RSS
Home
Pagan parks and practices in Lithuania- 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Insert photo caption or credit here
Many Lithuanians express an intriguing pride in being the last state of Europe where Christianity’s monotheism eclipsed Paganism’s polytheism as the main public belief system. Lithuanian Paganism has a pantheon of deities (not unlike Roman and Norse mythology) and trees were often considered to be their sacred home. Worship services were held outside near ancient oaks with stone altars.
The spirit of nature is still woven in everywhere in Lithuania from abundant green belts, and artful designs with natural elements to prevalent amber from the Baltic Sea. The national government even protects 386 special natural monuments described as “old trees, natural springs, standing stones, etc.” on a Lithuanian website that also helps locate “pagan crafts” and home stays in the country.
http://www.countryside.lt
There are many worthy Christian and Jewish sites worth visiting in Lithuania, but if you love nature, don’t overlook pagan destinations:
Kernave
On a glorious autumn day, when the winds push brightly colored leaves around, it feels like more than molecules stirring in the air. Surveying the rolling hills of Kernave sparks the imagination. Known as the first pagan capital of Lithuania, Kernave is now an archeological lode with a range of treasures including pagan artifacts.
The Pajuata valley and rolling fort hills are also a beautiful destination with a highly touted Solstice celebration in June called Rasos. Locals dance around bonfires and toss flowers in the river and greet the rising sun after the shortest night of the year. The festal nod to pagan rites was started half a century ago by University students countering the Soviet imposition of atheism.
About 50 kilometers from Vilnius, Kernave is a good day trip if you want time outside buildings. For a good "pagan" day trip from the Lithuanian port of Klapeida, take the ferry (with car, bike or knapsack) to the Curonian Spit to enter another realm.
Witches Hill
Witches Hill is a pagan park of sorts, with whimsical and wild and wonderful wooden sculptures, some totemic and others emerging out of benches. The carvings are from pagan lore and fairytales along a delightful walking path. Locals say the park was also once a creative swipe at the Soviet repression of home-grown beliefs.
Witches Hill can be explored in a forest out on the Curonian Spit, a finger of land on the Baltic Sea with dramatic sand dunes that once swallowed fishing villages and now beckons nature lovers to conjure awe and respect.
This article links to stories about Christian destinations and Jewish sites in Lithuania too.
LOGISTICS FOR LITHUANIA:
A Baltic way to travel: Finnair flies from New York to Helsinki often. From there, you can then fly award-winning Air Baltic to Riga and Vilnius. Air Baltic’s business class serves organically grown food, even on the smaller runs on prop planes.
The Reval Hotel in Vilnius provides a wonderfully comfortable, modern home base for exploring Lithuania. The hotel offers lovely views of Old Town (a UNESCO World Heritage site) across a river, or sinuous river bends and modern architectural creativity – depending on which direction you choose to face.
For more information contact Lithuanian Tourism
Photos and text by ©Lisa TE Sonne, World Tourist Bureau
For upcoming related articles, please hit the subscribe button above by Sonne's name.
This article links to stories about Christian destinations and Jewish sites in Lithuania too.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
.jpg)
