Exclusiveness of Trail Experience: Mikytai altar hill, stone with a Devil‘s footprint, Well of Prayers (Offerings), Mikytai landscape reserve.
Mikytai Sacred Grove, otherwise known as Alka Mountain, is located by the Bartuva, Minija and Venta River delta, in Samogitia National Park, Mikytai Landscape Reserve. The 1 km long Mikytai pedestrian path can also be found here.
The sacred wood encompasses an area of 11.5 ha and contains two swamps. Stories from long ago tell of the sacred wood “evaporating” – and before rain or on cloudy days, it is plain to see how the steam rises from the tops of the fir trees on the mountain.
It is said that the sacred grove was created by the Swedes, who built a temple here and made sacrifices to their gods; however, no evidence of this remains.
On the northern slope of the grove there is a gigantic stone (4.5 x 2.5 x 4 m), with indentations of a so-called “foot with a heel”. There are many legends in this region about how the devil destroyed the church that stood upon the sacred grove, and left his footprint in the stone while running away. Research has shown that the stone is at least 1.5 billion years old, but could possibly be even older. On its northern side, there is a 2 metre depression marking the location of a dried-out spring. Even today, it is called the Well of Prayers. It is thought that this name originated in pagan times.
