The Hill of Crosses

 

 

 

 

The city of Siaulai is in the northern part of Lithuania, near to Ryga, Latvia. From the train station I walked down a long wide and street flanked on both sides by tall concrete buildings – relics of the socialist days – until I reached the Siaulai Hotel, also a grand standing monument from Soviet times.

 My Lonely Planet guide cites the hotel and adds that it has been renovated, which explains why the exterior and interior look very proper. Though renovated, the soviet spirit still remains: the room they gave me was comfortable yet tight, austere and very functional; the furniture is very much outdated and the walls of the hotel are painted in a dull color – something between orange and mustard; at breakfast a hotel staff chases everyone and demands they show their ‘breakfast ticket!’

Siaulai offers some interesting and random cultural sights, such as: the bicycle museum,  the radio & TV museum, churches, cathedrals and more. It has one main pedestrian drag – Vilniaus Street – lined with shops, cafes, bars and clubs.  If not fot this popular lane, then the city would be nothing more than a collection of stiff and rusted out Soviet-era buildings. But by far the most interesting sight in Saulai is the mystical Hill of Crossses.

This sight lies about 12 km from the city and is self-explanatory – it is simply a hill covered with crosses – but it is its significance and how that significance changed over time that enchants.

Although it is not known exactly when the practice of planting crosses on the hill first started and why on that particular hill, it is believed that Lithuanians started out of religious reasons sometime during the 18th century. The political climate then changed: in the late 18th century Lithuania became part of the Russian empire. Lithuanians then started putting up crosses on the hill in remembrance of the rebels who lost their lives fighting for independence.

Independence was won then lost to the Germans first during WWII then to the USSR in 1944. During Soviet occupation, from 1944-1990, Lithuanians planted crosses on the hill as a sign of their national identity and their protest against soviet occupation. Interestingly, the soviets, wanting to strike a psychological blow against Lithuanians, bulldozed the hill, but Lithuanians returned and planted even more crosses.

The day I went to the Hill of Crosses was unusually warm for the month of September – almost like a summer day. Rather than take the bus I rented a bike from the tourist information office and cycled all the way. Though the bicycle lane is not always clearly indicated, riding on the sidewalk was easy enough and got easier once I left the city behind.

After about 45 minutes of cycling up and down hills, past large green fields and rows upon rows of tall trees, and after ingesting a few of those small insects that have nothing better to do but hover in the air on your cycling path, I finally made it to the sight. It was hidden away from the main street, in a peaceful spot near a winding river and near a thicket of trees. The sky was a clear blue, a gentle breeze blew and the soft chime of metal crosses rang everywhere the air.

According to Wikipedia the number of crosses was estimated at 55,000 in the year 1990. There probably are over hundreds of thousands of them by now. I walked up, down and around the hill,took pictures from different angles, then sat down on a nearby bench. A small group of tourists walked by me. They stood at the base of the hill and looked on curiously. A small Polish congregation stood around the statue of Christ at the foot of the hill and recited what sounded like a liturgy.  There were others there who did not look like tourists. From their eyes and manner I could tell there seemed to be some personal attachment to this hill. The tourists and Polish congregation left, but these others stayed – these pilgrims who have come to listen to the chime of crosses and remember.

 Note from the Editor:
Mohamed Asem is a writer from Kuwait and currently on a journey across eastern/central Europe.

 His articles from the journey: Crossing the Polish-Czech Border on Foot
Part 1 of 4
https://polishnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2001:crossing-the-polish-czech-border-on-foot-&catid=87:podroetravel&Itemid=305