Travel Diary - Day 7 : Trakai Island Castle - Republik of Lithuania

November 2019 · 3 min read · Vilnius County

Hello lovely Steemians !

My travel tour through the northeastern regions of central europe already led me into the Stolowe mountains in Poland, the Braunauer Mountains in the Czech Republik, as well as its Capital City Prague. From there I traveled in direction of the Republic of Lithuania and stopped at the amazing Malbork Castle, the headquarter of the Teutonic Order. Today I would like to show to you my first stop im the Republic of Lithuania, another nice castle that was inhabited by the Teutonic Order, the Trakai Island Castle.

Republic of Lithuania

Until 1230 the territory of Lithuania was inhabited by various baltic tribes. Then Mindaugas started to unify all of them in just 20 years, using standard medievil methods like strategic marriages and murder of rivals, and finally was crowned in 1253 as the first King of Lithuania. In 1569 Lithuania and Poland formed a two-state personal union, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This lasted until the Russian Empire annexed whole of Lithuania during 1772 - 1795.

Finally, after World War I, Lithuania declared its Independence in 1918 and formed the Republic of Lithuania. Unfortunately, during World War II, it became first occupied by the Soviet Union, then occupied by Germany, and the reoccupied by the Soviet Union again after the war. Luckily they were able to restor its Independence again in 1990, shortly before the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. In 2004 Lithuania became a member of the NATO and the European Union.

Trakai Island Castle

T beautiful Trakai Island Castle is located in Lithuania on a small island in the middle of Lake Galvė. This construction of the castle started in the beginning of the the 14th century by Kestutis. As one of the main centers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania it was of an immense strategic importance. It is mainly constructed from red bricks and features some as gothic as well as some romanesque elements .

The construction of Trakai Island Castle was initialized by Kestutis in his effort to expand during ghis period of reign. He even moved his main residence and all of his treasury to the Island Castle. During the 14th century Kęstutis organized the defence of western Lithuania against the Teutonic Knights, and organized raids against the German Order. Finally in 1377 the castle suffered major devastation after an attack by the Teutonic Knights in 1377. In 1782 he was assassinated and during the new lead by the Teutonic Order, the castle got even heavier fortified supervised by the Order's stonemason Radike.

Thank You !

I really hope that you enjoyed this little tour and the impressions of the Trakai Island Castle and the brief historical review of Lithuania and Trakai. It was my first stop in this country on my way to its capital city Vilnius. I wish you all a nice week and safe travels wherever you are at the moment ^^