Rising abruptly from the fertile agricultural plains of northern Lithuania in the village of Jurgaiciai (historically also called Domantai), roughly twelve kilometers north of the city of Siauliai beside the winding Kulpe River, the Hill of Crosses (known in Lithuanian as Kryziu kalnas) presents one of the most visually arresting and emotionally moving sacred landscapes in the world. Approaching along the tree-lined lane branching off the highway between Siauliai and Riga, pilgrims behold a saddle-shaped earthen mound measuring some 60 meters in length, 40 to 50 meters in width, and 10 meters in height that appears transformed into a dense forest of wood and iron: without marble colonnades or gilded cathedral vaults, every square meter of the hill is covered by more than 200,000 crosses, crucifixes, carved wooden shrines, effigies of the Pensive Christ (Rupintojelis), statues of Our Lady of Sorrows, and hundreds of thousands of rosaries chiming softly in the Baltic breeze.
In the spiritual consciousness of Lithuania and the universal Catholic tradition, the Hill of Crosses is both a sanctuary of living prayer and an enduring monument to human dignity in the face of tyranny. Whereas Vilnius Cathedral embodies the royal and ecclesiastical statecraft of the Grand Duchy since 1387, the Hill of Crosses at Siauliai was created entirely from below by generations of ordinary believers over nearly two hundred years. Hailed by Pope John Paul II during his historic pilgrimage on September 7, 1993 as a witness of faith for all Europe, the sanctuary also serves as the premier open-air treasury of Lithuanian traditional cross-crafting (Kryzdirbyste), inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
IThe Mystery of the Redemptive Cross, the Pensive Christ (Rupintojelis), and the UNESCO Heritage of Kryzdirbyste
At the theological center of the Hill of Crosses stands the Christian mystery of the Cross of Jesus Christ, through which human suffering, exile, and death are transfigured into redemptive hope. What gives the sanctuary at Siauliai its unmistakable spiritual character, however, is the union of Catholic devotion with the ancient folk art of Lithuania known as Kryzdirbyste (traditional cross-crafting and its symbolism, proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001 and formally inscribed in 2008).
In Lithuanian village culture, traditional cross-carvers (called kryzdirbiai or dievdirbiai, literally god-carvers) regarded their craft not as mere carpentry but as a sacred vocation surrounded by prayer. Carved primarily from native oak (azuolas, long revered in Baltic tradition as the tree of endurance and strength) and crowned with hand-forged wrought-iron rays, traditional Lithuanian monumental crosses rise between one and five meters in height. Their intricate openwork combines the crucified Christ with pre-Christian cosmological motifs reinterpreted in Christian light: radiating solar disks and crescent moons at the intersection of the beams, stars, doves of the Holy Spirit, and delicate floral tracery evoking the biblical Tree of Life (Gyvybes medis) uniting earth and heaven.
Walking along the wooden steps and narrow footpaths that wind across the mound of Jurgaiciai, pilgrims encounter at every turn the most beloved sculptural figure of Lithuanian popular piety: the Rupintojelis (translated as the Pensive Christ or Sorrowful Christ in Thought). Rather than depicting Christ upon the Cross or enthroned in majesty, the Rupintojelis portrays Jesus seated quietly on a low stone bench wearing the crown of thorns and a simple cloak, resting His cheek upon His right hand in deep, compassionate contemplation of human sorrow.
Historians of religion note that for generations of Lithuanian families enduring foreign occupation, serfdom, war, and deportation to Siberia, the Rupintojelis alongside Our Lady of Sorrows (Sopulingoji Dievo Motina) represented a God who sits beside the suffering and remembers every forgotten tear. Every cross planted on the hill carries a personal intention: thanksgiving for healing from illness, prayers for newlyweds and newborn children, memorials for deportees who perished in Arctic labor camps without a grave, and offerings placed by international pilgrims from Poland, Italy, Germany, the United States, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam who come to join their prayers to those of Lithuania.
Archaeologically, the mound supporting the Hill of Crosses is a medieval hillfort (piliakalnis) known as the Jurgaiciai or Domantai Mound. During the fourteenth century, when the crusading knights of the Livonian Order repeatedly invaded northern Lithuania (Samogitia and Semigallia), Lithuanian defenders fortified this natural glacial ridge beside the Kulpe stream with timber ramparts, known in medieval chronicles as Kula Castle. After the wooden fortress was stormed and burned by the Livonian Order in 1348, the mound remained a hallowed spot in local oral tradition, surrounded by legends of an ancient church that had sunk into the hill during a storm and whose bells could still be heard ringing beneath the earth at dawn.
The historical transformation of the medieval hillfort into the Hill of Crosses began in the mid-nineteenth century following two major anti-Tsarist insurrections in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: the November Uprising of 1831 and the January Uprising of 1863. After Imperial Russian forces crushed the rebellions, thousands of Lithuanian insurgents were executed or exiled to Siberia, leaving their families unable to recover their bodies or mark their graves. At the same time, Tsarist authorities issued decrees prohibiting the erection of new Catholic wayside crosses along roadsides and village squares. Defying the ban, grieving families climbed the secluded Jurgaiciai hillfort to plant large memorial crosses for their missing loved ones; the earliest surviving written chronicle documenting the crosses and miraculous healings on the hill was recorded in 1850 by the local historian Mauricijus Griskevicius.
A frequent misconception among visitors seeing the dense forest of crosses for the first time is the belief that the Hill of Crosses is an ancient cemetery containing hundreds of thousands of graves. It is important to clarify that the Hill of Crosses is not a burial ground (apart from medieval archaeological strata from the fourteenth-century hillfort). No nineteenth- or twentieth-century bodies are buried beneath the crosses; rather, the entire hill functions as a sacred cenotaph of remembrance and a living sanctuary of votive prayer (ex-voto).
Because the site is an open pilgrimage sanctuary rather than a state-regulated necropolis, any pilgrim may leave a small cross on the hill without prior bureaucratic permission. However, the Diocese of Siauliai and heritage authorities strongly ask visitors to bring or purchase only crosses made of natural wood rather than plastic or cheap synthetic materials, both to preserve the authentic aesthetic of the UNESCO-linked landscape and to prevent toxic smoke in the event of accidental fire.
IIFrom the Nineteenth-Century Uprisings and Peaceful Resistance Against Soviet Bulldozers to Pope John Paul II's 1993 Pilgrimage
Over the past two centuries, the history of the Hill of Crosses has unfolded as a dramatic epic of nonviolent spiritual perseverance: whenever political regimes attempted to erase the crosses by decree or heavy machinery, the faithful returned by night to replant them in even greater numbers.
- 14th century (1348)Medieval timber fortress of Jurgaiciai (Kula) defends the Siauliai regionThe saddle-shaped hillfort beside the Kulpe stream serves as a defensive stronghold against the Livonian Order until its destruction in 1348.
- 1831 to 1863 (documented in 1850)Families of fallen and exiled insurgents initiate the planting of memorial crossesFollowing the anti-Tsarist uprisings of 1831 and 1863, relatives of missing rebels erect monumental crosses on Jurgaiciai hill; Mauricijus Griskevicius records the shrine in 1850.
- 1895 to 1940Growth into a major regional pilgrimage sanctuary during Lithuanian independenceArchival counts record at least 150 large crosses in 1895, 200 in 1914, and more than 400 monumental carved oak crosses surrounded by thousands of smaller ones by 1940.
- April 5, 1961First major Soviet bulldozing destroys over 5,000 crosses, followed by nocturnal replantingSoviet authorities cordon off the hill with troops and bulldozers, burning wooden crosses, melting iron ones, and crushing stone monuments, yet pilgrims secretly plant new crosses the very next night.
- 1973, 1974, and 1975Three further Soviet demolition campaigns and nocturnal Eucharistic processionsDespite three more bulldozing operations between 1973 and 1975 and a scheme to flood the valley behind a sewage dam on the Kulpe River, clergy and lay believers continually restore the crosses.
- September 7, 1993Pope John Paul II visits the Hill of Crosses and celebrates Mass for 100,000 faithfulThree years after Lithuania regains independence, Pope John Paul II prays on the mound and celebrates Pontifical Mass, gifting the monumental bronze Crucifix by Enrico Manfrini in 1994.
- July 8, 2000 and 2008Consecration of the Franciscan Monastery of Mount La Verna and UNESCO inscriptionFulfilling Pope John Paul II's wish, the Franciscan monastery beside the hill is consecrated in July 2000; UNESCO proclaims Lithuanian cross-crafting a Masterpiece in 2001 and inscribes it in 2008.
Bulldozers against midnight pilgrims during the Cold War (1961 to 1985). The chapter that made the Hill of Crosses a worldwide symbol of conscience unfolded during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania. Viewing the sanctuary as an intolerable symbol of Catholic fidelity and national identity, on April 5, 1961 the authorities sealed off the Jurgaiciai area with military units and heavy machinery, systematically uprooting and destroying more than 5,000 crosses in a single day. Centuries-old carved oak masterpieces were piled up and burned to ash, wrought-iron crucifixes were hauled away for scrap metal, stone crosses were pulverized to gravel roads, and KGB patrols were stationed along the access tracks.
Yet coercion proved powerless against quiet devotion. Across Lithuania, villagers carved new crosses in hidden workshops, concealed them beneath loads of hay, or carried them on their shoulders for tens of kilometers across marshes and forests at midnight. Whenever guards left their posts, new crosses rose on the crest of the hill before daybreak. Three additional demolition sweeps in April 1973, November 1974, and April 1975 removed thousands more crosses, and officials even declared fictitious epidemics of livestock disease to block pilgrims and drafted plans to dam the Kulpe River so the hill would be submerged beneath stagnant water. Every attempt failed: by the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, some 55,000 crosses stood proudly on the mound, multiplying to more than 200,000 in the decades since.
IIIThe Saddle-Shaped Hillfort Mound, Pope John Paul II's Bronze Crucifix, the 1993 Wooden Pavilion, and the Franciscan Monastery
Unlike a cathedral designed by a single master builder, the Hill of Crosses at Siauliai is an organic sacred landscape shaped by the medieval topography of the Jurgaiciai hillfort together with three architectural landmarks added in the late twentieth century: the 1994 Papal Bronze Crucifix at the entrance plaza, the 1993 Open-Air Papal Altar Pavilion, and the Franciscan Monastery of Mount La Verna standing 300 meters to the northeast.
The core of the sanctuary is the oval medieval earthen mound of Jurgaiciai, measuring approximately 60 meters in length, 40 to 50 meters in width, and rising 8 to 10 meters above the surrounding meadow with two rounded crests linked by a gentle central saddle. A central wooden stairway ascends from the southwestern forecourt over the crest of the mound, branching into narrow earthen paths flanked by dense tiers of oak, iron, and stone crosses.
Anchoring the stone-paved threshold directly at the foot of the main stairway stands a 3.8-meter cast-bronze Crucifix mounted on a circular granite pedestal, gifted to Lithuania by Pope John Paul II in 1994 and sculpted by the Italian artist Enrico Manfrini. Engraved on the granite base in Lithuanian and Italian are the Pope's words of September 1993: Thank you, Lithuanians, for this Hill of Crosses which testifies to the nations of Europe and to the whole world the faith of the people of this land.
Halfway up the southern slope opens a candlelit alcove enshrining a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, while along the spine of the mound stand monumental three- to five-meter carved oak crosses crafted by master artisans from Samogitia, Aukstaitija, Dzukija, and Suvalkija. Draped across the crossbars of the large monuments hang hundreds of thousands of smaller wooden crucifixes and rosaries left by individual pilgrims.
Standing on the broad green meadow southwest of the mound is the open-air timber liturgical pavilion designed in 1993 by architect Vytenis Rudokas for the Pontifical Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II on September 7, 1993. Its steep, tent-like wooden roof recalls traditional Lithuanian wayside chapels and belfries, serving today as an outdoor altar for major diocesan pilgrimages.
Located 300 meters northeast of the mound across the Kulpe stream is the Monastery of the Friars Minor (Franciscans). During his 1993 visit, Pope John Paul II compared the Hill of Crosses to Mount La Verna in Tuscany (where Saint Francis of Assisi received the Stigmata) and invited the Franciscan Order to build a contemplative hermitage beside the hill. Designed by Italian architects Angelo Polesello and Nunzio Rimmaudo in red brick and white stone and consecrated on July 8, 2000, the monastery features a chapel whose wide plate-glass window behind the altar frames a direct view of the Hill of Crosses.
| Spatial or Architectural Element | Location and Date | Artistic Features and Spiritual Function |
|---|---|---|
| Jurgaiciai Mound and Ensemble of 200,000+ Crosses | Central sanctuary (14th-century hillfort; crosses since 1831) | 60 m by 45 m saddle-shaped mound covered in UNESCO-listed Kryzdirbyste oak carvings and Rupintojelis figures |
| Bronze Crucifix of Pope John Paul II | Southwestern entrance plaza, 1994 (sculptor Enrico Manfrini) | 3.8 m bronze Crucifix on a circular granite base inscribed with Pope John Paul II's 1993 tribute to Lithuania |
| Wooden Papal Altar Pavilion (Popieziaus koplycia) | Meadow southwest of the hill, 1993 (architect Vytenis Rudokas) | Steep-roofed timber pavilion built for the 1993 Papal Mass and used for open-air pilgrimage liturgies |
| Franciscan Monastery of Mount La Verna | 300 m northeast of the mound, consecrated July 8, 2000 | Franciscan friary and retreat house featuring a sanctuary chapel with a panoramic window facing the Hill of Crosses |
| Kulpe Stream Footbridge and Way of the Cross Path | Meadow linking the mound and the Franciscan Monastery | Landscaped wooden boardwalk across the Kulpe stream used for outdoor Stations of the Cross processions |
IVThe Lie of the Land and the Facing
It should be stated clearly that the nineteenth-century Lithuanian villagers, insurgents, and Catholic clergy did not employ East Asian geomancy (feng shui) in choosing the Jurgaiciai mound for the Hill of Crosses. The site was selected because it was an ancient medieval hillfort rising prominently above the flat plains of northern Lithuania, steeped in patriotic memory and local folklore. The observations below offer a comparative landform reading through the traditional framework of the Hall of Myriad Paths library.
Examined within the macro-topography of the Musa-Nemunelis lowland plain of northern Lithuania at coordinates 56.0153 degrees north, 23.4167 degrees east, the Hill of Crosses exemplifies a classic principle of plain-land geomancy: across level plains, a single solitary rise of earth commands immense energy. Surrounded for miles by flat agricultural fields and birch groves, the earthen ridge of Jurgaiciai rises with two gentle summits connected by a shallow saddle, forming an auspicious saddle-mountain landform with an unobstructed horizon in all four cardinal directions.
In terms of watercourse geometry and axial orientation, curving tightly around the eastern and northern base of the mound flows the Kulpe River (a tributary of the Musa River basin), which embraces the foot of the hill like a natural jade-belt stream. The main pilgrimage approach follows a southwest-to-northeast axis: the broad grassy meadow and paved forecourt on the southwestern side of the mound, anchored by Pope John Paul II's bronze Crucifix and the 1993 wooden pavilion, form a spacious bright hall capable of gathering tens of thousands of worshippers, while 300 meters to the northeast across the Kulpe stream, the red-brick mass of the Franciscan Monastery of Mount La Verna provides a quiet backing guardian structure completing the sacred axis.
VThe Annual July Feast of the Hill of Crosses, the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, and Foot Pilgrimages
Pastoral care and liturgical celebrations at the Hill of Crosses are overseen by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Siauliai and the Franciscan Friars Minor of the Monastery of Mount La Verna according to the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar (Gregorian system). Daily Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours are celebrated inside the Franciscan monastery chapel overlooking the mound, while major annual feasts gather thousands of pilgrims outdoors.
| Time of Year | Calendar System | Liturgical Feast or Pilgrimage Event | Traditions and Rites at the Hill of Crosses, Siauliai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good Friday and Easter Sunday (March or April) | Gregorian | Solemn Way of the Cross on Good Friday and Easter Vigil | Clergy, Franciscan friars, and thousands of faithful carry a large wooden cross in procession along the Stations of the Cross and plant it atop the mound. |
| Last Sunday of July | Gregorian (Principal Annual Pilgrimage) | Great Indulgence Feast of the Hill of Crosses (Kryziu kalno atlaidai) | The largest annual pilgrimage in the Diocese of Siauliai: thousands of pilgrims walk the 12-kilometer route from Siauliai Cathedral to the Hill of Crosses for Pontifical outdoor Mass. |
| September 7 | Gregorian | Anniversary of the Pilgrimage of Saint John Paul II (September 7, 1993) | Thanksgiving Mass and candlelight prayers at the Papal Bronze Crucifix commemorating Pope John Paul II's historic 1993 visit. |
| September 14 and September 17 | Gregorian | Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and Feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis | Titular feasts of the Hill of Crosses and the adjacent Franciscan Monastery of Mount La Verna, marked by evening torchlight processions and blessings with the Cross. |
| November 1 and November 2 | Gregorian (Public Holidays in Lithuania) | All Saints' Day (Visu Sventuju diena) and All Souls' Day (Velines) | One of the most atmospheric nights of the year in Lithuania: tens of thousands of glass-enclosed candles are lit across the entire mound in memory of ancestors and national martyrs. |
The foot pilgrimage from Siauliai and universal Christian solidarity. Every summer on the last weekend of July, youth groups, parishes, and families from across Lithuania and neighboring Baltic states gather at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Siauliai to walk the twelve kilometers north to the Hill of Crosses, carrying newly carved oak crosses on their shoulders. Today, scanning the inscriptions along the wooden steps of the mound reveals prayers written in dozens of languages from every continent, making this quiet Lithuanian hillfort a global crossroads of faith, memory, and peace.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Jurgaiciai Village, Meskuiciai Eldership, Siauliai District Municipality, LT-81439 Siauliai County, Republic of Lithuania
- Getting there
- The Hill of Crosses is located in Jurgaiciai village (Meskuiciai eldership), 12 kilometers north of Siauliai off the A12 highway (route E77 connecting Siauliai with Joniskis and Riga, Latvia), followed by a well-signposted 2-kilometer country road to the east. From Vilnius or Kaunas, frequent Lithuanian Railways (LTG Link) trains reach Siauliai Railway Station in approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. From Siauliai Bus Station (a short walk from the train station), visitors can take the suburban bus toward Joniskis (departing from platform 12) and alight at the Domantai stop (a 15-minute ride); from the Domantai stop, a straight 2-kilometer tree-lined footpath leads directly to the Hill of Crosses in about 25 minutes on foot.
- Coordinates
- 56.0153, 23.4167
The Hill of Crosses is an open-air sanctuary accessible free of charge 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (a modest parking fee applies only if using the official car park at the Visitor Information Center located 600 meters from the mound). Visitors are welcome to bring or purchase a small cross or rosary to place on the hill as a personal prayer offering. However, the Diocese of Siauliai and local conservation authorities earnestly request that visitors place only crosses made of natural wood (up to 1 meter in height without prior permit; larger wooden crosses between 1 and 3 meters require prior coordination with the Siauliai District Municipality and the Franciscan Monastery for safe placement), avoid plastic crosses, and strictly refrain from smoking or using open flames near the wooden crosses to prevent fire hazards.
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?Quick Questions
When and why did people begin planting crosses on the Hill of Crosses near Siauliai?
The custom of planting crosses on the medieval Jurgaiciai hillfort began after the anti-Tsarist uprisings of 1831 and 1863. When thousands of Lithuanian rebels were killed in battle or exiled to Siberia with no known graves, and Tsarist authorities banned roadside crosses in villages, grieving families climbed this secluded mound to erect monumental crosses in prayer and remembrance.
Is the Hill of Crosses a cemetery where people are buried?
No. Despite the presence of more than 200,000 crosses, the Hill of Crosses is not a cemetery for burying the dead; rather, it is a sacred pilgrimage sanctuary, votive shrine, and spiritual cenotaph where pilgrims from Lithuania and around the world place crosses in thanksgiving, petition, and remembrance.
What happened to the Hill of Crosses during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania?
Between 1961 and 1975, Soviet authorities bulldozed the Hill of Crosses at least four times, most notably on April 5, 1961, when troops destroyed more than 5,000 crosses by burning the wooden ones, melting down the iron ones, and crushing the stone monuments. Despite KGB cordons, Lithuanian believers risked arrest to carry new crosses across the fields by night and replant them before dawn.
What are Kryzdirbyste and the Rupintojelis figures seen throughout the Hill of Crosses?
Kryzdirbyste is the traditional Lithuanian art of oak cross-crafting, blending Christian crucifixes with wrought-iron sun rays and floral motifs of the Tree of Life; UNESCO proclaimed it a Masterpiece of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2001. Rupintojelis (the Pensive Christ) is a traditional folk sculpture depicting Jesus crowned with thorns sitting with His chin resting on His hand in compassionate contemplation of human sorrow.
How is Pope John Paul II connected to the Hill of Crosses?
On September 7, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses and celebrated Mass for over 100,000 pilgrims, proclaiming the site a beacon of faith for Europe. In 1994 he gifted the monumental bronze Crucifix by Enrico Manfrini that stands at the foot of the hill, and at his invitation the Franciscan Monastery of Mount La Verna was built 300 meters away and consecrated in 2000.
Are visitors allowed to leave their own cross on the Hill of Crosses?
Yes. Any pilgrim or visitor may freely place a natural wooden cross (under 1 meter in height) or hang a rosary on the hill without prior permission. Those wishing to erect a monumental wooden cross taller than 1 meter should contact the Franciscan Monastery or the Visitor Information Center in advance to be assigned a safe location.