The Hill of Crosses in the countryside near Siauliai in Lithuania is a one of a kind pilgrimage destination that is conveniently located only a 1.5hr drive from Riga.

The Hill of Crosses (Kryziu Kalnas in Lithuanian) is an expression of the unwavering Christian faith of the Lithuanian people and of rebellion against eras of Soviet oppression. Although the first crosses started appearing here in the mid 1800s after uprisings against the Russians, it was during the Soviet occupation that the hill started teeming with thousands of crosses. Local Lithuanians who could not locate or were denied access to the bodies of their loved ones whisked away by the Soviet regime took to placing crosses on this hill instead, as a sign of remembrance and defiance. Although the Soviets bulldozed the hill and its crosses multiple times, Lithuanians still kept putting up more crosses. The site became a major pilgrimage site, especially after independence when Pope John Paul II celebrated mass here in 1993 with hundreds of thousands of Lithuanian faithful in attendance.

There are various local legends about the first cross that appeared on the hill. According to one of the more famous legends, a Lithuanian man had a daughter who was extremely ill, and in a dream Mother Mary appeared and told him to bring a large cross to the hill to help his daughter heal. After carrying a heavy cross for 13km to the hill, the man put up his cross, kissed it and headed back to his home. Before reaching home, he was greeted by the sight of his daughter running towards him – she had miraculously recovered. Soon after, others started leaving their crosses on the hill along with their own prayers for miracles and intercessions.

The relatively short hill is strewn with crosses, statues, rosaries and crucifixes of every shape, material and size imaginable. The hill has now become a pilgrimage site for all faiths, not just Christianity, and we saw stars of David mixed in with the crosses. These offerings of remembrance, thanksgiving, and intercession prayers come from locations all over the world. In our short time exploring the hill, we saw wooden native Lithuanian crucifixes, crosses made from Harley Davidson exhaust pipes, colorful crosses with in different national flag colors, and even makeshift creative crosses made from semiconductor chips. The number of crosses and crucifixes on the site continues to grow today, with locals and visitors alike leaving their sign of remembrance on Kryziu Kalnas.

As part of our personal pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses we placed a crucifix there that we brought from Riga, as well as an additional Lithuanian cross from one of the shops at the site.

Multiple tiny paths criss-cross the hill, and we made our way through them exploring and admiring the different types of crosses and offerings people had left behind. Visiting the unique Hill of Crosses was well worth the trip from Riga, and we found it to be a truly moving and uplifting experience.