The Lopaičiai Mound

I am a mother named Eglė. With our boys, Gytis (11 years old) and Matas (9 years old), and my husband Edikas, we like fun, sometimes spontaneous trips to various corners of Lithuania, where we can walk, admire nature, and spend time together. There are still many unvisited places, and there are some that you want to return to again and again. We invite you to travel together!

The lopaičiai mound with a magical spring and a stone of wishes. When mom grabs her backpack, everyone in the family, even the dog, knows we’re about to go on a trip. There will definitely be sandwiches, hot tea in thermoses and other delicious things in the backpack. By the way, it doesn’t matter if the trip will last the whole day or just a couple of hours – such a backpack is necessary, because it is like a ritual part of the trip.

By the way, we’ll go wherever mom comes up with! And no one should have any doubts about that. Of course, there are days when no one wants to go anywhere, and especially Saturdays, which are officially declared “compo” day, but if mom has figured it out, everyone knows that you can’t get away with it…

Lopaičiai Mound in Rietavas

We live in the municipality of Rietavas, where there are certainly many beautiful and favorite places. One of them is Lopaičiai mound. It’s fun to visit here both in winter and summer, and in autumn and spring, and we recommend going here at least once every time of the year.

The object itself – the mound – does not sound attractive to children, and it reminds me personally of school days, when trips on them were the most boring thing in the world, because you had to focus not on the beauty around, not on entertainment, but on the story, which is not so interesting for the child. That’s why I don’t teach my boys the facts of what, how and why in such historical places, but let them discover, search together. And Lopaičiai mound is full of discoveries. As I often tell everyone: no matter how many times I come here, I always find something new. Because this is not just an ordinary mountain, on which a duke’s castle once stood long ago. No. Here is such a mystical place, or rather an area full of magic, wonder and extraordinary natural beauty.

The First Mystical Visit

It is true that when we visited here for the first time, everything was even more mystical than it is now, and when I tell someone how we searched for this place, because there was no information or information stand (only 10 years ago), it is difficult for many to imagine. The most stuck image, from then on, is being dragged back and forth, from mountain to mountain and over a slippery pebble path by a stream, and through dense nettles, huge water tanks, for there is a miraculous spring in that area, from which flows what is believed to be healing water . It is because of this that tourists constantly flock here.

A Magical Source

Today, everything is a bit different there. Everything has been arranged and convenient access to each object has been made, information boards have been set up, etc. In my opinion, due to human intervention, the magic may have dissipated a little, but my children have a lot of fun running around here on the wooden paths that are built over the stream leading to the spring.

So, as you can see, one, and perhaps the most important, object here is the source that we usually visit first and drink at least a sip of water from it. Then follows another ritual of ours, which we came up with ourselves – it is to run several laps around the circular footpath installed near the spring. It was made here for a reason. It helps to avoid traffic jams that occur when more people arrive to fill water tanks. It even happens that you have to stand in line and wait.

The Wish Stone

Two roads follow and both are uphill. One of them leads to the mound, the other to the wishing stone. There is always an argument about which place we will go to first, but since probably every dreamer has more or less wishes, we usually rush to the wish stone. It can be reached by climbing up the mountain along a path covered with fir needles and tree roots or by steep steps installed right there. Here we divide into two teams and run to the top – as fast as possible!

The top of the Stone

As soon as we climb to the top, we see the Nora stone, which is usually furnished with complex structures of small stones. To make wishes come true, people used to put small coins here. Later, after an information stand was installed nearby, where it is written that wishes are fulfilled by placing one’s stone on the big stone, special constructions have sprung up. These constructions, believe it or not, really do fulfill wishes.

You just need to think quietly to yourself, and while thinking put a pebble, or even several, on the Wish Stone, and wait for a miracle to happen after a while. We also like to hold a competition here. We build pebble castles. You need to build the highest, next time, as many pebbles as possible on top of each other, etc. There are a lot of wishes here, so it is important to try not to disturb other people’s dreams…

By the way, such a natural, beautiful, dense and mystical forest begins from this place, where various objects are located: a Dolmen, a stone with a face, an observatory, etc. Everything is mostly made of stones that have been lying here since time immemorial, when people believed in supernatural phenomena.

The History of the Lopaičiai Mound

I had a chance to walk through the forest with a guide who told me about various historical events, so I learned from her that this particular place – the Lopaičiai mound, otherwise known as the Lopaičiai sanctuary – was the former property of the priests. There are those who believe that this place is connected with the cosmos by indescribable links. Therefore, when walking along the path from the Noru stone through the forest, a mystical energy is especially strongly felt, which is difficult to describe in words. But that energy is not scary. It is pleasant and even energizing.

The Forest Near the Mound

The path soon leads out of the forest. On this side, you can admire the nearby lake, after walking a little behind it, and after a little searching, a huge beaver dam can be found behind the hill. We recently discovered a detour through the forest leading to the hill. We used to go back and follow the aforementioned path uphill from the spring. Like I said, every once in a while we discover something new here…

A wonderful view opens from the mound itself, which makes you want to take a deep breath and stop for a moment. Children love to roll down the hill here. In the summer you can find strawberries here, and in the winter it’s fun to try your hand at sledding.

And although it is said that Lopaičiai is not a place for entertainment, such entertainment as we have invented will certainly not harm anyone. And where our children have fun, I believe that one day our children’s children will also have fun.

“Traveling with children” thanks mother Eglė Fabijonavičienė for the article and sharing information about the magical mound.

This article is author’s work and was prepared by “Traveling with Children ®”. Copying and using without permission is strictly prohibited.

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