District Verkiai 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 Duke. It has since been preserved and its present name. It is associated with an ancient local legend. They say that once the Lithuanian prince Gedemin, while hunting in the forest, he heard a child crying. Looking closer, he saw a stork in a nest crying baby, and, of course, took him to her. The child was named Lizdeika, which in Lithuanian means nest. But the place where the prince found the child was called Verkiai - from the Lithuanian word "vyarkti", that is to cry.

In Vilnius Verkiai regional park is an architectural and historical monument of the 17th century Verkiai Palace. The palace has a very interesting history. In 1387, a Catholic bishop has received a gift from the Polish King Vladislav II Jagiello village Verkiai. In a short time there was built a wooden palace, around which was equipped park. The palace settled summer residence of the bishop.

In 1658, during the battle of the Polish troops led by Hetman B. Gosiewski, with the Russian army under the leadership of Yu.Dolgorukogo, the palace was badly damaged, and gradually began to deteriorate. In 1700 on the site of a former wooden palace was built a stone palace in the baroque style. A few years later, in 1705, took the palace of Peter I.

In 1779, the palace became the private property of the Vilnius Bishop Ignatius Masalsky. 1780 Bishop decided to make a capital restructuring of the palace. Originally engaged in the reconstruction of the architect M.Knakfus.

A year later, the building was entrusted to architect L. Stuoka-Gucevičius. It changed radically the original plan, and began to build a palace in the classical style. The work continued until 1792. But they nebyli fully completed. The country has started political instability. Soon, the bishop gave Verkiai Palace Masalskoe Elena, his niece. She, in turn, sold it to Marshal S.Yasenskomu. Because of financial failure, too, Marshall did not finish the construction. In 1812, the presence of Napoleonic troops in the region has brought a negative contribution to the difficult fate of Verkiai Palace. In 1840 the building was purchased by Russian General Field Marshal P.Vitgenshteynom who managed to complete the construction.

The palace complex has a horseshoe-shaped appearance. Around the oval pool adorned with a fountain, it was built three buildings. The central building of the palace was a two-story portico decorated with six Ionic columns and pilasters of the same order. On the pediment of the main portico were reliefs depicting rural work. The windows of the front facade was decorated with pediments and frames. Leading to the main entrance road was winding and delicately skirted the fountain area. The ensemble looked particularly picturesque from a distance: the lush vegetation of the park, located on a hill, the buildings gave kind of reliability and comfort.

Verkiai Palace was then, and remains today, a monumental structure: the length of the main building is 85 meters, width - 10 meters. In the heart of the main building there is a spacious front room overlooking the garden. This room is intended for theatrical performances. It was assumed that representations will be attended by guests from different places, so both sides of the hall were located living rooms. The hall was decorated with niches for statues, located on four sides symmetrically. Above the roof of the palace, in the center of the hall was a copper, ellipsoidal dome. On the ceiling of the main lobby was a 19th-century painting brush G.Bekkera "Cupid and Psyche", which is now fully restored.

After World War II the Soviet government nationalized the Verkiai Palace, and transmits it to the jurisdiction of the Academy of Sciences of the Lithuanian SSR. Today the building Verkiai Palace is the Institute of Botany at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.