Gondinga Mound

Coordinates: 55.886917 21.771667

Object address: Gondinga, Plunge district, Lithuanian

Municipality: Plungė district

The Gondinga Mound, also called the Pilies (Eng. Castle) Hill is situated on the right bank of the Babrungas River. It is 95 m long and 11 m high. Its width on the eastern side is 59 m, while in the middle, it is 36.6 m and on the western side – 5.7 m. The northern, western, and southern slopes are steep.

The Gondinga Mound has a rich and deep history. It is considered one of the oldest locations in Samogitia, where people have lived as early as 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists believe that Lithuanians populated this location in the first several centuries before the birth of Christ. Other sources indicate that people lived here in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. or even as late as the 7th and 12th centuries. The castle was already standing in this location in the 12th century.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, Gondinga became a strong and large centre of defence, culture, and religion. Both the mound as well as its foot were residential areas. The locality was full of densely developed farmsteads, from which the citizens could swim over the moat and enter the castle, if any danger arises. Judging by the remains that are found during ploughing works, the farmsteads extended as far as 1.5 km from the moat.

Pot fragments, brass jewellery, and weapons are found regularly. Moreover, a relatively large amount of land was found to be covered in ashes and coal. This points to a probable fact that the farmsteads could have been burnt down very quickly. The locals told stories that often mentioned people, who were covered in fish, so it is believed that the olden Gondinga could have been burnt down by the Normans.

In the first half of the 20th century, Zenonas Vaitkus, Aloyzas Vaiktus, and other Gondingians explained that, in the end of the 19th century, there used to be a hole at the top of the mound, into which boys and shepherds threw rocks. When the rocks landed into the hole, it sounded as if they were hitting a metal surface . This form of entertainment attracted more and more young and curious minds, but the owner of the land did not like it because the visitors were crushing all of the crops. Therefore, he covered the hole with dirt. According to the tales, the hole was so deep that nobody could reach the bottom, not even with the longest of sticks.

It is said that there are big dwellings and caves inside the mound. When the Swedes were moving out of Gondinga, they brought their money, weapons, and other belongings into the mound, locked them up behind steel doors, and buried them in dirt, leaving no evidence of excavation. It is said that the doors can be found on the southern side of the hill, where a small spring is located. The Swedes hid the keys to the doors under a large rock in the Babrungas River. All of the riches, hidden in the Gondinga Mound, are protected by devils, and their overlord is the master of the castle.

In 2012, the Varkaliai community took initiative to prepare a project to tidy up the approaches to each mound in Varkaliai. It was implemented in 2013: the landscape of the Varkaliai-Nausėdis Mound was formed, the footpaths were reconstructed, and the benches, information stand, and direction signs were placed.

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