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Trakai Island Castle (Lithuanian: Trakų salos pilis) is an island castle located in Trakai, Lithuania on an island in Lake Galvė. The castle is sometimes referred to as "Little Marienburg". The construction of the stone castle was begun in the 14th century by Kęstutis, and around 1409 major works were completed by his son Vytautas the Great, who died in this castle in 1430. Trakai was one of the main centres of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the castle held great strategic importance.Trakai Island Castle was built in several phases. During the first phase, in the second half of the 14th century, the castle was constructed on the largest of three lake islands by the order of Grand Duke Kęstutis. The construction of Trakai Island Castle was related to the expansion and strengthening of the Trakai Peninsula Castle. Kęstutis moved his main residence and his treasury to the Island Castle.
The castle suffered major devastation during an attack by the Teutonic Knights in 1377. After the assassination of Kęstutis, a power struggle between Jogaila and Vytautas the Great for the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania began. The castle was besieged by both sides. Soon after the reconciliation between Jogaila and Vytautas, the second phase of construction started and continued until 1409. This phase is regarded as the major development in the history of the castle. Apparently, during the truce with the Teutonic Order, the construction works were supervised by the Order's stonemason Radike, four years before the Battle of Grunwald.
The Trakai Castle, Lithuania's most photographed castle was the heart of the Grand Duchy until 1323, when Grand Duke Gediminas moved the capital to Vilnius. The five-storey, red-brick fortifications were constructed by Vytautas.
Lithuanian Special Forces undergo timed range evaluations during a bilateral exercise with U.S. Special Forces, held in Kaunas, Lithuania, March 10, 2022.
A Lithuanian Special Forces member rapidly fires during a timed range evaluation as part of a bilateral exercise with U.S. Special Forces, held in Kaunas, Lithuania, March 10, 2022.
These joint range day evaluations are used to exchange tactics, enhance mission readiness and maintain advanced combat marksmanship skills while promoting a strong partnership with allied forces.
U.S. Army photo by Spc. Alisha Grezlik
The bronze sculpture “Tower” (Lithuanian: Bokštas) by Algirdas Bosas was erected in 1990, in the still-empty site of a house that burned down during World War II. The sculpture was the winner of a government competition to find a focal point for the site. was cast from a non-patina bronze, so as time goes on, the sculpture will get more detailed.
Bokštas represents a house in which various epochs of Klaipėda’s history and people live on in art, along with various architectural styles of the city. The figures symbolise different aspects of the urban story: time, for example, is pictured as a gnawing dragon.
The sculpture also incorporates many names and dates significant to the sculptor’s life and work.