Lithuania

The Place

The largest of the three Baltic republics, Lithuania is a Catholic country, a fact that is impossible to miss. Vilnius, its capital, owes its splendid baroque flavour to the Jesuits who built its fine university as well as many of its churches. Throughout the country are roadside wooden shrines, and the Hill of Crosses just north of Siauliai is an extraordinary symbol of a nation of believers. The shrines are part of a folk tradition of wood carving, which can be seen all over the country from the Witches' Park on the Neringa Spit to the monuments to the victims of World War II's genocide.