Travelling along one of the most beautiful roads in Lithuania – from Prienai towards Vilnius – you are sure to spot Lepelionys hillfort by the roadside. The cap-shaped hill was clearly built by human hands. Local people claim the hillfort has an inexplicable pull. Indeed, once you climb it, a wonderful panorama opens up and your spirits lift. According to legend, the hill was heaped up by Napoleon's retreating soldiers using their caps. Where the earth was supposedly scooped up, Lake Lielios appeared. That is why a wooden cap-shaped monument stands at the foot of the hill. Historians, however, speak of a much older past. According to archaeological research, the hill was raised as early as before Christ. Scientists found shards of very large clay vessels and a 5th–7th-century brass brooch. This shows that a very strong Yotvingian settlement stood here. By the way, the Yotvingians were one of the most warlike Baltic tribes, who in these parts even had to fight the Huns in the 4th–5th centuries. Later, in the 14th century, when the attacks of the Teutonic Knights intensified, the castle or watchtower that stood here was used as a means of communication. From the top of the hillfort you can see Punia, where a very important defensive castle stood, so it was probably possible to receive or pass on danger signals from there. The fortification at Lepelionys hillfort belonged to the so-called second line of defence, which protected the Lithuanian capitals – Kernavė, Trakai and Vilnius – and the royal road linking Vilnius with Trakai and Aukštadvaris from Teutonic raids. The first line consisted of the castles along the banks of the Nemunas. Between the wars, people from Stakliškės and the surrounding villages used to make merry on the hillfort. Today autumn equinox and Mindaugas's coronation (Statehood Day) celebrations are held here. Photo shoots often take place here too, as the view from the hillfort is charming in every season. Lepelionys hillfort has the shape of a truncated four-sided pyramid. It is surrounded by lowland on the south, north and west, and by upland on the east. The slopes are steep: the western one is 15 m high and the eastern one 7.5 m. At the eastern foot of the hillfort there is a ditch 26 m wide and 2 m deep. The plateau of the hillfort is oval, measuring 13 × 10 m, and is surrounded by a rampart – 2 m high and 12 m wide at the eastern edge, and 0.2 m high and 2 m wide elsewhere. At the eastern and northern foot of the hillfort there is an ancient settlement, excavated in 1955 and 1971. Hand-made pottery with smooth and rough surfaces was found. The hillfort dates from the 1st millennium to the beginning of the 2nd millennium. The finds are kept by the National Museum of Lithuania.