Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Trakai Island Castle, Lithuania

Trakai Island Castle, located in Lake Gavle 28 km west of Vilnius, was once the capital a residence of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and is the only water castle in Eastern Europe. It contains a Ducal Palace with a chapel on top that marks the highest point of the castle and a defensive castle separated from the palace by a moat. It was destroyed in the mid 17th century war with Moscow and left to ruins until it was conserved in 1926 and reconstruction began after World War II.

The barracks for the soldiers, part of the defensive castle.

The interior court yard of the Ducal Palace.

Because of the hundreds of years of neglect, the original furnishing are lost. However, replicas of some items, like the seats of the Grand Duke and Duchess of Lithuania, have been placed throughout the palace.

The moat that once protected the Ducal Palace now contains a walking path.

1 comment:

  1. Liked the chairs even though they aren't the originals. Castles were designed to protect and this one depicts that notion.

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