Take a look around; you are in the Little Vatican. There is one of Lithuania's oldest seminaries, two churches, two monasteries, two palaces, a priest's residence, and the city's first cemetery.
Until the mid-17th century, Bernardine monks lived in a monastery and received a thorough education in philosophy, theology, and art. The townsfolk enjoyed socializing with the Bernardines, and tailors, hairdressers, gunpowder producers, cannon makers, and barrel makers all found a shelter with them. The monks' agony is symbolised in an unexpected way, with their corpses torn with daggers, axes, and spears.
Fires and diseases afflicted Kaunas following the 17th-century conflict with Russia and the 18th-century war with Sweden. Sometimes only one or two brothers lived in the monastery.
It is symbolic that a magnificent crucifix may be seen in Kaunas' first cemetery. Let us recall our forefathers' traditional burial practices: burial sites were frequently referred to as "ghost hills." The deceased were buried supine with their heads facing west, with or without shrouds in caskets (remains of wooden coffins discovered). Bodies were buried at a certain angle to prevent death from reaching the living. It was supposed that by burying them in parallel, a whole family or even tribe may die all at once.
The archaeologists are occasionally astonished when they excavate graves and find remains within. Exhumed bodies have had their hands severed and placed between their legs, and their heads have been beheaded and positioned 180 degrees on their chest. This was how they exhumed ghosts that bothered the living or perished from negative energy, as well as witches and warlocks. According to historical records, these incidents have been linked to mythical beings such as vampires and ghosts in numerous nations and customs. This is also portrayed in Czesław Miłosz’s Nobel Prize-winning book, "The Valley of Issa". The exhumation of Magdalena.
During the excavations, many pits with burrowing remains were discovered in the cemetery. It was thought to be a ghost who just did not have enough time to lie down correctly upon returning to the grave. However, sources claim that in the past, this manner of burial was utilized to keep death from crawling out of the grave and ghosts from fleeing. There were priests who asked to be transported upside down and laid prostrate after death, and upon crossing the river, they asked to have their feet and knee tendons severed. In general, turning something inside out was associated with death in ancient times. For example, if you went to a sorcerer with a request and didn't want to be enchanted, you had to wear an inside out clothing.
An even more macabre myth from that era states that if a house is haunted by restless ghosts, everything should be flipped upside down. But if you overlook one thing, the ghosts will just slaughter the living... These spirits were mostly those who perished by accident, murder, or suicide (particularly hangmen), as well as the unfortunate, sinful, sorcerers, and godless. In real life, the deceased who were struggling in their previous lives were commonly depicted as nasty personalities: a wrathful gentleman, a bad man who had "fallen into vodka," who died without a priest, refused to confess, a girl who had an affair with the devil... Such persons, as well as deceased unbaptized newborns, were not permitted in traditional burial grounds or cemeteries. In the 20th century, cemeteries included a distinct area for suicide victims behind a fence.
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