The Hill of Crosses is situated in the middle of an arable land, twelve kilometers from Šiauliai.
The city of Siauliai was founded in 1236 and occupied by Teutonic Knights during the 14th century. The tradition of placing crosses dates from this period and probably first arose as a symbol of Lithuanian defiance of foreign invaders. It is seen from Šiauliai – Ryga highway. The oblong mound, similar to a saddle, stands on a plane and is surrounded by the valleys of Kulpe stresam and its nameless tributaries. The hill is 60 meters long and 40-50 meters wide.
The Hill has a lot of names, people called it Pilies, Piliaus hill, Jurgaičių, Domantų mound, Šventkalniu, Maldavimų hill. There is quite lot legends about the Hill of Crosses.
Castle
XI – XIV a. there was a wooden castle on this hill. It helped to defend the land of Šiauliai from Sword – brothers Order. Also there was an ancient village on the base of the hill. In 1348 the fort (castle) was burned down by the knights of the Sword – brothers Order.
The reasons of the rise the crosses on the hill
There are no accurate accounts as to when and how the first cross appeared on the hill. However, various literary sources of the second half of the nineteenth century witness that even then the mound was considered a sacred site. In 1850, Treasurer of Šiauliai District Mauricijus Griškevičius wrote that a seriously ill resident of Jurgaičių village pledged to God in 1847 to erect a cross on the hill were his illness to disappear: “It so happened that he was cured when setting up a cross there.”
According to another version it is believed that the first crosses were put by the relatives of the victims of the rebellion in 1831 as the tsarist government did not allow the families to honor their deads properly. Crosses of the kind became more numerous after the other rebellion in 1863. But this version apeared in Soviet period.
First version is more reliable. The crosses were erected to thank God for restored health or asking for a health.
The end of the 19th century – interwar period
In the beginning of the 20th century the Hill of Crosses was already widely known as a sacral place. The crosses were first counted by Ksywicki in 1900. In historical chronicles he wrote that there were 130 crosses on the hill. Two years later there were already 155 crosses. After the Word War I, in 1922 there were 50 crosses but in 1938 – already over 400.
In addition to many pilgrims visiting, it was also a place for Masses and devotions.
In 1929 on Meškuičiai priests initiative was build the chapel on the hill. But it was very tawdry and in 1935 was demolished.
~http://www.siauliurajonas.lt/history-of-hill-of-crosses-215-moncula.html~
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Replies
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Ara, I've seen pictures of this hill. The Urantia Book describes our planet as "The World of the Cross" - very interesting. Also heard that the cross represents the ascension of the person, crossing to a higher dimension.
Hi Dave ;) - it is very interesting symbol, maybe it is a descending crossing from a higher dimension and back up again. I guess any symbol is personal like everything else, what matter is intentions.
You are right Hellen,
the cross symbol goes way back to the stone age, and has been used in many other cutlers way before Christianity and introduced by Romans as ‘torturing tool’ … for some cutlers its 'Tree of Life', for some 'Eternal Life' ... it also looks like a sword (upside down) ... so it is an ancient symbol.
Wow... :) I don't want to sounds messed up, but I could totally see this in a horror movie too... Just thinking of how many people were crucified on crosses... Very trippy -- thanks for sharing Ara!! :)
... ;) it could be viewed this way ... or its just a praying place ... ;)
Hi Ara.... Awesome sight...
Interesting, certainly got me looking this up, I vaguely remember reading something about this.
Found this vid, some more info and the music is really lovely. It's about 15mins long but worth a look at.
agree Light Being ... it is an awesome sight ... and with time this hill became a Sacred Place indeed - only because of the People.
Thanks for the vid ... nice ;)