[LITHUANIA] Trakai - Trakai Castle, Hill of Angels & Uzutrakis Palace

17:18 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Trakai is a historic city and lake resort, which is located 28km away from Vilnius. Due to its proximity to Vilnius, most people would opt for a day tour or half day tour to Trakai. I joined a half day tour which took me to Trakai’s best attraction, Trakai Castle, Hill of Angels and Uzutrakis Palace.

After about half an hour drive from Vilnius, I arrived in Trakai.

The first attraction I visited is Trakai Castle. Trakai Castle is sat on a Lake Galve island at the northern end of the town.

Trakai Castle can be reached by crossing two footbridges and one island.

Construction of Trakai Castle began in the 14th century by the then ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kestutis and was completed at the start of 15th century by his son, Vytautas the Great.

The main attraction of Trakai is of course Trakai Castle. As Trakai was one of the main centres of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the castle constructed since the 14th century held great strategic importance.

The opening hours of Trakai Castle. From May till September 10am - 7pm, from November till February 9am - 5pm and for March, April, October 10am – 6pm.

The defensive towers of the castle.

The courtyard of the castle. Trakai Castle is essentially two structures, namely the defensive outer section and the Ducal Palace.

This used to be a moat.

The inner yard of the castle and its wooden stair galleries which ran around the inner walls.

The rooms at the castle now houses the collection of items dug up in the vicinity of the castle.

This is the Great Hall, the largest and most beautiful chamber in the castle. The floor covers a space of 200 m2 and takes up the whole right wing of the castle. Throughout the 15th century, the hall was used to receive foreign guest, as well as to sign important treaties, to hold meetings of the Duke’s Council and for various feast and celebration.

Today the hall is used for various events and celebrations. Musicians like the hall for its good acoustics.

The ceiling of all chambers in the castle were built in the early gothic style with cross-ribbed vaults.

There are 9 chambers in the inner castle where the Grand Dukes lived with their families and hosted guests. Today the walls of the chamber are decorated with 20th century artwork.

Painting of Trakai Peninsular Castle. The Peninsular Castle built by the Grand Duke Kestutis in the mid 14th century covers an area of 4 hectares and had 11 defensive towers. At almost the same time, Grand Duke Kestutis started building the Island Castle. In the second half of the 14th century, crusaders organized 97 war raids into Lithuanian lands. The array of castles at Trakai were the foremost defensive position on the way to Vilnius.

Vytautas the Great on the stained glass window.

Grand Duke Kestutis.

The castle fell into disrepair during the wars in the 17^th century and only in 1905 the commencement of restoring the castle started. By 1961, major portion of the reconstruction was finished.

Exhibition of the various halls in the castle.

A row of souvenir shops at the entrance/exit of Trakai Castle.

Souvenirs made from amber is popular as Lithuania is famous for producing amber.

After visiting the castle, I went to the Hill of Angels.

Created in 2009, the Hill of Angels was created to celebrate the Millennium of Lithuania and also the 600 years of Trakai Church of the Visitation of the Holy Virgin Mary.

It is supported by generous people from around the country who wish to decorate it with monumental wooden sculptures of angels.

Collection of wooden angel sculptures.

Everyone is welcomed to give the Hill a wooden sculpture of angel representing their personal intentions.

In 2015, there are already 35 angels greeting daily visitors.

The Hill of Angels is worth a short stop while visiting Trakai Town.

Next stop, the Uzutrakis Palace.

Built by the Tyszkiewicz family in 1897, Užutrakis Manor is one of the few attractions in Trakai.

A description of the palace.

The palace itself is closed, but the grounds, designed by prominent French landscape gardener Edouard Andre is open.

The statues you see here at the garden are mostly just a recreation as the originals were either stolen or destroyed during the Soviet period.

My son is fascinated by the robotic lawn mower.

The family however lived in this house till 1939, the beginning of World War II. In 1940, the Soviet Union nationalized the house and later became a sanatorium for high ranking KGB officers. In 1995, Užutrakis Manor was entrusted to the Trakai Historical National Park Management.

Užutrakis Manor is situated in a peninsular between Galve and Skaistis lakes. It has a wonderful view of the lake.

You can even see Trakai Castle in a distance.

Not far from the Trakai castle is the Karaim street where the houses have the iconic Karaim three façade windows. Karaimes are a Turkish community which have lived in Trakai since the 14^th century.