Hill of crosses

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The shrine of the Catholic world, an open-air temple - the Hill of Crosses, located 12 km from the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai, continues to grow exponentially, because every pilgrim or traveler comes here with no empty hands. And it's all in the popular belief, according to which luck on the cross left on the Hill of Crosses. That's all and strive here: who is for good luck, and who just look. But everyone takes a cross with them.

Nowadays, crosses of different types can be found on the Hill of Crosses: from huge wooden crosses up to several meters high up to the crosses, the clusters of which are hung with larger crosses, the total number is about fifty-five thousand.

Mountain of crosses in Lithuania

No one will tell you exactly about the origin of the Mountain of Crosses: neither historians nor residents of Siauliai. One thing is clear: despite the external similarity, the Hill of Crosses is not a cemetery and has nothing to do with the cemetery. It is assumed that this is a pagan temple, or a monument to Lithuanians who died during the uprising of 1831, which was brutally suppressed by the tsarist authorities.

One who will leave a cross on the Hill of Crosses will be lucky.

The mountain of crosses consists of two peaks, one of which is a sculpture of the Mother of God. On the mountain you can climb the ladders, and over all the other space the crosses rise. There are also huge memorial crosses, the height of which reaches 9 m, and openwork metal structures, and small native, homemade crosses, and many of the large crosses are hung with small ones. Some images resemble pagan idols.

In 1993, during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Lithuania in the chapel of the Hill of Crosses, a divine service was held in which John Paul II blessed all Europe from this hill and established his cross, on the porcelain part of which his image was fixed. Since then, the mountain of Krestov in Siauliai has become a world-famous landmark. And a year later the pope erected another statue of the crucified Jesus Christ.

Now on the mountain not only crosses are installed by Catholics. Catholic crosses coexist with the Orthodox, and the Islamic half-moon with the six-pointed star of David. Hieroglyphs turn black on the white canvases, a few stelae from the prisoners of the fascist concentration camps. On the Cross Hill there is also the cross of Andrei Mironov. Established his mother actor Maria Vladimirovna and artists of the theater Siauliai August 16, 1988

How to get here

Prior to the Hill of Crosses, the easiest way to get there is by bus from the bus station of Siauliai. Now the once sacred place has become a full-fledged tourist site with all the appropriate infrastructure: from the info center and the toilet to the sellers of souvenirs with "mountain" symbols (magnets, t-shirts, mugs, everything as usual) located near the parking lot. Here you can buy crosses of various sizes, although traditionally it is necessary to install self-made constructs.

Still, everyone here remembers that the cross is a symbol of faith, they bring here crucifixes in gratitude for healing, answered prayers, or, on the contrary, when they need it. So you, if you ask for something God or just want to see this unique shrine, visit the Hill of Crosses.

Mountain of crosses, panorama

One of the most visited crosses, the Hill of crosses

Main path, Mount of crosses

Hill of crosses

Hill of crosses, entrance