Medininkai Castle

Medininkai is the largest enclosure castle in Lithuania, a broad rectangle of medieval walls with a single tall restored tower, standing on the flat borderland south-east of Vilnius. Quieter and less visited than Trakai, it gives a different picture of medieval defence: fortified walls around a wide courtyard rather than a compact keep.

History

Medininkai is first mentioned in 1311, in the Chronicon terrae Prussiae, when it was probably a timber fort; the present brick and stone castle was built in the late 14th century, probably by Grand Duke Algirdas, and sheltered local people from attacks by the Tatars and the Teutonic Knights. In 1402 the Teutonic Knights, together with the future Grand Duke Švitrigaila, besieged it and set it on fire, after which it lost its defensive role, though Vytautas the Great visited it several times and Casimir IV Jagiellon used it as a summer residence, often with his children and their tutor Jan Długosz. After a series of fires from the late 15th century it was gradually abandoned, and in the 17th-18th centuries it became a farm with a bakery; the Swedes took it in 1665, Napoleon's army camped here on its retreat from Moscow in 1812 and burned the wooden buildings for warmth, and the estate passed through the Goštautas and Ogiński families to the Drohojowskis in the 19th century (Wikipedia, Medininkai Castle).

What's there

• The walls and courtyard - the wide medieval enclosure, the largest in the country.
• The restored tower - the tall corner tower with a museum and viewpoint.
• The exhibits - arms, hunting trophies and history inside the tower.
• The borderland setting - the flat countryside toward Belarus.

When to go

Snow-free months for walking the walls and courtyard; clear days for the tower view. It is quiet on most days, a calm alternative to busy Trakai.

Good to know

It is more wall-and-field than romantic ruin, so the interest is the scale of the enclosure and the tower rather than grand rooms. It is a short trip out of Vilnius with little else immediately around. A good, uncrowded castle stop rather than a must-see.

Nearby

The highest hill in Lithuania, Aukstojas, is nearby; Vilnius is under an hour back.

Key facts