One of the attractions of Vilnius are three crosses - a monument that represents three white crosses on the sky. This monument is located on the top of a hill in the park Kalna also carries a symbolic and religious symbol of Vilnius. Top, located in the park is called Trehkrestovoy mountains, and before she was famous as a curve or Bald Mountain. Gore is on the right bank of Vilna.

As you know, Lithuania longer than the rest of Europe remained in the shadows of paganism. Religion in Lithuania at that time resembled a cult Scandinavian Aezira only with few differences in the pantheon of gods. The official date of the adoption of Christianity in this country is considered to be 1387, since this is the year the Grand Duke Jagiello, and the heir to the dynasty of Gediminas prince Vytautas decided to christen the country of the customs and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.

Attempts to draw the Gentiles in faith previously addressed this failure, because the missionaries are always executed. At the end of the 17th century there were a tradition, according to which in the absence of Duke Algirdas, and the magistrates Gashtolda because of the war, Vilna pagans attacked the Franciscan monks who settled in his house, at the request of his wife Gastold Christians. Seven people were executed directly on the market, and seven others managed to escape. Runaway monks were found on the banks of the river Vilenka - where they were dropped from Bald Mountain in the river. Some tell the story that monks first tied and then nailed to the cross, and then thrown into Vilenka. Other giving narrated: four monks have been dumped into the river, in the remaining three were executed on the cross, and left them on Bald Mountain.

On the banks of the river in the 13th century Vilna Crooked Castle stood, but in 1390 it burned the Crusaders, and then it is no longer restored. On this very spot, where previously housed the castle, in memory of the painful death of Franciscan monks were erected three wooden crosses. In 1740 they were replaced by new ones due to disrepair. In 1869, the crosses have collapsed, but the authorities did not give permission for their resumption.

In 1916 (during WWI), Vilnius was captured by the Germans and then, on the initiative of Casimir Mikhalkevich, collected money for construction of the monument, but of more durable material. Considerable difficulty was the delivery remote and high hill of necessary building materials, which could bring only his hands. It took two months. Crosses were erected on the draft Anthony Vivulskogo. Unknown to the German authorities were illuminated crosses priest Kazimierz. But as soon as the war ended, the Soviet authorities were ordered to blow up the three crosses; the same fate awaited and many other religious monuments that after the destruction were simply buried or parts were taken.

After these events, people's hopes are not extinguished, and after the campaign in 1989, the monument Three Crosses yet been restored. Signatures have been collected, as well as appeals to the authorities to whom the government simply could not resist. Thus, in the Day of Mourning and Hope, namely June 14, 1989, a religious monument of Three Crosses yet been restored. On the restoration of the monument took two weeks of work. The new monument carried a feature of tribute and memory of all the victims of Stalinism, it is in the day of trouble, and hopes the authorities initiated the Stalinist links.

Three Crosses Monument was designed by architect Henrikas Shilingasa sketches and working directly took over the sculptor Stanislovas Kuzma. The new monument accurately reproduces made earlier structure designed by Antonio Vivulskogo but na1, 8 meters above the former and lighter colored with white paint. The monument was consecrated by Cardinal Vincentas Sladkyavichyusom. Until now, a number of new crosses lie the remains of long-blasted crosses that serves as a reminder of the tragic events of the history of this country, as well as a warning to future generations.