Description of the attraction
Kaunas Castle is an ancient stone castle in Lithuania. The first mention of the castle can be found in the historical written document of Wiegand von Marburg "Chronicle of the Prussian Land" in 1361. Currently, the castle is located on the territory of the Old Town. Only a third of the castle with two towers has survived to this day.
The first stone castle appeared in the XIV century and was located in a strategically important place - the confluence of the Neman and Neris rivers. In plan, it was a building of an irregular rectangular shape in the Gothic style, with a huge courtyard, two rows of defensive walls and a moat. The walls were 2 meters thick and 13 meters high. It was the first defensive castle in Lithuania, which defended the city from attacks and attacks of the Teutonic Knights for over a century. The castle was the main part of the city's defensive system. However, after a three-week siege in 1362, the crusaders managed to capture and destroy it.
After 6 years, a new one was built on the site of the old castle. The second lock was adapted to protect against gunpowder weapons. Its courtyard was surrounded by single-row defensive walls from 2, 2 to 3, 5 meters thick and 9, 5 meters high. Towers were placed in all four corners of the fortress, and a wide moat passed around.
The first castle, made of stone, was surrounded by a wall built of individual bricks and street stones. The masonry device, when the front part of the wall is made of stones, and the inner area is filled with small pebbles, is called armor. All Lithuanian fencing castles of that time were of this type. Fragments of an ancient building have been preserved in the castle to this day, and the modern castle has been reproduced according to the scheme of the second enclosure castle.
This is the only Lithuanian castle of this type. It was around him at that distant time that a settlement arose, which later turned into a modern city.
Until the beginning of the 15th century, the castle was in ruins. Neither the Lithuanians nor the Germans managed to gain a foothold on its territory. In the middle of the 15th century, the city near the fortress was transformed into a major trade center. Trade offices of Sweden, England, Venice and Holland were located here.
By the middle of the 16th century, the castle was improved. A low semicircular bastion was erected near the southwestern circular tower, which served for cannons. The system of loopholes was modernized in the walls, a tunnel was arranged connecting the tower with the bastion.
In the first half of the 17th century, the Neris River washed away the northern wall of Kaunas Castle. In 1611, one tower collapsed, and in the 30s of the 17th century, the entire northern part of the castle was destroyed by the river.
Only the ruins of a part of the walls and two towers have survived to this day, in one of which a castle museum was opened in 1967, where visitors can get acquainted with its history. Theatrical performances are organized on the territory of Kaunas Castle every year. Bonfires are lit all around, knights on horseback appear and the action begins to unfold. Also, every year, at the foot of Kaunas Castle, the Operetta Festival is held, initiated by the local Musical Theater.
