LTStraipsnyje tiriama Žemaitijos aukštumos vakarinėje dalyje XVI a. antroje pusėje įsikūrusio Plungės miestelio pradžia. Tuometiniuose šaltiniuose išnyrantys Gandingos miesto bei vėliau jį pakeitusio Plungės miestelio įvardijimai analizuojami pasitelkiant istorinius, geografinius ir lingvistinius duomenis, taip rekonstruojant ankstyvąjį Plungės miestelio kūrimosi etapą. Raktiniai žodžiai: Mikalojus Dorohostaiskis, Gandinga, miestas, miestelis, piliakalnis, Plungė. [Iš leidinio]
ENIn the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, settlements were intensively built, older place names were changing, newer place names were appearing in the second half of the sixteenth century, and now the problems of their identification are inevitably rising. One of them is the case of the naming of Gandinga and Plungė. The impressive hill fort of Gandinga and four other hill forts nearby were probably one of the centres of the Curonian lands (mentioned in 1253), which later became one of the centres of the Samogitian rural district. In addition, the mention of the town of Gandinga and the church founded there in the period of 1567–1570 give the impression that once there was a city here, which later disappeared or relocated to Plungė. The issue has moved to historiography. The research has shown that it is incorrect to talk about the former town of Gandinga. First of all, there is no archaeological evidence for the existence of this settlement. Secondly, an analysis of the documents from the period of 1567–1570, when Gandinga is mentioned, shows that the use of the term место next to Gandinga was much broader than the literal concept of ‘city’. Thirdly, later sources (1592/1597) indicate that the church founded in ‘Gandinga’ was in fact located in Plungė. Fourthly, from 1570 (the first mention of the town of Plungė and the last mention of the town of Gandinga), the number of references to Plungė were on a gradual rise indicating that this growing settlement had a new name. The scheme of the establishment of Plungė would be as follows: a manor house and a small settlement existed near the former Curonian settlement, very likely in the middle of the sixteenth century (in the central part of the present-day town).During the period of 1567–1570, apparently when the settlement had grown considerably and more homesteads were being established, it ‘borrowed’ the temporary name of Gandinga rural district. As the number of homesteads on the hill (current Vytauto Street) increased, the settlement took the name of the Plungė stream flowing at the foot of the hill. Soon after the church was built, the representative of the governor’s assistant (Rus. врядник) took residence there, the town community grew, and finally Plungė established itself as a town in the cartography of the early seventeenth century. Keywords: Mikołaj Dorohostajski, Gandinga, city, town, fort hill, Plungė. [From the publication]