In 1997 the Karaim community in Lithuania celebrated the six-hundredth anniversary of its presence in the Baltic area. This last, relatively intact Karaim community, the smallest of Lithuania's minorities, has lived geographically isolated from the other members of the great Turkic language family, surrounded by speakers of Slavic and Baltic languages. They still speak their own language, retain their belief in the Old Testament and maintain their customs, showing an unrivalled perseverance.
Their home is situated on a picturesque peninsula in Trakai (Polish Troki), a little town in the middle of a marvellous water-landscape of more than ten lakes located about thirty kilometres from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. This is Lithuania's 'historic national park'.
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This CD project will centre on a tour of the interesting sites in the street that runs through the middle of the peninsula where the Karaims have had their home for the last six hundred years. Although the Karaim community has dwindled since 1945 when their religion was forbidden, and many began moving to other places, it is still centred on this very street.
This coat of arms is the symbol that represents the Karaim community. It will be used as the logo of this CD.
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The Karaim community |
The Karaim language | Participants |