Trakai is a town in the southeastern Lithuania, 30 kilometers west off Vilnius. It is the center of municipality.
The town is situated in a peninsula, between four lakes - Galve, Luka (or Bernardinai Lake), Totoriškių lake and Gilužis. The old town of Trakai is one of the five old towns in Lithuania, preserved by the government. It is the center of Trakai historical and national park (established in 1992 and covering 82 km²).
People settled in Trakai territory in X century, but the start of the known history of town is year 1375, then the duke Kęstutis moved in Trakai (Sala) castle and Trakai became the political center of LDK (The great dukedom of Lithuania). In the beginning of XV century, Trakai was granted the Magdeburg city rights. In XVIII century city was occupied by Russia, later - by Germany, and then - by Poland.
Today Trakai is a resort and also the historical place. You can find here nice landscape, unique old town, the famous castle and other monuments.
