Tourist Route “Romantic Užutrakis”

The magnificent ensemble at the historic Užutrakis Palace and Park was founded by Count Juozapas Tiškevičius and his wife Jadvyga at the beginning of the 20^th century. Tiškevičius was inspired by Trakai’s unique landscape and how the manor was created by maximizing the opportunities provided by the area.

The palace was designed by Polish architect Juzef Hus and features Louis XVI style décor in the impressive interiors. The finishing touch is a terrace crowned with open pavilions, opening up fabulous views of Trakai Castle.

Renowned French landscape architect Édouard François André planned the park, creating  a mixed-style park decorated with replicas of antique sculptures and plenty of plants. Today, almost a hundred species of trees and shrubs of various shapes still grow – with more than half of them planted at the time the park was first created.

Today, we reach the manor by a land road, but back then, the count’s family did not use the road –instead, they reached the peninsula by raft across the isthmus of the Galvė and Skaistis lakes, near the ferryman’s home. At that time, the land road was only used for farm purposes and was therefore called the Potato Road. Tiškevičiai regularly hosted receptions, family meetings or friendly feasts and guests did not travel that road either. During these social events, music was played, and guests enjoyed a home-grown feast, eating roasted pheasant fresh from the farm, accompanied by the plentiful French cheeses produced in the manor, and drinks produced in the distillery!

As you explore the openwork flower gardens and the lively labyrinth of paths, and the many antique sculptures, you will have a sense of the former grandeur of the estate. These guardians of the park will reveal stories not only about themselves, but also about the past of the Užutrakis manor homestead.

For the description of the route, the texts are taken from the listed sources:
Lietuvos dvarai (Lithuanian Mansions), D. Kandrotienė, V. Kandrotas, Terra Publika, 2011.
Lietuvos dvarai ir pilys (Lithuanian Mansions and Castles), I. Veliūtė, V. Kandrotas, Terra Publica, 2014.
Lietuvos dvarai (Lithuanian Mansions), G. Abaravičius, M. Baužienė, Šviesa, 2009.
Tiškevičių Užutrakis ir Pogoželė (Tiškevičiai Užutrakis and Pogoželė), L. Narkowicz, Vilnius, 2016.
Ordynacja Tyszkiewiczowska w Zatroczu, L. Narkowicz, Warszawa, 2007.
Eduardo Fransua Andre parkų kelias Lietuvoje, Trakų istorinio nacionalinio parko direkcija (Eduard Fransua Andre Park Road in Lithuania, Directorate of Trakai Historical National Park), 2011.
www.didikulietuva.lt