Trakai is a town situated between three lakes, 28
kilometres to the west of Vilnius. On your way there you travel through
the historic lands of the former Duchy of Trakai, whose centre, Old
Trakai, was the capital of Lithuania in the Middle Ages. Not tar away
(3 km), in the midst of the lakes, an other settlement was founded
which has grown into the present town of Trakai . This town did not
grow much later on: therefore, Trakai today, together with its
environs, is an area strongly representative of the history of the
Lithuanian state. Its three castles point to the exceptional
significance of its place in national life. Even after losing its
military importance, the location long remained the residence of the
rulers of Lithuania . The two castles which have survived to this day
are the most famous works of defensive architectur e in Lithuania . The
process of founding the town and its surrounding settlements in the
13th century went hand in hand with the process of the integration of
the Lithuanian territo ries into a unif ied state. In those days the
newly founded and yet pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania was attacked on a
regular basis by the Teutonic Order, and for two centuries had to
withstand invasions from Christian Europe. Fortresses were built in all the strategically important locati ons nationwide
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