Trakai Island Castle

Trakai Island Castle was built on an island in Lake Galve to use the water as a natural defense. Construction began in the 14th century under Grand Duke Kestutis and was completed around 1409 under Vytautas the Great.

Vytautas the Great made Trakai one of the key centers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He completed major work on the island castle and died there in 1430.

The castle is medieval in origin, but much of what visitors see today was restored in the 20th century. Major reconstruction work took place in the 1950s and 1960s, and the site now houses the Trakai History Museum.

Its red-brick Gothic walls sit on an island rather than a hill or town center. The setting on Lake Galve, near Vilnius, makes it one of Lithuania's most photographed historic sites.