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Pilgrimage site - Located about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai in northern Lithuania, the Hill of Crosses is a mysterious pilgrimage site.

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Šiauliai - The town of Šiauliai was established in the early 1200s as a means to guard against raids by the Teutonic and Livonian Orders.

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Mysterious origin - Nobody knows when the practice of leaving crosses on the hill started.

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Mysterious origin -

Some believe that the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaičiai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising during the Polish–Russian War from 1830–31.

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Tradition -

Various generations have gone on to leave not only crosses but also crucifixes, statues of the Virgin Mary, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, and tiny effigies and rosaries.

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Banning of crosses -

Though Lithuanians had been leaving crosses for a few decades, the massive numbers began to arrive in 1863, when Tsarist authorities banned crosses by roadsides and in cemeteries.

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Banning of crosses, again -

Crosses were again banned during the Soviet rule, causing even more crosses to be placed on the hill.

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Soviet ideology - On the night of April 5, 1961, the crosses were bulldozed and crushed, before being pushed downhill. The hill was attacked several other times in the years that followed.

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Soviet ideology -

Nearly three decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, the crosses are still standing and multiplying.

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Rebuilding - Pilgrims would always rebuild their holy site, and "the more fervently the hill was being destroyed, the more powerfully it would be rebuilt," as described by Lithuania Travel.

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Symbol of hope and perseverance -

As Lithuanians of faith stubbornly continued to bring their crosses, the site became a symbol of their unshakable faith, sufferings, and hopes.

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Folklore: buried alive -

According to the stories, a church once sat on the hill until a powerful storm buried it under sand and rock with people inside.

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Folklore: buried alive -

Locals say a ghost procession of monks can be spotted at the foot of the hill at sunrise.

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Folklore: buried alive - Throughout the generations, magical appearances, visions of saints, and sightings of ghosts have contributed to the hill’s history and lore.

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Folklore: Pagan massacre - Other legends say that, in the 1300s, the hill housed a wooden castle manned by the pagan barons of the Samogitia region. It was then destroyed by German warrior-monks who were tasked with Christianizing the place.

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Folklore: Pagan massacre - The story contends that the surviving Samogitians piled the slain bodies of their fallen countrymen and buried them, forming the mound.

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Folklore: Pagan massacre - The ghosts of both monks and pagans are said to still haunt the hill at night.

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Folklore: father - Perhaps the most well-known story of the hill’s creation is the tale of a desperate father whose daughter fell gravely ill.

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Folklore: father - The man, as he cared for his daughter on her death bed, had a vision of a woman who told him that if he made a wooden cross and placed it on a nearby hill, the girl would recover.

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Folklore: father - The story says that when the man returned home after placing the cross on the hill, his daughter greeted him at the door, perfectly healthy again.

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Folklore: father -

Inspired by the story, people took to leaving crosses on the hill in the hopes that their prayers would be answered.

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Crosses -

The Hill of Crosses is minimally maintained by the municipality of Šiauliai and local Franciscan monks. Today, more than 100,000 crucifixes and other religious icons cover the hill.

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Pope John Paul II - The hill gained international attention when Pope John Paul II visited it in September 1993.

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Pope John Paul II - He celebrated Mass on the hill, praying for the martyrs of faith in Lithuania and Europe.

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Monastery - Following the Pope's visit, a Franciscan monastery was built near the hill.

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Cross-making tradition - Cross-making is one of the most unique Lithuanian crafts.

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Cross-making tradition - So much so that the craft is included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

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Cross-making tradition - The cross-making tradition is so ingrained in Lithuanian society that it was not interrupted even under the strict Soviet rule.

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Visiting and placing a cross -

As the hill does not belong to any jurisdiction, people are free to build crosses as they see fit.

See also: The ultimate guide to creating a weekend getaway travel itinerary

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