Parnidis Dune Sundial

The Parnidis Dune near Nida is one of the natural wonders of the Curonian Spit, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rising 52 meters above sea level, this massive shifting dune offers one of the most dramatic viewpoints in Lithuania — a vast expanse of sand, sea, lagoon, and forest visible from its windswept summit. At the top stands a distinctive granite sundial, a modern monument that has become the symbol of Nida. The sundial was originally erected in 1995 but collapsed during a storm in 1999 and was rebuilt. Its geometric form creates a striking contrast with the organic curves of the dune, and on sunny days it accurately tells the time. The views from the summit are extraordinary. To the west, the Curonian Lagoon stretches toward the Russian border. To the east, the Baltic Sea glitters on the horizon. Below, the dune drops away in steep sandy slopes, and the tiny wooden houses of Nida huddle at the forest's edge. Thomas Mann, the Nobel Prize-winning author, called this landscape 'the Sahara of the North' when he lived here in the 1930s.