Trakai

As much as Trakai is an island town surrounded by the lakes – its lakeland is said to comprise around 30 bodies of water – this beautiful town is equally immersed in myths and legends tied to its nature, history, and culture. One of the most enduring legends of Lake Galvė, renowned for both its stunning beauty and striking depth (47 metres), claims that it ‘does not freeze over until a human sacrifice is made’. Such stories, without doubt, form layered identities of the town-dwellers’ multicultural communities.

[…] It was a very cold winter. There was a lot of snow, and the lakes froze over. And in the spring, when the sun warmed that snow, the snow began to melt, the ice began to melt, and the water in the lakes rose and rose and rose – and flooded the Karaim homes. And so there was a flood in Karaimschizna. The men were at war. The women, with the children, and the elderly swam to [the Grand Duke]Vytautas to ask for help. Vytautas harnessed his horse and rode to the Karaim settlement. And indeed, he saw that all of Karaimschizna was flooded – only the chimneys were visible. And at that moment, the horse began to drink the water – gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp – the water receded, receded, receded, and the houses appeared. And Vytautas, apparently, rode on past Rėkalnė, the horse relieved itself, and a new lake appeared near Trakai. And he saved, apparently, those people from the flood.
This… – Akmena lake.¹

A year older than Vilnius, Trakai was founded around 1322, when the Grand Duke Gediminas moved the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from Kernavė to the what was described as a  ‘place five miles away, beyond the Neris river, where within the woods he found a scenic hill surrounded by oak groves and plains; he liked it there, settled there, founded the town and gave it a name Trakai.’(today known as Old Trakai).² Around the turn of the century, although the capital had already moved to Vilnius, Trakai became an important administrative and political place within the Grand Duchy. During the reign of Duke Vytautas (1392–1430), Trakai island Castle was built, and, after his Crimean campaign, he brought the Tatar and Karaim communities to the town, granted the town the right of self–government, and often stayed there himself. Today, while the Trakai island Castle remains the most iconic and picturesque landmark, it is surrounded not only by the ripples of water but also by the ripples of words – memories preserved in local dialects shaped by a blend of Slavic and Lithuanian influences. 

Over the turbulent past century, the town has undergone immense cultural and urban transformation. As Dr Lina Liparskienė notes, ‘during the German occupation, the town’s Jewish community was destroyed; after the war, 45 people of Polish nationality were repatriated, the town’s appearance changed – some wooden buildings were demolished, hills were leveled, the southern part of the town was built up with high-rise buildings, and new residents – people of Lithuanian, Russian, and Polish descent – moved into the town.’³ At the same time, Leparskienė highlights the enduring importance of openness, connection, and visibility for the people of Trakai, all reflected in a simple scene of people gathering on a bench: ‘During the interview, A. B.’s observation that Trakai is a beautiful and beloved place was echoed by the other women of various nationalities sitting on the bench – a Russian Old Believer, a Polish woman, a Belarusian woman, and a Lithuanian woman. They all live in high-rise buildings and often gather to sit outside. This moment in the study was significant because it showed that even in the southern part of the city, which symbolizes the changes of the 20th century, a culture of social interaction can flourish just as it does in “wooden Trakai.” The bench was also important for fostering mutual relationships. Whether it’s next to a private home or a high-rise, such a place brings people together and teaches them sensitivity toward one another.’⁴

The everyday life of the town, often marked by a gentle sense of boredom, exists alongside its myths, natural landscape, unique cultural character, the glimmers of art and heritage: the revered image of the Trakai Mother of God at the Basilica, the Karaim Kenesa, the Island of Karvinė, Karaimka, or Kopūstinė, the waterfalls of the Vilsa Stream, and countless other known – and yet to be discovered – sites.

I used to hear people say, ‘If you have a lot of money, buy things that won’t fade or wear out, and keep them safe.’ That’s exactly what those who easily amassed great wealth did. And, fearing for those treasures, they would secretly hide them from prying eyes. These treasures are called ‘chazna’. The Karaites of Trakai tell an old tale about such a treasure. It tells of an iron chest, sunk more than half a millennium ago at the bottom of Lake Galvė in the town of Trakai, filled with precious stones, gold, silver, brass, amber objects, a vast amount of money, rings, earrings, brooches, and other treasures. On bright moonlit nights, the iron treasure chest rises to the surface of the water, but before dawn breaks, it sinks back to the bottom.

Not just fishermen, but anyone hoping to strike it rich, would struggle with that chest, trying to drag it ashore. But the chest would turn over, its terrible weight pulling in the nets and ropes, breaking the oars, and, swaying gently, it would sink back to where it had been. The lake’s surface would ripple, then swell in waves – as the chest touched the muddy bottom of the lake’s depths.

After such nights, the men would tell stories, claiming that the chest was chained to the rocks at the bottom with iron chains, sealed with the seals of the ancient Lithuanian state, and that priests had consecrated it, guarded by the beautiful mermaids.

That iron chest still rises to the surface from time to time, only to sink back into the depths of the water, and no one is able to pull it ashore.⁵

1. Michailas Zajančkovskis, 86, Trakai. Recorded and transcribed by Lina  Sokolovaitė in 2008. LTRF CD 1312. ↩︎
2. From the Bychowiec Chronicle (c. 1519–1525). ↩︎
3. Lina Leparskienė, ‘Trakų erdvė gyventojų pasakojimuose: pasaulis už miesto vartų’, Liaudies kultūra, no. 6 (2014): 51–52. ↩︎
4. Lina Leparskienė, ‘Trakiečiai. Vietinių liudijimai apie Trakų miesto ir bendruomenės kaitą XX a.’, Liaudies kultūra, no. 6 (2017): 52. ↩︎
5. Trakai Karaim legends, manuscript. Compiled and transcribed by Simonas Firkovičius in 1992. Held in the Local History Department, Trakai District Public Library. ↩︎