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In 1863, people started to bring crosses to the Hill of Crosses. The installation of crosses was forbidden for many years (e.g., during Soviet times) and even destroyed a few times. But people didn’t give up and were bringing crosses secretly at night.
These days, everyone can bring his own cross here.

There is a very unique place in Lithuania – it’s called Hill of Crosses; located nearby Siauliai.
You can find there over 100 thousand crosses!
Crosses are brought by people of different nations and religions.

Apparently, over 70 % of the population of Lithuania is Roman Catholic.
There are also smaller groups of Orthodox Christians, Evangelical Lutherans, members of Reformed churches, etc.

(Today’s picture is not really contacted with religion, but tomorrow’s is going to be. 🙂 )

Lithuania has a humid continental climate, what means cold winters and mild, rainy summers.
I was visiting Lithuania in summer and the weather was just perfect, with no rain.

The country is quite flat, covered by forests and agricultural areas; and there not so many differences in temperatures. However, the coast area has slightly milder winters and colder summers (but you may not really notice any difference).

Trakai Castle is built on the island and to get there you have cross nice wooden bridge.

The surrounded lake makes the castle even more interesting. You can enjoy not only the castle, but also the lake; e.g., rent a boat and have your own peace. 🙂

Trakai Castle is apparently one of the most visited sites in Lithuania.
Well, it’s a very nice castle, but too crowded (or maybe I was a bit unlucky and chose a wrong day for visiting it).

Trakai is a small town in Lithuania, located about 20 km from Vilnius.
Trakai is famous from a lovely castle situated by the lake.

Tomorrow – more about the castle. 🙂

Uzupis is a “country in the country” where everything is acceptable. 😉

Uzupis is a small area in Vilnius with its own constitution, traditions and even president and prime minister! Just visit the place, I’m curious will you like it!

The Old Town in Vilnius is quite big, but it’s still possible to visit it on foot.

If you have to go somewhere farther, you can use a car, taxi, bike, bus or trolleybus.

There are not so many cities with trolleybuses, so I always smile while seeing them. 😉 Do you live in a city with trolleybuses?

In Vilnius, you’ll also find interesting museums, e.g., National Museum of Lithuania, Old Arsenal or Museum of Genocide Victims aka KGB Museum.

Today’s picture presents “street paintings” for sale.

Vilnius University is the largest and oldest university in Lithuania.
It was founded in 1579 by King of Poland Stefan Batory.

Don’t miss the beautiful buildings of the University, while visiting Vilnius!

In Vilnius, besides the obvious attractions, you’ll find lots of interesting places.
Just take a long walk and discover charming streets with colorful houses.
If you get tired, have a brake in one of many parks or gardens. 🙂

Vilnius is known as a Baroque city.
It makes sense, however you’ll find there examples of other styles, like Gothic, Renaissance, and classicism.

I’ll show you a few more pictures from Vilnius to convince you that Lithuanian capital is really worth visiting.

To prove my words, I have to mention that the Old Town of Vilnius is listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site. And Vilnius was the European Capital of Culture in 2009.

The beautiful city of Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania.

For many tourists, Vilnius is an entering place for visiting Lithuania. Well, I can only say it’s a very good choice. 🙂

Lithuania is a member of the European Union, Schengen Agreement, NATO, and a member of the Eurozone (check coins where you’re in Lithuania).

Today, a short historical information.
Maybe, I write about it, because I’m Polish; well, the reason good like any other. 😉
For over 200 years, Lithuania and Poland were very close as a two-state union called the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

There are many storks in Poland, thus I chose for today’s post, a picture with a stork (taken in Lithuania). 🙂

Lithuanian is the official language in Lithuania. I believe many people still understand Russian and Polish; as well as English (among the younger generation).

I speak Polish and didn’t have so many problems understating people in Lithuania; some of them were even speaking perfect Polish.
But for example, in Latvia, I didn’t understand anything.

Lithuania is one of the three Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania).
So, Lithuania is located by the Baltic Sea, in this way it’s also bordered by Sweden and Denmark.

Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a small country in East-Northern Europe.
Lithuania is bordered by Belarus, Latvia, Poland, and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast.