Trakai: Encyclopedia II - Trakai - Geography

Trakai - Geography

The town is located 28 km west of Vilnius. There are 200 lakes in the region, of which the deepest (46.7 m) is Galvė with its 21 islands. Galvė covers an area of 3.88 km², Vilkokšnis lake - 3.37 km², the lake of Skaistis - 2.96 km². There are Trakai Historical National Park and Aukštadvaris Regional Park founded in the territory of the region.

Trakai Historical National Park was founded in April 23, 1991 to preserve Trakai as a centre of Lithuanian statehood as well as its authentic nature. It is the only historical national park not only in Lithuania but also throughout Europe. The territory of the park covers 82 km², 34 km² of which are covered by forests, and 130 km² are covered by lakes.

Aukštadvaris Regional Park was founded in 1992 to preserve the valuable landscapes of Verknė and Strėva upper reaches. The area of the park is 153.50 km², most of which is covered by forests. There are 72 lakes here, the biggest of which is Vilkokšnis.

Trakai is a town built on water. The town is surrounded by the lakes of Lukos (Bernardinų), Totoriškių, Galvės, Akmenos, Gilušio. There is a number of architectural, cultural and historical monuments in Trakai. The history museum in the castle has been established in 1962. Different festivals and concerts take place in the island castle in summer.

A partnership agreement was signed with the city of Rheine in Germany in 1996 and Malbork city in Poland in 1997.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Geography", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki