentine Meridianas, Training sailing ship Meridianas, Meridianas Restaurant
Meridianas - a symbol of Klaipėda by the Danė
Sailing Ship Meridianas is one of the easiest Klaipėda city-centre views to recognize and, over several decades, has become a true symbol of the port city. It stands on the Danė (Dangė) quay near Biržos Bridge, beside the old-town walking routes, so it is often treated as a city emblem, even though it is really a training vessel with a documented maritime life.
When visiting, do not stop at a quick photograph. The wooden hull, the masts, the quay setting, and the closeness to the half-timbered old town all show that Klaipėda's identity was shaped not only by trading squares but also by the sea, the port, and its maritime school.
The 1948 Turku barquentine and post-war reparations
Meridianas was built in 1948 in Turku, Finland, at the Turku shipyard. It is one of nearly fifty (together with 48 others) similar wooden sailing ships that Finland handed to the Soviet Union after the Second World War as part of war reparations; very few of them survive today.
By type it is a barquentine - a three- to five-masted sailing ship with square sails on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the other masts. The ship is 51.70 m long including the bowsprit, 8.75 m wide, with a maximum draught of 3.45 m, a cargo capacity of about 300 t, and a speed under sail of up to 8 knots (about 14.8 km/h).
A training sailing ship for cadets
In Klaipėda, Meridianas served as the training sailing ship of the Klaipėda Maritime School, where future seafarers learned practical sailing skills. About 50 cadets and 8 crew members sailed on it for three- to four-month practice voyages.
The training-ship period ended in 1968. That date matters: it explains how the ship moved from teaching work into a new life in the city centre and soon became a publicly accessible landmark.
From school ship to restaurant on the Danė quay
In 1971 Meridianas was towed into the Danė (Dangė) River and fitted out as a restaurant. The ship was later repaired several times, its interior renewed, and its wooden hull clad in sheet metal to protect it from the water.
In 2001 the ship was bought from Klaipėda municipality for a symbolic one euro and towed to the Klaipėda ship-repair dock; in spring 2002 it returned with renewed white sides, just in time for the city's 750th anniversary. After the owners changed in 2012, the ship was reconstructed again: in 2013 the restaurant and an educational exhibition were restored, and an opening ceremony was held on 19 July 2014.
Heritage status and outdoor exhibition
In the Register of Cultural Property, the barquentine Meridianas (code 12217) was registered on 2 April 1993, but its heritage protection was later revoked. That distinction matters: the ship remains culturally important to Klaipėda, but its legal status is not the same as that of state-protected buildings.
An outdoor exhibition beside the ship displays authentic Meridianas details: the original propeller, fragments of wooden framing and boards, part of the authentic wooden foremast, hewn ballast stones, breathers, and lanterns. In this way the ship's documented maritime biography meets everyday city life.
Restaurant and practical visiting
Today Meridianas operates as a restaurant with an educational exhibition about the ship, so it is not a classic museum. Restaurant hours and menu prices change, so before planning dinner it is most reliable to check the official ship page or reserve a table in advance.
Even if you are not visiting the restaurant, the ship can be viewed from the Danė quay at any time without a ticket. The best time for photographs is evening, when the lighting sharpens the masts and the ship's silhouette, or early morning, when the quay is quieter.
