Nida Ethnographic Cemetery

Old village cemetery with carved wooden krikštai grave markers

The little ethnographic cemetery on the northern edge of Nida holds one of the most complete surviving collections of krikštai — the unique wooden grave markers carved by the Kursenieki and Lithuanian fishermen of the spit. Each marker is carved from a single piece of wood in the shape of a bird, horse, plant or human figure, and was originally placed at the foot rather than the head of the grave.

The cemetery itself is small and quiet, set among pines on a sandy slope. A handful of headstones with German and Lithuanian inscriptions sit alongside the older krikštai. Free and open at any time.

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A story
The wooden krikštai grave markers of the Curonian Spit are unique to this coast. They were carved from a single piece of wood — typically oak — into bird, horse, or plant shapes corresponding to the dead person's age, sex and life. The tradition died out in the 19th century when Christian crosses replaced them, but the surviving markers were collected here in the 1970s.