Hill of Crosses, Lithuania

Kryžių kalnas, or the Hill of Crosses,  is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. The precise origin of the practice of leaving crosses on the hill is uncertain, but it is believed that the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaičiai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising.

Over the generations, the place has come to signify the peaceful endurance of Lithuanian Catholicism despite the threats it faced throughout history. After the 3rd partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire.

In 1795 Siauliai was incorporated in Russia and returned to Lithuania in 1918. After the peasant uprising of 1831-1863 many crosses were erected on the hill.

Relatives of the dead rebels who had no bodies to bry left crosses on the hill in memory of their lost loved ones. There were around 150 crosses by the end of 1895.

There is another legend behind the Hill of Crosses. The story is of a Lithuanian farmer whose daughter was sick and was going to die. She was treated by all the doctors and given all possible medicines, but her health kept on deteriorating.

Every night the farmer sat besides his daughter and kept praying for her health. One night while besides his daughter the farmer had a dream.

A woman dressed in white clothes asked him to follow her instructions to make his daughter better. According to her instructions, the farmer built a large wooden cross and placed it on the hill of the Domantai Fort. The woman in white said that the cross was a sign of faith and love for God and it would heal his daughter.

After he had placed the cross his daughter was cured of her illness and amazingly before he returned home she was out of her bed waiting for him.