Baltoji Vokė Manor

Baltoji Vokė Manor, also known as Vaidotai Manor, stands on the right bank of the Vokė river. For a long time it belonged to the Radziwiłł family; in the first half of the 18th century it belonged to Antanas Oskierka, a supporter of the Radziwiłłs and castellan of Navahrudak, and later to the Żmijewski-Olizar family. A record of transfer drawn up by the Vilnius Court Chamber in 1838 states that Baltoji Vokė Manor passed to the Leński family. It is known that in 1813 the parish priest of St Stephen's in Vilnius built an octagonal chapel on the left bank of the Vokė, which stood about 300 m north-east of the manor house until the mid-20th century. The manor house was built in the last quarter of the 19th century, and a geometric park began to be laid out at the same time. New buildings went up in the farm and residential area of the estate in the early 20th century as well, and in 1910, about 700 m north-west of the Leński palace, a mausoleum church was built to a design by Tadeusz Rostworowski, commissioned in 1905 by Hilary and Władimir Leński. About 900 m west of the manor house there was a watermill and a match factory owned by the Leński family. However, in 1937 Baltoji Vokė Manor was sold at auction because of debts, and its new owner was František Weisenhof. After the Second World War a Soviet state farm was set up at the manor, and from 1962 it housed the Vilnius Agricultural and Zootechnical College. Today the reorganised college – the Vilnius School of Technology, Business and Agriculture – still occupies some of the estate buildings, but the abandoned palace, owned by the state property company Turto bankas, is waiting for new owners.