Trakai, 28 km west of Vilnius and with a little bit more than five thousand inhabitants, is a historic city and a popular tourist resort by the lakes. A true melting pot, it has been home to people of different nationalities since the fourteenth century: Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Karaims, Tatars, Jews...
"TRAKAI ISLAND CASTLE - On the shores of Lake Galvė, the «Little Marienburg» was started in the 14th century by Kęstutis, and completed by his son Vytautas the Great, who died in this castle in 1430. Only the lower parts of the walls, built with grey limestone, are historical, as the rest is the result of a major reconstruction project started in 1946 and finished in 1961"
"DUCAL PALACE with its 35m high donjon"
"CASTLE INNER YARD"
"A VIEW TO THE LAKE"
"PALACE INNER YARD - With wooden structures"
"BATTLE OF GRUNWALD - Jan Matejko's oil painting showing Vytautas, the Great, in command"
"VYTAUTAS, THE GREAT - Ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1401 through 1430, he died in the Palace on October 27, 1430"
"COINS"
"TREASURY"
"KARAIM is a Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Polish name for the community of ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaite Judaism in Eastern Europe. Originally from Crimea, Karaims were established in Lithuania and elsewhere in Europe from late medieval times"
"BLUE"
"RED"
"GREEN"
"MUSEUM VISITORS"
"WAY OUT"
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56 comments:
Hi Folks! Getting back to my 12 month delay in posting, I hope you enjoy the summer time at the Trakai Castle, a memory of the glorious times Lithuania once also had! You’re, probably, already a bit tired, but there are still three more posts to come on Lithuania before we head for a different location... Thanks for your comments and have a superb rest of the week!
Wow, a huge and beautiful restoration work.
Interesting to learn about the Karaim.
Gil,
Trakai castle is very superb.... wat i really liked was that glass article i really love to collect such colorful article,
iam havin tough days at work so cant be online much n look after the blog...
Saw ur comment jus now thankx gil.
Kven,
http://kollywoodmoviereview.blogspot.com/
That place looks just lovely. ANd the glassware is nice too, especially the blue one.
Very nice and interesting history you got there. Love the castle. Did you find any princess? :)
Qu'il est beau ce château, je les adore avec des tours c'est surement pour cela que mon monument préféré de Paris est la conciergerie.
Merci pour cette leçon d'histoire, car je connais un peu l'histoire de l'ex Urss apprise à l'école, mais pas de tous ces pays qu'elle avait annexés.
Nice picture, have you go to around the world to capture all amazing places?
Such a nice, neat, clean well kept place.
Certainly a place to enjoy
:)
Quite a melting pot! Interesting history, the country being occupied with so many nations.
Woooow Blogtrotter! These are the coolest pics ever!!!
This some grandiose Architecture and handicrafts... well done and well told
Hi Gil, many thanks for your kind wishes for my friend. The pictures are spectacular. I love those red buildings, there are so much character in it. Happy weekend Gil.
The snaps of the castle on the waterfront and the collection of artifacts inside are wonderful.
BTW I've left a little gift for you on my blog
Absolutely wonderful pictures! Very striking architecture!
Great capture!
i love castles and palaces - this is a specially pretty one
It looks really magical. How did you get there from Vilnius? Lovely shots, Gil.
Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Come back tomorrow!
joy
A Pinay In England
Your Love Coach
I, Woman
Now there's a castle I could easily live in. :) Have a super great weekend G.
should i have a dream castle, i think this is the one.
lynn, joy and the rest of you ladies are so welcome. i'll be having guards against all you men
(including blogtrotter of course)
hehe
La ressemblance avec la citadelle de Landskrona en Suède est frappante. La Suède est restée plus austère toutefois.
Looks amazing! The first picture in particular is stunning.
By the way, you can see my Athens pictures here. Enjoy!
Wow! A Castle!
The pictures are so beautiful, to be there in real must have been an amazing experience. Great shots!
An astonishing number of excellent photographs. Way too many for me to take it and appreciate at one visit but they will be gone into the archive the next time I get around and that is too bad as they are very good pictures.
My eyes and mind needs more time to look at them and to study them and see them individually.
Wonderful photos, especially the first ones with teh red brick and the blue sky. Have a nice weekend.
Stunning architecture! Loved the glassware too. My fave would be green :-)
Have a wonderful weekend!!
Very beautiful and interesting pictures ! I have never been so far north !
Quelle est belle la photo du dessus de ce château comme construit pas un enfant avec des cubes. On ne peut y venir qu'à pied, c'est un château d'un autre temps fait de volumes et de matières simples : le bois, la brique et une relation intime avec le voisinage : le lac.
Ses trésors me plaisent aussi : une belle vaisselle en verre teintée, quelques objets modestes mais qui devaient y rendre la vie bien agréable, surtout lorsque le soleil était de la partie !
Bonne semaine prochaine, Gil ; et avant, un bon week-end à toi !
Wow, that is one awesome castle. It is gorgeous. I could see myself visiting there one day. I am loving that blue sky in the background.
Sorry for the delay in visiting, just busy watching the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup:)
Fantastic.
Gil, Trakai Castle is worth seeing indeed. Really wonderful photographs, great architecture, very nice the view to the lake and the detailed Matejko's painting with such beautiful colors.
Have a very good weekend!
Hi Gil
Ive dropped here after such a long time and what a wonderful post ..the castles are amazing ..another destination that I would like to visit
Great travel blog great pictures. I enjoyed my tour of the castle.
I really enjoyed your last previous post & pics on old Lithuania. Sorry didnt manage to post comment there earlier. The museum was awesome!! Devil Dozen eh?! Creepy .. enjoy ur wkend.
Very beautiful castle. The architecture is very interesting and different. Cool!
Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex
wow so surreal.. beautiful!!!
If I could have a castle... this would be mine !
Extremely beatiful pictures of the castle at Trakai. The reconstruction over the remaining grey stones seems to have followed the original design. With that mind set, I enjoyed every part of it.
Welcome back!!! :-D
Yes we lost to Denmark, but we are solidarity people, we are born to share!
LOL
Some interesting lessons here about the mixing of peoples etc etc that are important but not well known.
So, I'll forgive your hard (but true) comments on the B&W summer.
;-0 Hmmm, well perhaps, like the Netherlands yesterday, Portugal will also beat us at cricket!!!!!!
Yes, as several others, impressed by the castle in general, but perhaps more especially by the glassware! A wonderful and complete report, as usual! :-)
the Lithuanian national tourist office should pay you a fee for advertising their country so beautifully! I hope everything is well with you and your family!
Beautiful series, Gil.
The colors are amazing! The red roof is beautiful!
I've always wanted to see this. very beautiful.
Never get tire of it Gil, it is only through you that we get to see the world :)
Thank you so much!
J'espère que vous avez passé un bon dimanche ici c'était la fête des mères et les élections européennes, un tiers de la population s'y intéresse, pourtant ça nous concerne tous.
Hi Folks! The weather has been a bit dull here, so this blog definitely needs your comments to put some sunshine on it!! Thanks for keeping it alive, and I wish you have a fantastic week. Mine will be rather short and full of birthdays... ;))
Dina,
I thought you would be interested in the history of the Karaim!
Kven,
Those glasses made some of the best items of the castle’s museum collection. Great work, indeed!
Hélène,
The blue is also my favourite. No wonder,; actually blue is also my favourite!! ;)
Alice SG,
Princesses seem to have been long gone in the Trakai Castle; sadly... ;( But the castle still has some beautiful things to see... ;))
Lyliane,
Je te comprends très bien en ce qui concerne la Conciergerie; je l’aime beaucoup aussi... Ici on a un temps très insolite: un peu de pluie, du vent, quelques fois froid, quelques fois chaud… Bizarre! En plus dans «la» semaine des jours fériés… ;)
Green by diamond,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment here! Look forward to reading you here often in the future!
Well, I didn’t go around the world TO capture these places, but I actually captured these places because I’ve been around the world… ;))
Lady,
Fully agree with you: nice, neat and well clean. Lovely!!
Susupetal,
It’s so close to you, so the history of both countries has probably mix up at a certain point in time…
Dana,
Coolest? OK, I take it as you put it… ;))
Baron,
They had some glorious times in the past. Actually, if you search deeply, it seems that you’ll always find some glory in every country’s past… ;)
M.Kate,
Hope things will get better for your friend!
This reconstructed castle is actually amazing!!
Rajesh,
Thanks for your kindness and for the much appreciated award. That was lovely!!
I think they had chosen an incredible location for the castle; idyllic!!
Rakesh,
I think they made a wonderful reconstruction; if it actually corresponds to the original, then it would have been a great place in medieval times... ;)
Maria,
I join you on that interest for castles and palaces...
Joy,
Magical! That’s a great word for it!! We were driven there by tourist bus, as everything was already organized; much easier... But I think you would manage either to take an excursion or a bus to get there from Vilnius!!
Lynn,
No doubt!!
Azer,
So, you want it all for yourself; greedy!! ;))
Daniel,
C’est vrai que je me rappelais d’avoir déjà vu quelque chose de similaire; maintenant tu m’as fait voir plus clair: Landskrona!!
Tinsie,
They had chosen a perfect location for the castle!! I’ll check your Athens!!
Indrani,
Oh dear, you’re used to castles and palaces, and actually wonderful ones; but this one is also interesting, though not so impressive as the Rajasthan Forts... ;))
Abe,
Thanks for your visit and comment! You know, I usually make a post per week, sometimes six in a month, as a maximum. So, though every post has 16 to 24 photos, they generally last three weeks before going into the archive... ;)
Ingrid,
It’s true that the weather helped a lot to make the castle a wonderful tourist destination!!
Ash,
The green is nice, but the blue is super!! ;))
Gattina,
It’s just a bit north of Amsterdam or Berlin... ;))
Lucie,
L’idée d’un château «lego» est charmante. Et c’est vrai qu’il est très bien encadré; en plus, pour y aller, il le faut faire à pied où en bateau, ce qui aide au charme… ;)
À l’intérieur, la collection de monnaies et celle des verres sont superbes!!
Second part of the replies, as Blogger has introduced a character limitation on the comments...
Ron,
It seems that game five wasn’t that good for the Penguins; hopefully they will make better tomorrow!!! Otherwise, enjoy castle and lake!! ;)
Dylan,
Obrigado!
Pietro,
I thought the painting deserved a picture on the post as it represents one of the glories of Lithuania’s past…
Lakshmi,
Welcome back! You’re always welcome!! I know you have been busy travelling around and showing destinations to friends and tourists… So, maybe it’s time for you to take a trip just for yourself… ;))
Diane,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment here; glad that you enjoyed the castle!!
Leo,
Great to read you here again! It’s amazing that idea of thirteen as the devil’s dozen… ;)
Alexander,
Castles usually look a bit like this, but the location is actually a superb one; I’m glad that you enjoyed the post!!
Mariposa,
Surreal? You’re too much influenced by your Spanish friends, mostly by a certain Mr. Dali, Salvador of its Christian name… ;))
G@tto,
«If you had a castle» remembered me of «If I had a hammer…», don’t know why... That’s amazing that this song was written by Pete Seeger already in 1949… ;)
Subramanian,
Hopefully they made a decent job in reconstructing the building; but actually it’s hard to know whether they kept it to the original or whether they start inventing. Anyhow, the result seems quite acceptable!!
Anna-Lys,
Great to see you back here; I was missing you for a while… Now, I understand your solidarity and I wouldn’t mind to share with you, but then tell me: why didn’t you lose to us also? ;))
Stuart,
Netherlands beating England in cricket? This world is getting crazy… ;)). But you don’t run the risk of seeing Portugal doing it; I’ve never heard that there is a single team of cricket around here; fortunately, I would add... ;))
Peter,
I’m not sure whether the glassware was original or not; it seems however, that they have kept it there for many years already!!
Lara,
That would have been a great idea; would you please draw them the attention to the posts and make the suggestion… ;))
Paul,
That red roof seems to be brand new; I wonder whether they also had it like that in the past… ;)
Wendy,
Now, you have seen it!! ;)
Betty,
You have seen much world outside here… ;). Thanks! You’re too nice!!
I would have loved to explore that castle. That battle painting was spectacular.
Barb,
The castle had many things to see; and the painting was indeed just one of them...
So, do the modern reconstructions follow any historical precedent, or is this 20th century romantic fantasy? Whatever it is, it's lovely.
Ted,
Hopefully, it followed the pattern of the old images of the building; if not, let's take it as if yes... ;)
It's a fairy tale place, isn't it?
Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Do come back for more of tomorrow and find out where we are going!
joy
A Pinay In England
Your Love Coach
I, Woman
Joy,
You said it rightly!!
Wonderful history and photos. It is good that the castle was restored to be a museum. The glass items were beautiful!
Pat,
Sometimes they have good ideas and bring them to reality...
Wow, a real Castle. I always rared to see one... thanks for sharing the pics of this castle!!!
Kcalpesh,
It has been reconstructed, but it still gives you the feeling of living in medieval times... ;)
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