Cemeteries throughout Lithuania are full of candles burning throughout the night for All Saint's Day. Photo by Nathan Greenhalgh.

VILNIUS — Hundreds of candles flicker in the cold breeze, illuminating the gravestones.

It’s All Saint’s Day in Lithuania, which means for the next week all the cemeteries in the country will be aglow with the little lights. During the day the burial grounds will be crowded with people cleaning the gravesites of their kin and leaving flowers, candles and chocolates. Some, especially those of Russian descent, even leave a shot of the hard stuff next to the grave, which apparently makes the afterlife a bit more enjoyable for the dearly departed.

Decades of official atheism under the communist regime could not wipe this tradition out. Old and young stand in front of the graves with their heads down, silent and somber. Etymology shows holiday to be a contraction of the words “holy” and “day” and it’s readily apparent here. Locals say that on All Saint’s Day communication with the dead is possible.

Nov. 1 and 2 are the only two days all year that the Tuskulenai columbarium, which contains the graves of hundreds of people executed by the KGB, is open to the general public. Photo by Nathan Greenhalgh.

In Vilnius, the Tuskulenai Park columbarium is open which contains the graves of 706 people shot by the KGB in the early part of the Soviet occupation. Normally it’s closed, but on Nov.1 and Nov. 2 it is open for the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Whether for an interest in history or the eerie, beautiful spectacle of tiny flames and tombstones, the columbarium and any cemetery in the country will reveal a side of Lithuanian culture that foreigners typically miss.

While the columbarium closes after Monday, it is open on an appointment basis by calling +370 5 275 0704. The cemeteries will be full of candles all this week.