Verkiai Palace
Verkiai Palace | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Verkių rūmai (Lithuanian) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Current façade; Façade of 1904; Knights' Hall
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Verkiai Palace (Lithuanian: Verkių rūmai) is an 18th-century neoclassical mansion in Verkiai, Vilnius, Lithuania.
History
Until the end of the 14th century this place was a property of the
Verkiai Palace became widely known after bishop Ignacy Jakub Massalski took over it in 1780. He hired two famous architects, Marcin Knackfus and Laurynas Gucevičius, to rebuild the palace in the Neoclassical style. The general plan and maintenance buildings were designed by Marcin Knackfus. The main palace building, the stables and several other buildings were designed by Gucevičius. The building was called "the Versailles of Vilnius". The palace had a little theatre, large library, and a small gun museum and was surrounded by a park.
The palace was severely damaged during the
After World War II, the remaining palace buildings were used as educational institutions and an art museum. Since 1960 the ensemble belongs to the Lithuanian Institute of Botany now part of the Nature Research Center. Verkiai Palace complex is an important cultural and historical landmark in Verkiai Regional Park.
References
- ^ (in Lithuanian) Several photographs of Vilnius' constructions of the 1860s
External links
- Description on Heritage.lt (in Lithuanian)
- Verkiai Regional Park
- Institute of Botany