Today I will present you a unique sight you MUST visit if you come to Lithuania. It’s the Hill of Crosses. I have never heard about other place like this on Earth…
As you probably know, we, Lithuanians, are Catholics. We are a very godly nation. So in 19th century some devout people started building crosses on the hill not far away from the city of Siauliai. The origin of the tradition to leave a cross on the hill is not known. But it is thought that it is connected to the Lithuanians uprising against Russians in 19th century. Families did not know where the bodies of some dead rebels were, so they started building crosses in a place of a former hill fort.
During the times of Soviet occupation Russians tried to destroy the Hill of Crosses three times, but Lithuanians did not stop bringing crosses to the hill. Only in 1985 the Soviets finally left the Hill of Crosses in peace.
In 1993 Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses.
Now hundreds of thousands of crosses are on the hill. Actually, the hill is too small for so many crosses so nowadays they are built around the square near the hill. The variety of crosses is amazing! If you come to the Hill of Crosses leave the cross there too and ask for God’s blessing for your family.
Here are some photos of the Hill of Crosses I made this summer:
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| Hill of Crosses |
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| Crosses near the path to the hill |
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| Hill of Crosses |
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| Hill of Crosses |
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| Hill of Crosses |
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| Pilgrim near the Hill of Crosses |
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| Hill of Crosses |
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| Hill of Crosses |
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| Hill of Crosses |
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| Hill of Crosses |
1 comment:
Very Nice.. I was there last year.
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