The Clean Ponds (russian: Чистые пруды, ''Chistye Prudy''), is a large

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from tha ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, located in the

Basmanny District Basmanny District (russian: райо́н Басма́нный) is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population: The district extends northeast from Kitai-gorod, within the radial boundaries of ...

, on the

Boulevard Ring The Boulevard Ring (russian: Бульва́рное кольцо́; transliteration: ''Bulvarnoye Koltso'') is Moscow's second innermost ring road (the first is formed by the Central Squares of Moscow running along the former walls of Kitai-goro ...

. The pond gives its name to

Chistoprudny Boulevard Chistoprudny Boulevard (russian: Чистопрудный Бульвар) is a major boulevard in the central part of Moscow running from Turgenevskaya Square and Sretensky Boulevard towards Pokrovka Street, where it adjoins Pokrovsky Bouleva ...

, which runs from

Turgenevskaya Square Turgenevskaya (russian: Турге́невская) is a station on the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. Name It was named after Turgenevskaya Square, to which the entrances to the station lead; the square itself was named after a ...

and Sretensky Boulevard towards Pokrovka Street, where it adjoins

Pokrovsky Boulevard Pokrovsky Boulevard (russian: Покровский Бульвар) is a major boulevard in the central part of Moscow running from Clean Ponds to Vorontsovo Pole Street, including Yauzsky Boulevard. With other boulevards like; Tverskoy Bouleva ...

, and to Chistyye Prudy station on the Moscow Metro. According to retired KGB colonel Victor Cherkashin, author of ''Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer: The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames'', the adjoining 'Chistyi Prudy (Clean Ponds)' is also part of "an old, prestigious neighborhood." On page 177 of his book, Victor Cherkashin spells the area as 'Chistyi' as opposed to 'Chistye.' The ponds were formed by a dam on the

Rachka River The Rachka (russian: Рачка) is a small river located in the Basmanny and Tagansky Districts, in the Central Administrative Okrug Central Administrative Okrug, or Tsentralny Administrativny Okrug (russian: Центра́льный адми� ...

which used to flow underneath the walls of the

White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football c ...

in the 17th century. Nowadays the river is underground, as are all the ponds but one.Kadinsky, Sergey "Moscow's Clean Ponds" ''Hidden Waters Blog'' February 8, 2016
/ref> The Clean Ponds are fed by a system of water pipes. During the 17th century, people threw garbage and waste in the river and the ponds, getting them their former name of Dirty Ponds. In 1703, the ponds were acquired by

Prince Menshikov Prince Aleksander Danilovich Menshikov (russian: Алекса́ндр Дани́лович Ме́ншиков, tr. ; – ) was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimo, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izho ...

, who built the

Menshikov Tower Menshikov Tower (russian: Меншикова башня), also known as the Church of Archangel Gabriel, is a Baroque Russian Orthodox Church in Basmanny District of Moscow, within the Boulevard Ring. The church was initially built in 1707 to orde ...

in the vicinity. He had the ponds cleaned of garbage and rechristened to their current name. The ponds have since stayed clean. Nowadays the only pond remaining is home to some

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

s. In the winter it is used as a skating rink.

References

{{Reflist Parks and gardens in Moscow