Jiesia Hill Fort

About this place

A hill fort south of Kaunas above the meeting of the Jiesia and the Nemunas, known locally also as Napoleon's Hill because Napoleon's army camped nearby in 1812 on its way into Russia. The second name is late and incidental; the original is far older. The piliakalnis — the hill fort — is a basic element of the Lithuanian landscape: hundreds are scattered across the country, natural hills whose sides were cut back and tops levelled to carry wooden strongholds in the early medieval period. Nothing survives of the forts themselves because they were timber, but the shape of the hill — the trimmed slopes and the flat top — is the trace. These hills were Lithuania's defensive network against the Teutonic Knights for more than a century, a period in which Lithuania resisted forced Christianisation longer than any other European people. Practical points: access is free and the climb is short but steep. There are no facilities and no interpretation on site. The view from the top over the Nemunas valley is the reward. The path is grass and slippery after rain.