In Lithuania's north-western part, Samogitia region, between lush green meadows, clusters of trees, agriculture fields and other hills, there lies one of the most spectacular natural view points in Baltic states - 228 metres high Šatrija hill. One can see a wide and impressive scenery from the top of it - the view is unobstructed to all directions. It's quite a rare sight in Baltic states where hills are most usually overgrown with vegetation and in best case offers only partial panoramas.
| MAIN FACTS | |
|---|---|
| LOCATION | Lithuania, Telšiai county |
| HEIGHT (ABSOLUTE) | 228 M |
| HEIGHT (RELATIVE) | 60-100 M |
| VIEW DISTANCE | >30 KM |
| VIEW ANGLE | ~360 DEGREES |
| RATING (8,9/10) |  |
Ancient hillfort
Šatrija hill is notable not only by it's panoramic qualitites but also cultural historical significance. Archeological findings shows that this place was inhabitated already before our era. It has been an important paganic ritual place back then and some people still continue these traditions even nowadays. In 14th Century when Lithuanian tribes were still fighting Crusaders, a wooden castle was built on the hill - the relief gave a good natural protection from enemies.
The witch who lost her besom
There are also many local legends associated with Šatrija. One of them gave the hill it's name. There is a story about the hill as popular meeting place for... witches. Such testimonies can be found even in official documents from medieval times. "Šatrija" in Lithuanian means "the besom hill" and the name was chosen after an accident when one of the witches couldn't find hers besom broom when the time came to fly away from the hill after a night party.
Second in Lithuania
Lithuanians in opinion poll have voted for Šatrija as the second most beautiful hillfort in the country - right after the famous Kernave hillfort complex. I was lucky to visit this place in spectacular weather conditions which gorgeously colored the skies during sunset time, as seen in the photos. However the place was full of other "visitors" too - the big horse-flies with their obtrusive behaviour... Don't know whether it's a constant feature of this area or just a peculiarity of summer '2017 when there were hordes of horse-flies in many regions of Lithuania and Latvia.
PHOTOPLACES RATING
PHOTOPLACES GALLERY #1: Views from Šatrija hill, Lithuania
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