September 13, 2006
We departed Vilnius at 9:00 AM and headed towards Riga, Latvia, our next destination. Before leaving Lithuania, we stopped at the hill of crosses. A small hill covered with millions of crosses.
The story of the hill goes like this – a father who was sitting by the bedside of his ailing daughter, had a dream in which a woman asked him to build a cross and to place on the hill. In 13 hours, he made a heavy cross and placed it on the hill. When he returned home, his daughter was healed. Other people hearing of the event began to place crosses on the hill.
During the Soviet occupation, religion was not allowed and the crosses were repeatedly destroyed. However, during the night, people would bring new crosses. It became a place of anonymous rebellion against the soviets and a symbol of the nation’s hope.
Crosses varied in size from the most simplistic form to extremely ornate. I did find someone placed a large, encased metal Star of David on the hill.
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