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The Hill of Crosses
The Hill of Crosses in Lithuania is where rebellion and faith meet. Kryžių kalnas, or the Hill of Crosses, is a pilgrimage site north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. It is believed the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaičiai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising against Russia. Not only crosses and crucifixes, but statues of the Virgin Mary, carvings of Lithuanian patriots and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been placed on the hill by Catholic pilgrims. The exact number of crosses on the hill is unknown, but estimates put it at about 55,000 in 1990 and 100,000 in 2006.
From 1944 to 1990, the decades of Soviet Union domination and occupation, the Lithuanians continued to place crucifixes, crosses, and rosaries on the hill. A reminder of their allegiance to their Catholic faith and their nation. The Russians tried to destroy the site several times by bulldozing and removing crosses. One of the attempts to destroy the site was made as late as 1963, and another was made in 1973.
On September 7, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses, declaring it a place for hope, peace, love and sacrifice. The hill remains under nobody’s jurisdiction; therefore people are free to build crosses as they see fit.
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Published in History
So much to love in this.
I have long loved the strong people of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, their deep faith and persistence against Russian and Soviet overlords. George WB Bush’s failing to recognize their declarations of independence, even though they had their own seats in the UN, was a crime.
I love that the Hill of Crosses is spontaneous, is no one’s place, is everyone’s shrine.
And I loved learning that Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty are still functioning. I thought Mr Clinton had shut them down.
Thank you, Doug, for posting this.
The funny thing is this place could not exist in the United States.
It would be subject to numerous lawsuits from the perpetually aggrieved.
My pleasure, thank you.
And they would be much more effective tearing it down.
That was extraordinary ! I’d never heard of the Hill of Crosses. What does it mean in 2019, to still be a symbol of freedom? There is no longer a Soviet Union. That tells a bigger story…
Well Poland is on the outs with the EU concerning their abortion policies so there is this, as one writer noted; Poland was not impressed with the old totalitarians, and they are not impressed with the new totalitarians.
Winner of the 2006 Choose Your Hill to Die On survey.