Kernavé

Kernavė stands above the Neris valley, where a remarkable group of five hillforts guarded a medieval Lithuanian centre. Below them, in the Pajauta valley, craftsmen and merchants lived and worked beside the river. The place was a seat of Grand Duke Traidenis and is first recorded in 1279, when Livonian knights attacked his lands. Its fortifications and settlements preserve traces of the early Lithuanian state before its conversion to Christianity.

During the civil war of 1389–1392, the Teutonic Knights burned Kernavė and its castle in 1390. The settlement in the valley was not rebuilt in its former form; surviving inhabitants moved to higher ground. Flood deposits and wet peat later covered the abandoned remains, preserving traces of buildings and daily life. Although its political importance faded, Kernavė remained inhabited and appeared on the great map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania published in 1613.