Sightseeing in Siauliai

Šiauliai has no old town in the usual sense. Its sights are spread along a 1.28 km pedestrian boulevard, around Sundial Square and beside Lake Talkša, with the Hill of Crosses a short drive to the north. Most are within about 1.5 km of one another, so a day on foot covers them. Prices are in euros.

Hill of Crosses

About 12 km north of the city, the Hill of Crosses (Kryžių kalnas) is a Catholic pilgrimage site and a national symbol of Lithuanian resistance, protected as a cultural monument since 1998. It carries over 100,000 crosses. The first ones are linked to the uprisings of 1831 and 1863, and Soviet authorities bulldozed the hill several times, with 1961 and 1975 the best documented. Pope John Paul II visited on 7 September 1993, and a Franciscan hermitage opened nearby in 2000. Entry is free and the site is always open. Treat it as a place of worship: speak softly and do not move any crosses.

Chaim Frenkel Villa

At Vilniaus g. 74, the Art Nouveau villa was built in 1908 for the leather industrialist Chaim Frenkel (1857 to 1920) beside his factory, and passed to the Aušra Museum in 1993. Admission is 8 EUR for adults and 4 EUR reduced, and it is open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 and at weekends from 11:00 to 17:00. The main exhibition covers the Frenkel family and the history of Šiauliai’s Jewish community up to the Holocaust, and it is best visited without hurry. The rose park outside is free, with about 1,000 bushes.

Sundial Square and the cathedral

The square was built in 1986 for the city’s 750th anniversary. Its 18 m obelisk is the gnomon of Lithuania’s tallest sundial, topped by a gilded bronze Archer about 4 m tall by the sculptor Stanislovas Kuzma. The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul stands on the square’s south side. Built in the early 1600s, it is Renaissance with Mannerist details, and its tower is about 70 m high. The tower can be climbed only with a guide, arranged through the tourist office.

Iron Fox and Lake Talkša

The Iron Fox by Vilius Puronas has stood on the Talkša shore since 2009. It is about 15 m long, 6.6 m high and about 7 tonnes, and it is in the Lithuanian Book of Records as the largest animal sculpture. The designer also made the Cockerel Clock on the boulevard, which greets passers-by in 14 languages at 12:00 and 18:00.

Cats Museum and botanical garden

The Cats Museum at Žuvininkų g. 18 shows cat-themed collections from many countries, with a small exotic-animal garden next door. The University Botanical Garden covers 6.5 ha and holds over 4,000 species and varieties, including a rhododendron collection and a rock garden.

A place of remembrance

German forces entered Šiauliai on 26 June 1941, and a ghetto was set up that July. The city’s Jewish population fell from about 8,000 to about 500. A memorial stone stands at the former ghetto entrance at Traku g. and Ežero g., set up in 1993. The first mass murder took place on 29 June 1941 in the Luponiai forest at Kužiai, where about 8,000 Jews from the city and the region were murdered over that summer. The community and the state commemorate in July and on 23 September. Visit these places quietly and as remembrance.

Tips

  • The Photography Museum charges 8 EUR, and its rooftop terrace is 1 EUR from March to October.
  • Aušra Museum admission is free on the last Sunday of each month.
  • Allow a full day to see the city on foot, plus a morning for the Hill of Crosses.

Read more: walking tours in Siauliai and attraction tours .

The city’s top routes are on Visit Šiauliai and the Frenkel Villa hours are on the Aušra Museum site . Guided sightseeing can be compared on GetYourGuide .