A short note mentions the monument to the three crosses in Vilnius, on a hill adjacent to Vileyka. The history of the Franciscans who erected the first crosses, which were destroyed during Muraev's rule, is recalled. A new monument was erected in July 1916, and the three crosses were designed by Antoni Wiwulski (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1917, Semester I, p. 28, after: University of Lodz Digital Library).

A modernised reading of the text

Three crosses in Vilnius.

One of the traditions of Vilnius was the three crosses on one of the hills flanking the Vileyka River. They were erected in the ancient times of the first years of Christianity in memory of the Franciscans, the first apostles of Lithuania, who were thrown down from that hill. The people honoured the memory of the martyrs, and the eyes of the inhabitants became accustomed to the sight of the three crosses hovering over the city. The Muravyev government, destroying everything that had to do with Lithuania's Catholic past, abolished the crosses. Three poplars were secretly planted.

Destroyed, broken, they grew back and, nurtured surreptitiously, grew up, skimming over the martyred city with eternal complaint. In July 1916, a monument was erected in their place, the image of which is given here according to a design by Ant. Wiwulski, the creator of the Heart of Jesus Church, now under construction. The whole population took part in the making of this lasting memorial to the feelings of Vilnius residents. People of all classes and professions carried materials up a rather high and steep hill, and bricklayers worked for free.