Verkiai is the former summer residence of the bishops of Vilnius, situated picturesquely on the banks of the Neris River, on land granted in 1387 by Ladislaus Jagiello. Originally, a wooden manor house stood here, hosting, among others, Vladislav IV and Peter the Great. The name "Verki", according to legend, comes from the Old Lithuanian word "verkti" - to cry, and is related to the story of a child left in a nest by a high priest.

In the 18th century, Bishop Konstantin Brzozowski built a new brick palace, which over time fell into disrepair. The new residence was initially designed by Marcin Knackfus, but was eventually built according to the plans of Wawrzyniec Gucewicz. The design included a main body with a portico supported by Ionic columns and two outbuildings. Reliefs of farm work and a scene of Tommaso Righi's Cincinnatus decorated the facades.

The palace was never completed during the lifetime of Bishop Ignatius Massalski, who lived in the annexe that was furnished. He was a well-known patron of culture, but also a controversial political figure, sentenced to death for treason by the people of Warsaw in 1794.

Verki was inherited by his niece Helena Apolonia, later to become the wife of Wincenty Potocki. Subsequent owners included Stanisław Jasieński and Duke Ludwik Sayn-Wittgenstein, who rebuilt the annex in the style of an Italian villa, creating an opulent residence with works of art, a greenhouse and an exotic winter garden.

In the following decades, the estate passed through the hands of the Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürsts and the Karp family. After 1914. Verki was looted and the works of art looted. After World War II, the complex was nationalised and adapted for educational purposes. Since 1959, the Botany Institute of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences has been located here, and the palace park has been incorporated into the regional park.

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