Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

LITHUANIA 57

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

30 km (19 miles) W of Vilnius.

c from Vilnius. £ from Vilnius.

n Vytauto gatvė 69, (528)

51 934. Žalgiris Yacht Club

Žemaitės gatvė 3. Tel (528) 52

824. History Museum
     Tel (528) 53 946. # May–Sep:
     10am–7pm Tue–Sun; Oct–Apr:
     10am–5pm Tue–Sun. &
     http://www.trakaimuziejus.lt
     . History Museum
     This museum showcases a wide array
     of weaponry as well as items found
     during excavations, including
     16th-century tankards, tiles and coins.

THE KARAIM OF TRAKAI

A community of Turkic settlers practising a particular kind of
Judaism, the Karaim, lend a distinctly exotic flavour to Trakai.
Their ancestors were taken prisoners by Vytautas the Great
when on a military venture to the Crimea in 1397, and they
subsequently served as royal guards. The Karaim have main-
tained their customs and traditions. Their characteristic wooden
houses, each typically with gable ends and three win dows
facing the street, their synagogue, or Kenesa, and the Karaim
Museum are all on Karaimų gatvė, at Trakai’s northern end.
Their cemetery lies beside Lake Totoriskiai close to Lake Galvė.

Lake Galvė

This lake serves as

a moat around the

castle. Rowing

boats and paddle

boats can be hired

along the quayside

on the Lithuanian

mainland for a

spectacular view

of the castle.

Graves in the Karaim Cemetery,

partially hidden by long grass

The Ducal Palace’s

keep, which is 30 m

(100 ft) high, served

as the resi dence of

the grand duke.

Dry moat