Arka () is a monument in

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuania ...

, Lithuania. Unveiled on 8 August 2003, it commemorates the 85-year anniversary of the

Act of Tilsit The Act of Tilsit ( lt, Tilžės aktas) was an act, signed in Tilsit by 24 members of the National Council of Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažosios Lietuvos tautinė taryba) on November 30, 1918. Signatories demanded unification of Lithuania Minor and ...

and the 80-year anniversary of the

Klaipėda Revolt The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory or ). The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a ...

. The monument weighs 150

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s and reaches in height. The smaller red column is made from red

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

and symbolizes

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnographic re ...

and its cultural heritage, while the larger gray column and arch symbolize Lithuania proper. The gray arch on top looks like it has been broken off and stands for the

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admin ...

, currently part of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Words by writer Ieva Simonaitytė are carved into the monument: "Esame viena tauta, viena žemė, viena Lietuva" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: We are one nation, one land, one Lithuania). The monument was created by sculptor , architect Richard Krištapavičius, and engineer Tautvydas Tubys.

References

{{Commonscat, Arka (Klaipėda) Buildings and structures in Klaipėda 2003 establishments in Lithuania Monuments and memorials in Lithuania