The Hill of Crosses is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. 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 100,000 in 2006. It has come to represent the peaceful endurance of Catholic Lithuanians despite the threats it faced throughout history.
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After the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire. Poles and Lithuanians unsuccessfully rebelled against Russian authorities in 1831 and 1863. These two uprisings are connected to the beginnings of the hill. Since families couldn't find the bodies of dead rebels, they put up symbols of crosses in a place of a former hill fort.
In 1918 when Lithuania once again declared independence after the old political structure of Eastern Europe fell apart, the Lithuanians used the Hill of Crosses to pray for peace for their country and rest for the souls lost during the wars for independence.
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During 1944 to 1990 when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union, the hill became a venue of peaceful resistance where Lithuanians used it to demonstrate their original religion, identity, and heritage. Despite the attempts of the Soviets to remove new crosses, even going so far as to bulldoze the site three times it remains there still to this day.
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