Pilgrimage Sites in Lithuania

The first Church-approved Marian apparition in Europe happened in Lithuania. In 1608 the weeping Virgin appeared to shepherd children at Šiluva, which remains the foremost Marian shrine in the country. At Trakai, Pope Clement XI crowned the miraculous Mother of God icon in 1718 — the first Marian image in Lithuania to receive that honour.

The Hill of Crosses is the national pilgrimage site, and it is unlike anything elsewhere: more than a hundred thousand crosses planted on a low hill, an act of faith that doubled as peaceful resistance under Soviet rule. At Žemaičių Kalvarija, the oldest Calvary in Lithuania, pilgrims walk nineteen hilltop chapels singing the Kalnai hymns and venerate the largest relic of the True Cross in the Baltic.

Vilnius holds the original Divine Mercy image and the relics of St. Casimir, patron of Lithuania. Long-distance pilgrims cross the country on the 500 km Camino Lituano, which runs from the Latvian border to Poland, or follow the 100 km Pilgrim Route of St. John Paul II, tracing his 1993 visit.