Lithuania Archives - Wandering North

How to reach the Hill of Crosses from Vilnius

Apart from visiting Vilnius, the thing I most wanted to do was visit the Hill of Crosses. I had to figure out how to get there. The Hill is a couple hours from Vilnius, close to the border with Latvia, but close to little else. There are bus tours from both Riga and Vilnius, but they are long days and didn’t seem worth it, to go all the way there and back in a day. So what if I didn’t go back? I found a car & driver for hire that offered transportation from Vilnius to Riga, stopping at the Hill of Crosses and Rundāle Palace en route. Perfect. I had been to Riga before and loved it, so I was happy to return.

My driver picked me up early on the morning of May the 16^th. A young, skinny, rocker-looking dude who smoked cigarettes and didn’t have much to say. I enjoyed his company and appreciated that he answered any questions that I had about Lithuania.

The Hill of Crosses (Lithuania)

If you’ve seen pictures of the Hill of Crosses you’ll know it immediately by the name. It is a small hill in an open field covered in and surrounded by crosses of varying sizes. It’s unusual, even a bit eerie looking, and beautiful. I wanted to visit it as soon as I became aware of its existence.

The Hill of Crosses is not really a religious site; it is a site of protest. In the 1700s, Lithuania and Poland both became parts of the Russian Empire. On two occasions in the mid 1800’s there were wars of rebellion against the Russians by the Polish and Lithuanian people. The rebellions were put down, but the Hill of Crosses started as a response. Families of lost soldiers who did not have bodies to bury started putting crosses down in the middle of a field as a marker of their loss. During Soviet times, the Hill of Crosses became a place of protest, to assert Lithuanian independence against the Russians. From time to time the Russians would bulldoze the site, but the crosses returned – this, even though the Soviets declared placing crosses on the hill to be a crime punishable by imprisonment.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the hill of crosses has grown. It became a popular place for locals to put crosses to remember last soldiers or celebrate their national identity or hope for peace. And it has become a tourist site. The only rule about what sort of crosses may be placed there without a permit is that they must be less than three meters tall. Other than that, anyone can place a cross. And in walking around you will see crosses dedicated to certain soldiers, armies, or wars. But many have no such distinction and are just handcrafted, beautiful crosses of varying sizes.

It is a stunning sight. Even if there were no crosses there, the landscape is beautiful; fields of green, covered in yellow flowers, under the blue sky, and ringed with trees. The fact that these crosses are there in the middle of that landscape is a truly breathtaking sight. And it is a little creepy. Even in the light of day there’s something about eerie about walking in silence through these thousands of crosses. Because I’m an idiot who’s obsessed with horror movies, I started to imagine a horror movie in which vampires were attacking and the Hill of Crosses was the only place that people could find refuge from them. That’s a free idea if anyone wants it. Just give me a note in the credits.

The thing that I also found amazing, is that there is no business associated with this site. There is no entrance fee or guards and no people selling souvenirs. It is just there by the side of the road for anyone who wants to visit it. I’m so happy I made the journey.

Into Latvia

From the Hill of Crosses we drove across the border into Latvia. My second time there, but my first time visiting anything outside of the capital.

The next stop on the trip was visiting Rundāle Palace. Honestly, I wasn’t too interested in visiting the palace; I’ve seen palaces, and they are lovely but I don’t find that they vary too much from one to another. Nevertheless, I was happy to visit this one because it was effectively included in the trip. As it turned out, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Rundāle Palace. It was exceptionally beautiful and filled with period furnishings and surrounded by beautifully manicured gardens. There were only a few other people there at the time so I felt like I had the place to myself.

Rundāle Palace Was built in the Baroque style in the 1700s for Ernst Johann von Biron, the Duke of Courland, and who was also briefly the Regent of Russia in 1940. It’s not my style of decor, but it is undeniably impressive.

From Rundāle Palace, we drove further north and stopped briefly for a view of Bauska Castle, a castle built in the 1400s but mostly rebuilt in the 1800s after it was blown up during a war with the Russians in 1706. Another nice stop. If only just for a photo.

From there it was a short drive to Riga, on the shores of the Black Sea.

If you drove directly from Vilnius to Riga without stopping, it would be about a three and a half hour drive. With our stops it turned into more like a 7-hour day, but it was perfect. I got to Riga just in time to check into my hotel and enjoy the rest of the day.

Arrival in Vilnius

Since this was kind of a last-minute trip, I didn’t have my pick of places to stay. If there were excellent hostels in Vilnius, they were booked up by the time I went there, so I ended up staying at a proper hotel (a Conti Hotel), a little more than I wanted to spend but still within my budget and walking distance to the centre of the city. It was a nice hotel with a swanky lobby in a comfortable room.

My flight landed in the evening and by the time I got to my hotel (via taxi) it was about 8:30pm and the sun was low in the sky. I threw my bag down and walked into the city centre. I was immediately so happy. Barcelona is a good city, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. And Andorra was really just checking a box and I wasn’t that thrilled with what I saw. Vilnius was a welcome sight. I’ve said repeatedly that I’d love former Soviet countries; I have yet to visit one that I didn’t love. And Vilnius just felt so comfortable. I saw the orthodox churches, the charming buildings, and the cobblestone streets, felt the cool air and saw and the relatively stony faces of the people that I passed and I felt at home.

Unfortunately, shortly after landing I got a text message from work and it kind of derailed what should have been a perfectly pleasant evening, but aside from work drama that kept me up until the wee hours of the morning, I did enjoy my walk around the city and I had an excellent dinner on a patio over Georgian restaurant (Khinkalnya Vilnius), was persuaded to drink a couple of shots of chacha by the owner, and had a Cuban cigar on the patio. It was a great introduction to the city, and I couldn’t wait to wake up an explore. (I only got to sleep for about three hours, so I didn’t have to wait long.)

Wandering Vilnius

The next morning, as always, I got up early as it was my only day in the city and I had a lot to see. Vilnius doesn’t have a lot of specific touristic sites; the main thing is just to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere, all of the churches and charming cafes, public art, the pedestrianized streets with restaurants and cute shops.

I don’t know what it’s like to visit at other times of the year, but I think that spring was lovely. It was a little bit cool in the evening which I liked, and it was warm enough during the day to sit outside comfortably. The lilac bushes were in full bloom and everything was green.

There is a ridiculous number of orthodox churches in the city and there it’s worth ducking into all of them. Some of them had beautiful singing happening, and all of them had the glittering excess of Russian orthodox churches, which I love.

For me, one of the key things that I wanted to visit was an abandoned building just outside of the city centre. It was a pleasant walk across a bridge, aside from when an American man who was there standing on the street and proselytizing about Jesus told me I was ongoing to hell when I didn’t take one of his brochures. Oh well. The building is a spectacular abandoned stadium that was opened in 1971 as the Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports. It is a massive, brutalist-style concrete structure built in an unusual sort of wave pattern. At some point it was converted into a sort of mall and then it was closed completely in about 2004. It is now covered in graffiti. It is excellent and just a little creepy.

It is also located just near a Jewish cemetery which is also pleasant for a bit of a wander.

Užupis

The other place that I really wanted to visit in Vilnius is the semi-autonomous area of Užupis, which means “beyond the river.” It’s just a short walk from the Old Town, across the river (obviously). In 1997, a group of artists declared it the Republic of Užupis. It’s not really its own state, but it was set up that way. There is a border crossing and it has its own flag and constitution, which is on display in the street and includes such mandates as everyone has a right to be happy, man has the right to individuality, and everyone has the right to appreciate their unimportance. I dig it.

The motto of Užupis is “Don’t Fight”, “Don’t Win”, “Don’t Surrender”.

Part of the idea behind the creation of Užupis is a belief founded in the Aristotelian thought that people should live in small communities where everyone knows one another, which will result in people being more honest and happy. The area is a terrific place to visit. While it was once kind of a derelict ghetto, now it just feels like a proper part of the city but with lots of public art on display and at a lot of small independent businesses and artisan shops. In a way, it’s like Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen except without the focus on drugs.

*The Užupis Cat, which comes with a little poem. Worth finding.*

Back across the River…

I visited the MO Museum (Museum of Modern Art), which is relatively small but definitely worth a visit.

I thought Vilnius was delightful.

Smoking Cigars in Vilnius

Before dinner, I sought out one of Vilnius’ cigar lounges. For a former Soviet country, Vilnius is kind of difficult to smoke in. Indoor smoking wasn’t allowed, and it seemed to be banned on all of the patios. The Georgian restaurant that I ate at the night before let me smoke outside but only because I was the only person on the patio due to the cold weather. Fortunately, there are several hidden smoking rooms in the basements or backrooms of restaurants and a few proper cigar lounges.

I visited one cigar lounge in the old city, Cigarų namai, which was excellent. It had everything you’d want in a cigar lounge, an excellent selection of cigars, beverages for purchase and a calming room full of soft leather furniture. The only downside was they were playing the worst smooth jazz music that I’ve ever heard. It seemed like they only had one CD and it was on repeat. I was there for about two hours, and I heard the CD at least twice. I wanted to kill myself. At some point I just put in my headphones and listen to a podcast while I enjoyed my cigars. Music aside, it was a lovely interlude.

There is another cigar lounge called Cigarų kambarys (Cigar Room) located at Vilniaus g. 29 but upstairs with no obvious signage. I went there as well but it was empty.

I had dinner on a leafy patio and wandered the streets until it was dark. I was very happy in Vilnius, but I was also excited for the next day when I would travel by car to Latvia, stopping at the Hill of Crosses along the way.