Šiauliai

The mound a short taxi ride outside Šiauliai holds well over 100,000 crosses — from house-sized oak carvings to rosaries hung on rosaries — planted layer upon layer since the tradition began after the 1831 anti-Tsarist uprising. Its power comes from the Soviet decades: the authorities bulldozed the site at least three times, burning the wooden crosses and flooding the ground, and each time Lithuanians replanted them by night — the hill became the quiet referendum the occupation could not win. Pope John Paul II's 1993 visit consecrated that symbolism, and Lithuanian cross-crafting itself is UNESCO-listed intangible heritage. Visitors may add a cross of their own, sold at the entrance — done respectfully, it is participation in a living tradition rather than a tourist gesture.

Šiauliai's Sundial Square, in the city centre, centres on one of Europe's largest sundials — a tall column marking the hour via radiating ground markers, built as both a functioning timepiece and a deliberate civic landmark reflecting the city's long-standing, if lesser-known, association with sundial craftsmanship. The square gives the city a distinct visual identity separate from the Hill of Crosses, and its scale makes it an easy, quick stop for anyone passing through the centre rather than requiring a dedicated detour.

Šiauliai was historically home to Vairas, one of the most significant bicycle manufacturers in the Soviet Baltic region, whose bikes were produced in large numbers and distributed across the wider Soviet market for decades — an industrial history considerably less visible to visitors than the city's sundial identity, but a genuine part of Šiauliai's 20th-century economic character. The factory's legacy is a useful reminder that the city's identity runs beyond its role as the Hill of Crosses' nearest urban centre, with its own distinct manufacturing and craft traditions worth a passing mention on any visit.