- Tuskulėnai Manor
Tuskulėnai Manor ( _lt. Tuskulėnų dvaras) is a neoclassical manor in
Žirmūnai elderate ofVilnius ,Lithuania .tructures
The Tuskulėnai Manor is the oldest architectural monument in Žirmūnai. The present manor was built in 1825, following a design by
Karol Podczaszyński in the neoclassical style, by the order of theGovernor General ofLithuanian-Vilna Governorate , Alexander Rimsky-Korsakov. It consists of the principal building - the palace, a storage house, and several adjacent buildings, including a small eclectic chapel ofSt. Theresa , located approximately 100 metres south of the principal building. [lt icon Žirmūnų Street 1c [http://www.paveldas.vilnius.lt/objektas.php?ID=10717&nID=22524&gID=9 Vilnius Heritage] ]The palace is the main architectural accent of the ensemble, showing clear influence of Palladian layout. Typical Podczaszyński's "serlianas" - three interconnected windows - have been employed in the façades of the main palace. Three statues used to stand on a frontone, were removed later on and restored in 2007. The side entrances with balconies were also destroyed. The interior was decorated with the works of Dutch painters
Isaac van Ostade ,Adriaen van Ostade ,Gerard Dou and others. The palace also boasted a rich library. [V. Drėma "Dingęs Vilnius", 381 p.] The buildings were surrounded by a large park.All of these structures are currently undergoing restoration, and will be part of the Peace Park ("Rimties parkas"), which is scheduled for completion in 2008. The 7.5-hectare park will include the restored Tuskulėnai Manor, which will host a museum of
martyrology in Lithuania in the second half of the 20th century (a branch of the LithuanianGenocide Victims Museum), restored ponds and park vegetation, as well as the columbarium.History
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
In the area on the right bank of the Neris River opposite the St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in
Antakalnis , the Royal Manor, so called "Derevnictva" (Polish: "Derewnictwo"), was established in the middle 16th century by the KingSigismund Augustus in order to serviceVilnius Castles . The manor was held by the kingsSigismund III Vasa andWładysław IV Vasa , nobleman M. Piegłowski, the Wołowicz family,Grand Hetman of Lithuania Michał Kazimierz Pac , as well as the Tyzenhaus family (since 1741). The manor was named "Tusculanum" after a resort area nearRome [http://www.villatuscolana.it/fsistemauk.htm] in the place of the ancient Roman city ofTusculum by Lateran monks, who owned the manor in the middle 18th century. In the end of the century, the manor was separated into the folwarks of Tuskulėnai, based on the kernel of the old royal manor, and Derevnictva. [lt icon Cultural Heritage Department at the Ministry of Culture [http://www.heritage.lt/epd/2006/vilnius/pristatomi_objektai.htm The objects in Vilnius County presented for the public for European Heritage Days 2006] ]Russian Empire
Under the rule of the
Russian Empire in the 19th century, Tuskulėnai Manor was held by various noble families and high-ranking state officials. In the mid-19th century the main palace was transformed into a guesthouse by prominent doctor and public activist Julian Titius that became a cultural center in Vilnius, often visited byStanislaw Moniuszko andJózef Ignacy Kraszewski . [lt icon [http://www.rasyk.lt/index.php/fuseaction,booksView.view;id,320 Summary of the book Tuskulėnai: egzekucijų aukos ir budeliai (1944-1947) by S. Vaitiekus] "] The manor passed into the possession of Julija Safranovich after 1886, and then was held by the noble family of Melentjevy untilWorld War II .oviet rule
Tuskulėnai Manor had been nationalised in 1940 and was later used as
KGB officers' apartments and as a kindergarten. During excavations that took place between 1994 and 1996 in its territory, the remains of 706 bodies were found; 40 were identified. [lt icon cite web |url=http://whatson.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=1106408 |title=Peace Park to be established in Vilnius by 2007 |accessdate=2006-12-16 |date=2002-06-13 |publisher=Delfi.lt and Baltic News Service ] The area had been used to hide the bodies of Lithuanian residents - mostly resistance fighters against the Soviet occupation, Nazi collaborators andArmia Krajowa soldiers - who had been executed between 1944 and 1947 by theNKGB and MGB in the Vilnius' KGB Palace prison nearLukiškės Square . The remains from themass grave were placed in acolumbarium built underground, beneath an artificial hill, andconsecrate d in 2004.The area surrounding the Tuskulėnai Manor was referred to as "Tuskulėnai" ( _ru. "Tuskuljany" [ru icon [http://vilnius-liudi.nm.ru/map1904.gifVilnius City Plan. Year 1904] ] ; _pl. Tuskulanum [pl icon [http://www.ketrzyn.mm.pl/~wwmkiewicz/ws/wilno%20plan/index.htm Vilnius City Plan. Year 1935] ] ) until the World War II. This area was also known by a colloquial placename "Losiovka", named after A. Losev, colonel of
Special Corps of Gendarmes and later general of the Russian Empire, who owned the folwark of Tuskulėnai in 1869.References
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