Description of the attraction
The Verkiai district is located seven kilometers from the center of Vilnius and has long been a part of it. Until the 14th century, this area belonged to the Lithuanian grand dukes. Since then, its current name has been preserved. It is associated with an old local legend. They say that once the Lithuanian prince Gedemin, while hunting in the forest, heard a child crying. Looking closer, he saw a crying baby in the stork's nest, and, naturally, took him to him. The child was named Lizdeyka, which means a nest in Lithuanian. But the place where the prince found the child began to be called Verkiai - from the Lithuanian word “värkti”, that is, to cry.
In the Vilnius Regional Park Verkiai, there is an architectural and historical monument of the 17th century, the Verkiai Palace. The palace has a very interesting history. In 1387, the Catholic bishop received the village of Verkiai as a gift from the Polish king Vladislav II Jagailo. Soon a wooden palace was built here, around which a park was arranged. The summer residence of the bishop settled in the palace.
In 1658, during the battle of the Polish army, led by hetman V. Gonsevsky, with the Russian army led by Y. Dolgoruky, the palace was badly damaged, and gradually began to collapse. In 1700, a baroque stone palace was built on the site of a former wooden palace. A few years later, in 1705, Peter I was received at the palace.
In 1779, the palace became the private property of the Vilnius Bishop Ignatius Masalski. In 1780, the bishop decided to carry out a major overhaul of the palace. Initially, the reconstruction was carried out by the architect M. Knackfus.
A year later, the construction was entrusted to the architect L. Stuoka-Gucevičius. He radically changed the original plan, and began to build a palace in the style of classicism. Work continued until 1792. But they were never fully completed. Political instability began in the country. Soon the bishop presented the Verkiai Palace to Elena Masalska, his niece. She, in turn, sold it to Marshal S. Yasensky. Due to financial insufficiency, the marshal also did not finish construction. In 1812, the presence of Napoleonic troops in the region made a negative contribution to the difficult fate of the Verkiai Palace. In 1840, the palace was acquired by the Russian Field Marshal P. Wittgenstein, who was able to complete the construction.
The palace complex had a horseshoe shape. Three buildings were built around an oval basin, decorated with a fountain. The central structure of the palace was two-story, decorated with a portico with six Ionic columns, as well as pilasters of the same order. On the pediment of the main portico were reliefs depicting rural work. The front façade windows were decorated with sandriks and trims. The road leading to the main entrance was winding and gracefully skirted the fountain platform. The ensemble looked especially picturesque from a distance: the lush vegetation of the park, located on a hill, gave the buildings an appearance of reliability and comfort.
The palace in Verkiai was then, and remains to this day, a monumental structure: the length of the central building is 85 meters, and the width is 10 meters. In the very center of the main building there is a spacious ceremonial hall overlooking the garden. This room was intended for theatrical performances. It was assumed that the performances would be attended by guests from different places, therefore, living rooms were located on both sides of the hall. The hall was decorated with niches for sculptures located on four sides, symmetrically. Above the roof of the palace, in the area of the central hall, a copper, ellipsoidal dome was installed. On the surface of the ceiling of the main vestibule there was a painting of the 19th century by G. Becker "Cupid and Psyche", which is now completely restored.
After World War II, the Soviet government nationalized the Verkiai Palace and transferred it to the Academy of Sciences of the Lithuanian SSR. Today the building of the Verkiai Palace is occupied by the Institute of Botany at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
