A Virtual Journey Through Historical Vilnius & Trakai
Upon returning from battle in the Crimea, Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas settled the Karaites, both soldiers, and civilians (a total of 383 families) in a free area of the town of New Trakai between the two castles (the Peninsula Castle and the Island Castle) in 1398 […]
New Trakai was the residence of Lithuanian Grand Dukes. In 1341-1342 Lithuanian Grand Duke Kestutis moved the residence from Old to New Trakai. Old Trakai, therefore, lost its defensive importance […]
Baily (courtyard) of Trakai Island Castle. The castle was built from the beginning of the 14th century to the beginning of the 15th century on three islands: swampy areas were filled with rock and gravel in order to create one single island […]
The residential palace of Trakai Island Castle is comprised of two parallel corpuses that were joined by walls, as well as a defensive tower (dungeon) in the front. Shooting slots are created in the upper level of the tower and both corpuses […]
The Trakai Historical National Park is covering 8.200 hectares with 30+ lakes which are favorable for swimming in the summertime […]
The castle, built on an island in Lake Galvė, is a unique Gothic defensive complex, able to be reached only by bridge, and which was never overtaken by enemies […]
30 km west of Vilnius the town of New Trakai, its reconstructed immense Lake Galvė Island Castle, and the surroundings, including Old Trakai and 32 lakes, are protected within the Trakai Historical National Park, established in 1991 […]
The park was designed by famous French landscape designer Édouard François André who designed more than 100 luxurious parks around the world […]
The Neo-Classicist palace was built in 1896 based on a design by architect Jozef Hus in the Trakai Historical National Park […]
The Karaites (Qaraites/Karaims) are the descendants of a Turkic tribe Kipchak, who were brought to Trakai in 1398 by Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas the Great […]
