Architectural Photography: Trakai Castle, the iconic landmark of Lithuania

Hey there my Steemit friends and followers!

You might have already noticed that I usually prefer tropical and subtropical locations when traveling but I made a little exception a few years ago when I decided to visit Lithuania, one of the Baltic countries located in Northeastern Europe.

I spent most of my time in Vilnius, the capital city of the country, but I made some trips to other places too. One of those trips took me to the Trakai Castle and I was so impressed by this iconic Lithuanian landmark that I decided to dedicate this post to it.

Located in the southeastern part of Lithuania, some 25 km (16 mi) outside Vilnius, the Trakai Castle is a huge medieval castle built on a little island on the Lake Galve.

With its origins dating back to the 13th century, the Trakai Castle was the main center of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a powerful European country that existed from the 13th century until 1795.

The castle is shrouded in many myths and legends with the most famous one being that the castle was actually built on a woman´s whim. The legend has it that Duke Kestutis´ (founder of the castle) wife Birute was not satisfied with their previous home in the town of Trakai as she found the place “too dry”. Consequently, to make his wife happy, Kestutis decided to build a new, island castle for her on the Lake Galve.

The castle has witnessed a number of important events throughout its long history and it has also undergone a series of reconstructions.

Its majestic appearance and beautiful natural surroundings turned the castle into a popular tourist attraction and one of the most iconic landmarks of Lithuania.

Since 1962, the castle has been home to the renowned Trakai History Museum. It also hosts medieval tournaments, sword shows, concerts, crafts exhibitions and much more.

If you decide to visit Lithuania, make sure to check out this extraordinary place. The castle is really beautiful and very photogenic, even in bad weather.

I took all those photos in April, 2015. This is also my entry for today´s #architecturalphotography contest organized by @juliank and @photocontests.

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Czech / Česky: Dnes jsem jako soutěžní fotky do @photocontests vybral pár snímků legendárního litevského hradu Trakai, který se nachází na malém ostrůvku uprostřed jezera Galve. Hrad byl postaven ve třináctém století za vlády knížete Gediminase, údajně na přání jeho manželky, která chtěla bydlet co nejblíže k vodě :)

Coby milovníka teplých přímořských oblastí mě Litva moc nenadchla, ale musím říct, že tenhle hrad se mi opravdu líbil a věřím, že pro milovníky historie nebo středověké architektury musí být návštěva tohoto místa velkým zážitkem.

Jak vidíte, počasí mi moc nepřálo (přestože byl konec dubna, tak prakticky celou dobu padal sníh, déšť nebo obojí), takže bych pro návštěvu raději doporučil letní měsíce. Z Vilniusu se k hradu dostanete bez problémů autobusem, cesta trvala asi půl hodiny.

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