Saturday, May 26, 2018 - Visit Trakai Castle, then travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, Vilnius City Tour

In the morning, we had a long bus ride to Trakai, Lithuania.  We arrived Trakai around noon and had lunch at the Bona Pizzeria by the lake with an amazing view of Trakai Castle.  

Trakai Castle and Lake Galvė

 In front of Trakai Castle and Lake Galvė

This is a castle on an island in Lake Galvė. The construction of the stone castle began in the 14th century by Kęstutis, and around 1409 major works were completed by his son Vytautas the Great. Trakai was one of the main centers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the castle held great strategic importance. This castle was constructed in 3 phases. The first is in the second half of the 14th century, the castle was constructed on the largest of three lake islands for the expansion and strengthening of the Trakai Peninsula Castle.  During the second phase, two wings were added and on the southern side a 6-story donjon was build.  The donjon had movable gates which separated the palace from the forecastle.  The principle construction material was so-called red Gothic bricks.  The third phase in the 15th century, the walls of the forecastle were strengthened to a thickness of 2.5 meters and raised with additional firing galleries along with three major defensive towers on the corners. Our local tour guide showed us the chapel, the inner yard of the palace, and its wooden stair galleries.  

The Chapel

Front View of the Trakai Castle

Then we traveled to Vilnius of Lithuania. In Vilnius, we visited the Old Town, Gediminas Square, Cathedral and St. Anne’s church.

Gate of Dawn

The Church of St Theresa

Vilnius Old Town Square

Vilnius Cathedral and its Bell Tower

Cathedral Square

We stayed in Radission Blu Lietuva.