The oak carvings
Eighty figures from Lithuanian myth.
Alma Pater — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fry72 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Normunds Kolby — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GiW — CC BY-SA 3.0
Eighty wooden sculptures in a pine forest: the Hill of Witches at Juodkrantė on the Curonian Spit is a forest path climbing an old dune, lined with oak-trunk figures from Lithuanian myth — witches, devils, dragons, princesses and pagan gods. The project began in 1979 when folk carvers from all over Lithuania were invited to work on the hill at summer carving camps; the idea was to revive pagan folklore in a Soviet era that suppressed religion and identity together — so it passed under the cover of "folk art" and is today among the best-loved national sites. The path is a level loop of about two kilometres among the trees, free and always open, and many of the carvings are made to be played on: swings, slides and chairs cut for children. The name comes from an old tradition: the hill was the site of the pagan midsummer Joninės celebration.
Eighty figures from Lithuanian myth.
Carved from trunks along the path.
Juodkrantė, Neringa
Lithuania's pagan midsummer festival on the night of 23-24 June: bonfires, flower wreaths floated on water and the search for the mythical fern flower — still celebrated across Lithuania, and this hill is one of its historic sites.