Archeologists have hypothesized that the Crooked Hill (also known as Bleak Hill and Three Crosses Hill) housed the wooden Crooked Castle, which was destroyed during the Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392) and never rebuilt. This hill fort was damaged by erosion and by construction of fortifications during the 17th and 18th centuries. According to a legend, seven Franciscan friars attempting to convert Lithuania to Christianity were murdered there during the reign of Duke Algirdas. In some versions of the legend, three of the monks were crucified. Wooden memorial crosses and a chapel were erected at the site; the concrete Three Crosses were built in 1916. The crosses were torn down in 1950 by order of the Soviet government and replaced by the current monument in 1989.