Aukštojas Hill is the highest point in all of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

; it is located in the

Medininkai Medininkai (; be, Меднікі) is a village in Lithuania, located east of Vilnius city municipality and from the Lithuanian–Belarusian border. The village is situated on the Medininkai Highland, near the highest points of Lithuania � ...

Highlands, Migūnai forestry, approximately southeast of the capital city of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. Its elevation was measured in 2004 at 293.84 metres (964.08 feet) by specialists at the Institute of Geodesy at

Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH) is a public university located in Vilnius, Lithuania. There are 10 faculties including Antanas Gustaitis Aviation Institute, Architecture, Business Management, Civil Engineering, Creative I ...

, using

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

technology. Previously, Juozapinė Hill, at 292.7 metres (960.35 feet), had been officially regarded as the highest point in

. In 1985, suspicions were raised by Rimantas Krupickas, a Lithuanian geographer, that Juozapinė Hill was not actually

's highest elevation. Aukštojas Hill is located approximately 500 metres (1,640 feet) west of Juozapinė Hill. The designated use of the land where Aukštojas Hill is situated has been changed by the Vilnius county governor from agricultural to tourism and cultural. The summit of the hill features a grove of pine trees. The public institution 'Lietuvos viršūnės', headed by Vladas Vitkauskas, Lithuania's leading mountaineer, is pursuing efforts to designate Aukštojas Hill as a geographic landmark in the historically important Medininkai region. The name 'Aukštojas' was suggested by Libertas Klimka, a professor of history at the

Vilnius Pedagogical University Vytautas Magnus University Education Academy ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto Švietimo akademija or VDU ŠA) – an academical unit of Vytautas Magnus University, which specialized in preparing school teachers and other educators. Located i ...

, and was the winner of a contest to decide the best name for the newly discovered elevation. Aukštėjas (Aukštojas, Aukštujis) was one of the most important deities in ancient

Lithuanian mythology Lithuanian mythology ( lt, Lietuvių mitologija) is the mythology of Lithuanian polytheism, the religion of pre-Christian Lithuanians. Like other Indo-Europeans, ancient Lithuanians maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. ...

; he was considered the creator of the world. The hill was 'baptised' on June 20, 2005, during an unofficial ceremony. The name was officially approved by the Vilnius Region Municipality Council on November 18, 2005. An alternate name, 'Aukštėjas Hill', was discarded as a nominee by the State Commission on the Lithuanian language, on the grounds that its suffix ("-ėj-") was not standard usage for a place-name; 'Aukštėjas' has been approved by the commission only as a name for the deity.

References

External links

*
On the Lithuanian War-path to Aukštėjas Hill
- Libertas Klimka's article on the history behind the Aukštojas Hill issue *
The new highest hill in Lithuania
- Lithuanian internet media on the new highest elevation *

- The Commission's approval of 'Aukštojas' as the morphologically most acceptable spelling variant of the place-name *

United Nations Working Paper: Geographical names in the Baltic nations {{DEFAULTSORT:Aukstojas Hill Hills of Lithuania Landmarks in Lithuania Highest points of countries