Hill of Crosses
All three Baltic countries have historically solid Christian backgrounds. Estonia & Latvia are Protestant based (mostly Lutheran). Lithuania has a stronger Catholic bias. This is most evident in the first tourist stop we had in Lithuania, The Hill of Crosses.
This is not a cemetery. People have been erecting memorial crosses here for about 200 years. No one really knows how the tradition started. But the point is that it is a symbol of National unity in the face of foreign threats. The Russians in particular objected to this demonstration of National endeavour & bulldozed the site on tree occasions. They even tried to flood the area. (How do you flood a hill in a flat country?) It is now a site for Catholic pilgrimage – even attracting Pope John Paul II, who being Polish was no doubt aware of the site’s significance.
There are apparently over 100,000 crosses here. It is a truly unique spiritual site, albeit a bit creepy.
