Day 104: Hill of Crosses, Lithuania
Date: 14 DEC 2008
Left Klaipeda before sun rise. Got onto a train to Siauliai, where I will then take a bus towards the Hill of Crosses.
The Hill of Crosses, situated in the middle of an arable land, sixteen kilometers from Šiauliai is 60 meters long and 40-50 meters wide. For couple centuries, this is the place where people not only from Lithuania but all over the world have put crosses , witnesses faithfulness and trust of a Christian community to Christ and his Cross. This is an expression of a spontaneous religiousness of the people, and is a symbol not of grief and death but of Faith, Love and Sacrifice.
On September 7, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses, declaring it a place for hope, peace, love and sacrifice. In 2000 a Franciscan hermitage was opened nearby. The interior decoration draws links with La Verna, the mountain where St. Francis received his stigmata. The hill remains under nobody's jurisdiction; therefore people are free to build crosses as they see fit.
Over the centuries, not only crosses, but giant crucifixes, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, statues of the Virgin Mary and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims. The number of crosses is unknown, but estimates put it at about 50,000 as of 2006.
The size and variety of crosses is as amazing as their number. Beautifully carved out of wood or sculpted from metal, the crosses range from three meters tall to the countless tiny examples hanging profusely upon the larger crosses. An hour spent upon the sacred hill will reveal crosses brought by Christian pilgrims from all around the world. Rosaries, pictures of Jesus and the saints, and photographs of Lithuanian patriots also decorate the larger crosses. On windy days breezes blowing through the forest of crosses and hanging rosaries produces a uniquely beautiful music.
It is hard to imagine so many crosses in one place. But all these crosses tell us about personal and public misfortunes and catastrophes.
Now, let me lead you into these crosses. Hold on to your breath as this is indeed breathtaking!
This is interesting.
The shadow of crosses.
I also decided to put a cross here. A huge one.
Haha.. I did it using my shadow.
Welcome to the Hill of Crosses!! Believer or not, this is an amazing sight!! Worth taking a look!!
Nice, clear blue sky. Have to make use of it to make more beautiful photographs while waiting for my bus to come.
And oh... I met a girl from Macau earlier on this morning in the train. She just finished her studies in UK and is now making her way back to Macau OVERLAND!!! Nope she did not choose to fly. She choose to go by land, which IMHO is a very good choice. You get to see more don't you. She had already crossed Europe and will be going on the Trans-Siberian Train through Russia back into China. NICE!! Overland traveling, my choice!
May I present to you JOEY!! Tata!!!
And so we ended up traveling together for the next few days. Leaving Lithuania behind, we are entering LATVIA tonight!!
So as usual, before I leave a country, this is how the Lithuanian Litas looks like.
Number of days in Lithuania: 7days
Total amount spent: SGD$142.20 or USD$100
See you in Latvia!!!
*Click HERE to return to the Main Page of The Cold Journey.*
Left Klaipeda before sun rise. Got onto a train to Siauliai, where I will then take a bus towards the Hill of Crosses.
The Hill of Crosses, situated in the middle of an arable land, sixteen kilometers from Šiauliai is 60 meters long and 40-50 meters wide. For couple centuries, this is the place where people not only from Lithuania but all over the world have put crosses , witnesses faithfulness and trust of a Christian community to Christ and his Cross. This is an expression of a spontaneous religiousness of the people, and is a symbol not of grief and death but of Faith, Love and Sacrifice.
On September 7, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses, declaring it a place for hope, peace, love and sacrifice. In 2000 a Franciscan hermitage was opened nearby. The interior decoration draws links with La Verna, the mountain where St. Francis received his stigmata. The hill remains under nobody's jurisdiction; therefore people are free to build crosses as they see fit.
Over the centuries, not only crosses, but giant crucifixes, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, statues of the Virgin Mary and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims. The number of crosses is unknown, but estimates put it at about 50,000 as of 2006.
The size and variety of crosses is as amazing as their number. Beautifully carved out of wood or sculpted from metal, the crosses range from three meters tall to the countless tiny examples hanging profusely upon the larger crosses. An hour spent upon the sacred hill will reveal crosses brought by Christian pilgrims from all around the world. Rosaries, pictures of Jesus and the saints, and photographs of Lithuanian patriots also decorate the larger crosses. On windy days breezes blowing through the forest of crosses and hanging rosaries produces a uniquely beautiful music.
It is hard to imagine so many crosses in one place. But all these crosses tell us about personal and public misfortunes and catastrophes.
Now, let me lead you into these crosses. Hold on to your breath as this is indeed breathtaking!
This is interesting.
The shadow of crosses.
I also decided to put a cross here. A huge one.
Haha.. I did it using my shadow.
Welcome to the Hill of Crosses!! Believer or not, this is an amazing sight!! Worth taking a look!!
Nice, clear blue sky. Have to make use of it to make more beautiful photographs while waiting for my bus to come.
And oh... I met a girl from Macau earlier on this morning in the train. She just finished her studies in UK and is now making her way back to Macau OVERLAND!!! Nope she did not choose to fly. She choose to go by land, which IMHO is a very good choice. You get to see more don't you. She had already crossed Europe and will be going on the Trans-Siberian Train through Russia back into China. NICE!! Overland traveling, my choice!
May I present to you JOEY!! Tata!!!
And so we ended up traveling together for the next few days. Leaving Lithuania behind, we are entering LATVIA tonight!!
So as usual, before I leave a country, this is how the Lithuanian Litas looks like.
Number of days in Lithuania: 7days
Total amount spent: SGD$142.20 or USD$100
See you in Latvia!!!
*Click HERE to return to the Main Page of The Cold Journey.*
posted by ZeeVinCeZ at 2:40 AM
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