Gediminas Castle
The name of this historical monument itself sounds straight out of a storybook. This castle was built in the city of Vilnius, named after the river of Vilnia in the year 1230. The castles of Lithuania are mesmerizing and stand as ancient and powerful apostles of history. Gediminas castle tower is the only part of the castle that is actually functional. There is a hypothesis that among the Castles of Lithuania, the ones in the city of Vilnius were very famous. There were three such castles in the city at that point in time and these are the upper castle and the lower castle were based on the Gediminas Hill and the third one called the crooked castle was present on what was known as the Hill of the three crosses.
The cultural heritage of Lithuania is rich and you get a good glimpse of this when you see the various castles in Vilnius. Vilnius sightseeing gives you more than a sneak peek of the history and culture in those centuries. The Gediminas Hill can be climbed on foot. The tower holds a great deal of cultural and historical importance in the cultural heritage of Lithuania and this can be clearly sent through its inclusion in a lot of folklore, poems and even the currency of Lithuania called litas.
The construction of the Gediminas castle ties in pretty strongly with the formation of the city of Vilnius. Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas is said to have dreamt of a wolf made of iron that howled like a hundred brought together. The priest the interpreted it to be a prophecy and told him to build a castle that would make the city prosperous and impenetrable by enemies. The Gediminas castle was then built and its construction had such a great impact on the city of Vilnius that Vilnius was declared to be the capital city instead of Trakai that held this privilege till then.
Major part Vilnius sightseeing includes visits to a lot of these amazing buildings and castles and their associated towers. This transports you to a truly different era altogether.
View from Gediminas tower
