Jiesia Hillfort (Napoleon's Hill)

This steep hillfort, overgrown with deciduous trees, is a natural hill 63.6 m high. In autumn, winter and spring, before the trees are in full leaf, it offers a wonderful panorama of Kaunas. Like many others, this hillfort was studied by the archaeologist Petras Tarasenka. In his view, judging by its position, the top of the hillfort may have held a dwelling with a small castle, and at its foot, to the south-east, a settlement of fishermen and farmers. The settlement was studied further in 1997. There is no precise information on when it was founded. The cultural layer of the settlement dates from the 14th–17th centuries, but older rough-surfaced and wheel-thrown pottery and a brass ring were also found within a 1-hectare area. Archaeologists date these finds to the 11th–13th centuries. It is believed that in June 1812 Emperor Napoleon watched the French army crossing the Nemunas from this hill for three days and three nights, which is why the hillfort is called Napoleon's Hill. Contemporaries' memoirs say that on the eve of the crossing the commander came here, put on the frock coat – a long-skirted jacket – of Colonel Michał Pągowski and donned his hat. After surveying the surroundings, Napoleon ordered cannons to be hauled up the hillfort to cover with fire the regiments crossing the Nemunas. This proved unnecessary, however, as the army met no resistance. In 1913, on the centenary of Napoleon's campaign, Tsar Nicholas II visited Kaunas and the hillfort. A monument commemorating the campaign was planned here, but the idea was never carried out. In 2012, marking the 200th anniversary of the campaign, which had inspired some of Lithuania's inhabitants with hope of throwing off Russian oppression, hundreds of military re-enactors recreated the French army's crossing. Enthusiasts from Lithuania, France, Russia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia took part in the re-enactment. Ancient Baltic festivals are celebrated on the hill, and every year on 6 July the national anthem is sung here.