Trakai Peninsula Castle stands on a peninsula between Lake Galvė and Lake Luka in Trakai, Lithuania. Kęstutis, Duke of Trakai, had it built in the Brick Gothic style around 1350 to 1377. It protected Trakai and Vilnius against the Teutonic Knights. Seven towers were linked by a wall about 10 meters high, and a moat 12 to 14 meters wide separated it from the town.
It was attacked in 1382 and 1383, and again in 1390, during Lithuania's civil wars. After the 1422 Treaty of Melno it lost its defensive role and served as a residence for grand dukes. Sigismund Kęstutaitis was murdered there on March 20, 1440.
The castle was destroyed in the Russo-Polish War of 1654 to 1667 and never rebuilt. The Trakai Historical National Park protects the remains, and the site became a national cultural monument on June 12, 1998.
Comments