Trakai: Encyclopedia II - Trakai - History

Trakai - History

The first settlements in this area appeared at least in 1 millennium A.D. The town as well as its surroundings started developing in the 13th century as The Grand Duchy of Lithuania centre. According to cronicles, Grand Duke Gediminas after a successful hunt found a beautiful place not far from the then capital Kernave and decided to build a castle here. That is how a new castle was built in Senieji Trakai which at that time was called Trakai. The town of Trakai was first mentioned in German chronicles in 1337, which is regarded to be the official date of its foundation. When Grand Duke Gediminas finally settled in Vilnius, Senieji Trakai was inherited by his son the Duke Kęstutis. This is the birthplace of the most famous ruler of Lithuania - Vytautas the Great.

During the reign of Kęstutis Naujieji Trakai was a place of intensive construction: one castle was built in the strait between lakes Galvė and Lukos, another one - on an island in lake Galve. A village grew around the castle. The approaches of Trakai were protected by Senieji Trakai (Old Trakai), Strėva, Bražuolė, Daniliškės and other mounds.

Both wooden castles were successfully raided by the Teutonic Knights several times in a row. During the conflict between Grand Duke Jogaila (later to become Wladislaus II of Poland) with Kestutis, the castles were captured by the earlier in 1382. Kestutis lost his life and Jogaila gave the castles to his brother, Skirgaila, who became a governor of Lithuania Proper. However, his rule here did not last long since the castles were again captured the following year by joint forces of Kestutis' son Vytautas and the Teutonic Knights. Jogaila retook the castle soon afterwards. On August 7, 1392, after the cease fire between Jogaila and Vytautas, the castle was finally granted to the latter, who became the Grand Duke of Lithuania and Jogaila's governor. Despite his capital being Vilnius, Vytautas spent more time in Trakai. In early 15th century he replaced the older, wooden fortress with a stone-built castle.

When Vytautas became the vassal ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Trakai became a political and an administrative centre of the Duchy. Construction of the castles was finished and a catholic church was built. In 1409 the town was granted with Magdeburg Rights, as one of the first settlements in Lithuania. This sparked the prosperity and the village started to rapidly develop into a town. In 1413 it became a seat of the Trakai Voivodship and a notable centre of administration and commerce. The distinctive feature of Trakai is that the town was built and preserved by people of different nationalities. Communities of Karaims, Tatars, Lithuanians, Russians, Jews and Poles lived here side by side. Karaims (or Karaites) are a small turkic-speaking religious and ethnic group resettled there by Grand Duke Vytautas in 1397 and 1398 from Crimea to guard the castle, after one of his successful military campaigns against the Golden Horde. Both Christian and Karaim communities were granted separate self-government in accordance with the Magdeburg Rights.

After Grand Duchy of Lithuania was incorporated into Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the castles remained a royal property, but the town's importance gradually declined, with the nearby Vilnius and the political centre of the Commonwealth in Kraków being far more important. Nevertheless, it continued to be the seat of local Sejmik. In Polish sources the town name was started to be referred to as Troki. In 1477 the castle on the lake was a meeting place of king Kazimierz Jagiellończyk (called Kazimieras Jogailaitis by Lithuanians) with a Venetian envoys. After that the castle became sort of a luxurious prison for political prisoners. Sigismund I the Old imprisoned there the members of Gasztołd family, believed to be pacting with treacherous Michał Gliński. Also Helena, widow of Alexander of Poland was kept there in order to prevent her escape to Muscovy. The castle was refurbished by king Sigismund I of Poland, who set up his summer residence there. However, after his death in 1548 the castle gradually fell into dismay.

With the Commonwealth formation, a polonisation process has begun. Despite polonisation, Trakai remained a notable centre of Karaims cultural and religious life. Some famous scholars were active in Trakai in the 16th and 17th centuries, such as Isaac ben Abraham of Trakai (1533? - 1594?), Joseph ben Mordecai Malinovski, Zera ben Nathan of Trakai, Salomon ben Aharon of Trakai, Ezra ben Nissan (died in 1666) and Josiah ben Judah (died after 1658). Some of the Karaims became wealthy and noble.

The local Karaim community, being the backbone of town's economy, suffered severely during the Chmielnicki Uprising and the massacres of 1648 and the wars between Russia and Poland between 1654 and ­1667, when the town was plundered and burnt. In the effect of the war with Muscovy in 1655, both castles were demolished and the town's prosperity finally collapsed. The castle ruins remained a historical landmark. By 1680 only 30 Karaime families were left in the town. Their traditions, including not accepting neofites, prevented the community from recuperating its strength. The town was left in ruins again early in the 18th century (1702?), by the wars of Karl XII of Sweden, and by the ensuing famine and plague, and only 3 Karaim families were left. By 1765 only 300 Karaims lived in Trakai.

After the Partitions of Poland in 1795, the area was annexed by Imperial Russia. In 1915, during the World War I, the area was captured by Germany. After the war, the town became a part of newly-reborn Poland. The works in the Upper castle were almost complete in 1939, when the Polish Defensive War started and the area was soon annexed by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. During the war, more than 5000 Jews from the Trakai region were killed by the Nazi. In 1944, during the Operation Tempest, the town was liberated by joint forces of the Polish Home Army and Soviet partisans. After the World War II it was again annexed by the Soviets.

In 1905 a decision was made to partially restore the castle ruins by Imperial Russia authorities. However, the works went slowly and came to a halt after the outbreak of World War I. In 1929 Stanisław Lorentz ordered the reconstruction of the castle. The works in the Upper castle were almost complete in 1939, but the World War II started. In 1961 the reconstruction of the upper castle and a high tower construction have been accomplished. Then the works came to a halt in the effect of Nikita Khrushchev's speech of December 21, 1960. The Soviet First Secretary decided that reconstruction of the castle would be a sign of glorification of Lithuania's feudal past and the works in the lower castle were not restarted until 1980's. The works were completed by Lithuanian authorities in early 1990's.

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