Lithuania
Founded around the same time as Trakai Castle, and also by Grand Duke Vytautas, this 15th-century parish church has a richly decorated baroque altar and a large collection of ecclesiastical art. Its centrepiece is the Trakai Mother of God, a revered image thought to have been donated by Vytautas himself.
Dozens of miracles have been attributed to the icon, though its significance has been eclipsed by the Gate of Dawn shrine in Vilnius.
Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
14.51 MILES
If you only see one museum in Vilnius, make it this one. On a site that has been settled since the 4th century AD stands the latest in a procession of…
14.45 MILES
Stately Vilnius Cathedral, divorced from its freestanding belfry, is a national symbol and the city's most instantly recognisable building. Known in full…
14.41 MILES
Founded in 1579 during the Catholic Counter Reformation, Vilnius University was run by Jesuits for two centuries. During the 19th century it became one of…
13.83 MILES
This former headquarters of the KGB (and before them the Gestapo, Polish occupiers and Tsarist judiciary) houses a museum dedicated to thousands of…
14.42 MILES
Climb the creaky stairs into the free-standing belfry of Vilnius Cathedral, once part of the city's 13th-century defences. Towering 57m high, it's one of…
0.59 MILES
Stepping across the wooden walkway to Trakai's Gothic castle is like tripping into a fairy tale. The castle is estimated to date from around 1400, when…
21.09 MILES
Some 21km north of Vilnius, off the Utena road, is Europos Parkas. Leading contemporary sculptors, including Sol LeWitt and Dennis Oppenheim, show over…
14.41 MILES
Katedros aikštė buzzes with local life. In the 19th century markets and fairs were held here and a moat ran around what is now the square’s perimeter so…
0.17 MILES
This small exhibition space, housed in a former Dominican chapel, displays a range of religious and sacral objects, including altarpieces, crosses,…
2. Orthodox Church of the Nativity
0.19 MILES
A 19th-century Orthodox church partly funded by Tsarina Maria Aleksandrovna.
3. Karaite Ethnographic Museum
0.26 MILES
Displaying traditional dress, arresting photographs and items from daily life, this small ethnographic museum traces the ancestry of the Karaites, a…
0.28 MILES
The peaceful ruins of the Peninsula Castle, built from 1362 to 1382 by the medieval Duke Kęstutis and destroyed in the 17th century, are around 700m south…
0.3 MILES
This well-maintained wooden prayer house, with its interior dome, is a rare surviving example of Karaite architecture. Arrange a visit at the Karaite…
6. Trakai Historical National Park
0.42 MILES
Lithuania's smallest national park at 82 sq km, this reserve encompasses Trakai's historic monuments, lakes and forests.
0.59 MILES
Stepping across the wooden walkway to Trakai's Gothic castle is like tripping into a fairy tale. The castle is estimated to date from around 1400, when…