Trakai Island Castle

Trakai Island Castle is the storybook fortress of medieval Lithuania, a red-brick castle on an island in Lake Galve, linked to shore by wooden footbridges. Built by the grand dukes when Trakai was a capital, restored in the twentieth century, it is the most photographed castle in the country and the anchor of a whole lake landscape.

Background

Kęstutis began the stone castle during the later 14th century on the largest of three islands in Lake Galvė. His son Vytautas the Great completed major works around 1409, adding two wings and a six-storey keep of 35 metres, and he died in the castle in 1430. In the early 15th century the walls were thickened to 2.5 metres and three towers rose at the corners, at a time when the lake stood several metres higher than now. The Flemish traveller Guillebert de Lannoy described the castle in 1414. Reconstruction in a 15th-century style began in 1946, and the major part was finished in 1961, after which the Trakai History Museum was set up.

Source: Wikipedia, "Trakai Island Castle"

Highlights

• The island castle - the restored red-brick keep and courtyards on the water.
• The footbridges - the wooden walkways out to the island.
• The history museum - inside the castle, on medieval Lithuania.
• Boat trips - paddleboats and cruises that circle the castle.

When to go

Summer for boating and warm lake views; autumn for colour reflected in the water; winter for the castle over ice. Weekdays and early mornings avoid the day-trip crowds from Vilnius.

Practical notes

It is largely a twentieth-century reconstruction on the medieval remains, presented as a museum. Being an easy trip from Vilnius, it is busy on summer weekends. The lake setting and the boat view are as much the point as the interior.

Nearby

Trakai town has the Karaim quarter and its famous kibinai pastries; the lakes of the historical park surround it.

Key facts