The hill forts in Lithuania

A hill fort (lith. Piliakalnis) is a hill, where the defence fortifications or a castle is standing or used to stand. The earliest hill forts in Lithuania loom since 1st millennium BC. These are the oldest defence fortifications, set up on natural hills mainly near rivers, with slopes made steeper and the top of the hill flattened. A wooden wall would go all around the site at the top of the hill. The defenders used to stand on the walls and would fight with pikes, swords and pickets. The construction of wooden fortifications was improving constantly: the defenders started to shoot only from firing openings, the mound banks where made steeper, the castles rose and additional fortifications where established inside them, fore-works created. That was crucial when the fierce fights with crusaders started (from the end of XIII c. until the end of XV c.).

The castles and the medieval town of Kernavė looking from the river Neris side. According to R. Sidrys. Publication: CD Lithuania before Mindaugas

By the way, it is clear from the descriptions of the battles with crusaders, that most of the castles in Lithuania where not only individual fortifications, but also units of integral defence system. There where like two fronts: one near river Nemunas (Bisenė, Pieštvė, Kaunas, Alytus, Gardinas castles) and the second one – from the side of Livonian order (Dubysos, Šiauliai, Upytė, Užpaliai, utena, Tauragnai castles and others). At the end of the XIV century the belt of Žemaitija castles stood out (Gegužės, Gediminas castle, Medvėgalis, Žiesdytė and others) and also the castles, which where guarding Vilnius – Trakai region (Kernavė, Aukštadvaris, Nemenčinė, Bražuolė and others).

The settlements, sometimes even medieval towns (like in Kernavė), usually where situated at the foot of the hill fort. So the archaeologists find not only the arrow tips and signs of burned fortresses, but also household goods, locally made or imported jewellery etc. Many hill forts in Lithuania are not researched well, so people sometimes try their luck and look for the treasures in the depth of the hills.

The hill forts are weaved with many legends - sometimes about treasures, but mostly about the giants, witches and devils, which, according to many legends, participated in creating the hills or gave the name for them. For example there is a legend about Šatrija hill fort in Žemaitija: in old times the witches used to gather on the hill. They used to dance and have fun every night until the cocks started their morning crow. One night the witches missed the crow and when the sun rose they got all scared. They grabbed their brooms and flew away, but one was still looking for her broom unsuccessfully. She was running around and shouting: “Where is my broom!” (broom stick in lith. dialect - “šatra”). From that time the hill was called Šatrija.

The biggest defence complex in Lithuania, consisting of five hill forts, is situated to the south of nowadays Kernavė village, on the right bank of the river Neris (about 35 km from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius). At the foot of the Kernavė hill forts, in the valley of Pajauta, during the middle ages there was a feudal town of handicraftsmen and merchants. On the central hill fort, which is called Altar hill (lith. Aukuro kalnas), there was a duke‘s palace of an estate, the other hill forts where fortified to defend the palace and the town.

The hill forts of Kernavė now days

For the first time Kernavė was mentioned in written sources in 1279. It was a prospering and the most important political and economical centre of Lithuania – the first Lithuanian capital. In 1390 Kernavė castles and town where burned by crusaders and never rebuilt. The people left the Pajauta valley and settled in the higher terrace, where there is the now days settlement. Completely untouched cultural layers, carrying invaluable information from the XIV century, are saved in Kernavė. The archeological site of Kernavė is in UNESCO World heritage list.

Jurgaičių hill fort in Šiauliai region has the very exceptional place among all the hill forts. The wooden castle, called “Kula” was standing there in XI-XIV centuries. The Livonian order burned it in 1348. The castle was never rebuilt. In the XIX century after few suppressed raisings against oppression of Russian empire, people started to put crosses on the hill fort for the killed. Last time the crosses where counted not long after Lithuanian regained its independence (in 1990) and there where about 56 thousands of bigger or smaller crosses then. Almost everyone, who is coming to visit this place, leaves a cross, so it is impossible to say, how many crosses are there now. The Pope John Paul II visited this Hill of Crosses during his visit in Lithuania in September 1993. Every year on the last Sunday of July the Church festival takes place on the Hill of Crosses to commemorate the Holy Father’s visit.

The Hill of Crosses (Jurgaičių hill fort)

There used to be about a thousand of hill forts in Lithuania, more than 800 still standing. The density of hill forts in Lithuania is one of the biggest in the world. Unfortunately, the wooden fortresses did not remain. After carrying out the defence task, when the fire arms appeared, they wooden fortresses became not effective and until XV century they fell into decay. Only the archaeological finds and poor written sources let us know how the wooden fortresses looked like. By the way, the stone castles (look the article “Lithuanian stone castles”), which changed the wooden ones, started to appear in Lithuanian in XIV century and the most famous one is Trakai Island Castle.

The hill forts, where wooden castles used to stand, are having the scientific, recreational value, they are unique and inseparable in the Lithuanian landscape. Being the witnesses of the history of the land, the hill forts are often visited by tourists, there are festivals celebrated on them – especially archaeology and old crafts festivals, historic fight shows and pagan rituals. For example on the hill fort of Apuole (Skuodas region) every year the Curonian (lith. Kuršiai) – Viking fights are staged, the old crafts presented, on the Kernavė hill forts (Širvintos region) the live archaeology days organized and every third Saturday of July on above mentioned Šatrija (Telšiai region) the pagan fire ritual is performed. The professional music event “Medvėgalis art festival” is taking place on the hill fort of Medvėgalis (Šilalė region) and many more bigger or smaller festivals take place on the hill forts. And so the historic forts are still strong, because not forgotten