About Merkine Castle
Merkinė is located at the confluence of the Nemunas and Merkys rivers and has been the strategic and cultural centre of the region for centuries. In the Middle Ages, Merkinė Castle was an integral part of the defence line of the Nemunas in the battles against the Teutonic Knights. The castle itself is mentioned several times in the descriptions of the Crusader roads and in the chronicles of Vygandas. Merkinė Castle played not only an important defensive role. It was also a base for Lithuanian attacks on the Order’s territory and for retreats. Finally, until the Treaty of Melno in 1422, it was one of the main centres of the western periphery of the Lithuanian state. In Jogaila’s 1387 privilege to Skirgaila, Merkinė is referred to as a district castle among the castles of the Duchy of Trakai. In 1391, a document of Jogaila states that without the consent of Skirgaila, who ruled Lithuania at that time, the castles of Vilnius, Grodno, Vitebsk and Merkine would not be given to anyone to rule. This shows the unquestionable importance of Merkinė Castle in the state structure, even in the context of other castles on the Nemunas. Merkinė was frequently visited by the rulers of Lithuania and Poland in the Middle Ages and beyond, as it was also located on one of the main routes from Vilnius to Western Europe.
For the first time, Merkinė is directly associated with Vytautas the Great in the context of the events of 1391, when Vytautas’ forces captured Merkinė Castle during the fighting between Vytautas and Jogaila. Showing his favour to Conrad Valenrod, the Master of the Order, Vytautas sent him the Poles and Ruthenians who had been arrested in Merkinė. Vytautas the Great himself visited Merkine at least six times. In Merkinė Castle itself, Vytautas wrote letters to the Master of the Order and received foreign envoys.
There is not much information on what the castle itself looked like. It was a wooden fortress with two main highlights: the castle, which stood on a mound, and the settlement of the ruler’s soldiers and craftsmen, which was located on the territory of the fortified bailey, bounded by the valleys of the Nemunas, Merkys, and Stangė rivers.
Today, nothing remains of the castle, except for the castle hill, which stands out prominently in the landscape, and a large part of which was destroyed by the waters of the Stangė River at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Nowadays, it is a very popular tourist destination, and the panoramic view of the Nemunas and Merkys rivers from the Merkinė Castle Mound is considered one of the most magnificent pearls of the southern Lithuanian countryside. Today, the Merkines Regional Museum, located in the town’s central square, on the site of the former town hall, offers guided tours of the site and exhibits finds from the castle.
Address of the museum: 1 S. Darius and S. Girėno a., tel. +37061652907