Trakai Castle
Located 28 kilometers from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, Trakai is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Vilnius. Trakai, which is in a location that can be visited by everyone visiting Vilnius, covers a large area.
The Trakai Castle is a tourist attraction within the Trakai National Park. Trakai National Park, one of the 5 national parks of Lithuania, will enrich your eyes and heart with its nature.
Trakai Castle is an island castle. Located in the middle of Lake Galve, which offers a wonderful view around it, the castle is also called Little Malbork because of its resemblance to Malbork Castle in Poland. Its construction was first started by Kestutis, Duke of Trakai, in the 14th century, but most of it was completed by his son Vytautas.
Trakai Castle, which was in a very good strategic position, lost its strategic importance after the Battle of Grunwald between the Polish and Lithuanian kingdoms in 1410. The castle, which was burned down in the following years, was rebuilt in the mid-20th century and opened to tourism.
To enter the castle from Trakai, you have to cross a 100-meter-long wooden bridge over Lake Galve. You can also use the bridge to capture wonderful shots of the castle in your photos, where every angle of the castle gives a wonderful effect.
The castle, which can be entered for €6, has a large courtyard. In the courtyard, various torture instruments used in the Middle Ages are exhibited.
Each room of the castle is utilized in different ways. Some rooms of the castle, where there is a conference hall and various exhibition areas, are used as museums. The rooms also contain artifacts unearthed during excavations after the 1900s.
One of the rooms is dedicated to the Karaite Turks. The Karaite Turks, a Jewish minority of Turkish origin, have been living in the Trakai region for about 600 years. They were brought to Trakai after the expedition of Grand Duke Vytaulas, son of Kestutis, to Crimea and started to live here.
The Karaites built wooden houses with three windows each and took the responsibility of protecting the castle. For this reason, the number of Karaim, whose even the name of the street in front of them is Karaim g., is very small today.
The Karaim, whose language we can easily understand, describe their forced migration to Lithuania as follows.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century and at the beginning of the fifteenth century, in the year of Vatat Biy, in the beginning of the twelfth century, the world brought the Karaites from Krin, from Kara Tengiz, and settled them here in Troxta. He gave the Karaites a big place so that the Karaites could live on the land.
Trakai Castle is a big enough castle and you might feel hungry after visiting all of it. After traveling all the way to Trakai, be sure to eat kibbin in the restaurants near the Trakai castle. Kibin is a traditional dish of the Karaite Turks.
Trakai, which is considered the center of Lithuania and was the capital of Lithuania in the 14th century, allows you to spend a few unforgettable hours with its lake and castle views, hiking opportunities and small lake tours that can be done by pedalo or canoe.
