Day 3: Trakai Castle

Another cloudless sky greeted us as we left the hotel in taxis to the bus station. There we got a local bus to Trakai, 28km from Vilnius. The town of Trakai is famous for its castle which stands on an island in the middle of Lake Gaive. There are three different lakes here and it was once an important military and political centre. Today it is a tourist destination not just for the castle but also the water sports available on the lakes.

The restored red bricked Gothic castle dates from around the early 15th century when the Grand Duke Vytautus needed a stronger defence. A footbridge links it to the mainland.

There is a moat surrounding the castle separates the outer wall from the inner castle adding another layer of defence.

The outer courtyard.

From the inner courtyard you can see a range of galleries and rooms.

Items found by archeologists were on display in the rooms including these colourful fireplace tiles.

Lithuanian silver coinage from the 13th-14th cent.

Inside the chapel

Once we had finished our tour of the castle we gathered outside for our first group photo.

Then back over the bridge to have lunch by the lake.

This is a traditional cake which we all shared after lunch. It tasted like a sweet sponge/biscuit.

On our walk back to the bus station we passed this large column in the middle of a roundabout. This used to be the market square and records from 1622 mention a similar statue. This one was built in the mid 19th century and a statue of St John Nepomuk was placed on the column. Around 1960 the statue of St John was removed and tossed into the lake by the Soviet authorities. The following year the statue was found by the Trakai Museum and put into storage. When Lithuania became independent in 1990 the statue was restored and returned to the column.

Back in Vilnius M and I split from the rest of the group as we  had already seen the section of the town where the group were headed. We had a couple of places we still wanted to see before leaving Vilnius the next morning.  On our way to the Old Town we passed the Choral Synagogue. Before WW2 there was a large Jewish community and  more than 100 synagogues in Vilnius. Now there is only one synagogue left which was built in 1903, known as the choral synagogue.

We were looking for the Frank Zappa monument which M wanted to see. We found it quite easily despite my leaving the map in the toilets at the bus station so I had to pay another 50c entry charge before I could retrieve the map. An expensive toilet visit! The surprising thing about this statue is that Frank Zappa never went to Lithuania and had absolutely no  connection to the country. However, to the youth of the country he became an icon of their new found freedom. Zappa's Lithuanian fan club finally persuaded the government to erect a statue in his honour stating him vaguely having Jewish features as reason enough.

The bust along with the mural were unveiled in 1995 to the sound of the Vilnius military band performing various Zappa songs.

We then went on to Gedimas Castle Tower. This is where Vilnius Upper Castle once stood but now is an important reminder of the struggle for independence encountered by Lithuania over the years.

The Red Army entered Lithuania at the end of 1918 and removed the Lithuania flag leaving their own one flying. The second time the Lithuanian flag was raised was when the Lithuanian Army returned to Vilnius in August 1920. But the flag was once again removed, this time by the Polish Army who occupied Vilnius in the October of 1920. It was flown again over the Tower in October 1939  when Vilnius was returned to Lithuania but this was short lived when the country was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union. Members of the Lithuanian Battle Unit raised the flag again in April 1944 but it was removed for a long time by the Soviets. The Lithuanian flag flying today was raised on 7th October 1988 and has been flying ever since.

The walk up to the tower is awful as it is over very uneven cobbles. M decided to wait below in Cathedral  Square. But my climb was rewarded with terrific views over the city.

The  hill of the three crosses crosses. The monument was rebuilt in 1989 after the original crosses were demolished in 1950 by the Soviets.

Good views of the modern city and its skyscrapers

Once back down we went in search of an ice cream.  Three nuns also had the same idea.














It was now  time to return to the hotel to pack as we had an early start the next day.