Dachas
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A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the
exurb An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburbs, suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing-density, and rela ...
s of
post-Soviet The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
countries, including Russia. A
cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...
(, ') or
shack A shack (or, in some areas, shanty) is a type of small shelter or dwelling, often primitive or rudimentary in design and construction. Unlike huts, shacks are constructed by hand using available materials; however, whereas huts are usually r ...
serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbuilding, is not considered a dacha, although some dachas recently have been converted to year-round residences and vice versa. The noun "dacha", coming from verb "davat" (''to give''), originally referred to land allotted by the
tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
to his nobles; and indeed the dacha in Soviet times is similar to the
allotment Allotment may refer to: * Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887 * Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed ...
in some Western countries – a piece of land allotted, normally free, to citizens by the local government for gardening or growing vegetables for personal consumption. With time the name for the land was applied to the building on it. In some cases, owners occupy their dachas for part of the year and rent them to urban residents as summer retreats. People living in dachas are colloquially called ''dachniki'' (); the term usually refers not only to dacha dwellers but to a distinctive lifestyle. The Russian term is often said to have no exact counterpart in English. Dachas are common in Russia, and are also widespread in most parts of the
former Soviet Union The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
and in some countries of the former
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
. Surveys in 1993–1994 suggest about 25% of Russian families living in large cities had dachas. Most dachas are in colonies of dachas and garden plots near large cities. These clusters have existed since the Soviet era, and consist of numerous small land plots. They were initially intended only as recreation getaways of city dwellers and for growing small gardens for food. Dachas originated as small country estates given as a gift by the tsar, and have been popular among the Russian upper- and middle-classes ever since. During the Soviet era, many dachas were state-owned, and were given to the people. The government of the Russian Federation continues to own State dachas (') used by the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
and other officials. They were extremely popular in the Soviet Union. As regulations severely restricted the size and type of dacha buildings for ordinary people during the Soviet period, permitted features such as large attics or glazed verandas became extremely widespread and often oversized. In the period from the 1960s to 1985, legal limitations were especially strict: only single-story
summer house A summer house or summerhouse is a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed t ...
s without permanent heating and with living areas less than were allowed as second housing (though older dachas that did not meet these requirements continued to exist). In the 1980s, planners loosened the rules, and since 1990 all such limitations have been eliminated. As of 2019, about 62% of Russians visit dachas in the summer.


History


Origins

The first dachas in Russia began to appear during the 17th century, initially referring to small estates in the country that were given to loyal vassals by the
tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
. In archaic Russian, the word ''dacha'' means ''something given'', from the verb "дать" at'– "to give". During the
Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...
, Russian aristocracy used their dachas for social and cultural gatherings, which were usually accompanied by
masquerade ball A masquerade ball (or bal masqué) is a special kind of formal ball which many participants attend in costume wearing masks. (Compare the word "masque"—a formal written and sung court pageant.) Less formal " costume parties" may be a descend ...
s and
firework Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...
displays. The coming of the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
to Russia brought about a rapid growth in the urban population, and wealthy urban residents increasingly desired to escape the heavily polluted cities, at least temporarily. By the end of the 19th century, the dacha became a favorite summer retreat for the upper and middle classes of Russian society. In the tsarist era, dachas tended to have pleasure gardens, but were not used much for growing food.
Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (;  – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...
wrote a novelette entitled ''Dachniki'' (1885), about newlywed city-dwellers living a 'simple' summer life of walks in the countryside.


Soviet Union

Following the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
, most dachas were
nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...
. Some were converted into vacation homes for factory workers, while others, usually of better quality, were distributed among the prominent functionaries of the Communist Party and the newly emerged cultural and scientific elite. All but a few dachas remained the property of the state and the right to use them was usually revoked when a dacha occupant was dismissed or fell out of favour with the rulers of the state. Building new dachas required permission from senior officials and was rarely granted during the early years of the Soviet Union. The seniormost Soviet leaders all had their own dachas, and
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's favourite was in
Gagra Gagra ( ka, გაგრა; Russian language, Russian and ) is a town in Abkhazia/Georgia (country), Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Its subtropical climate made Ga ...
,
Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...
. New dachas started to be built in larger numbers during the 1930s, and dacha colonies for artists, or soldiers, or various classes of party functionaries, started to form. There were legal size restrictions for dacha houses in the Soviet era. They had to have not more than of living area and be only one story tall. For that reason, they usually had a
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
, which was considered by authorities as just a large garret or attic, not a second story. Often ill-equipped and without indoor plumbing, dachas were nevertheless a solution for millions of working-class families, to have their own form of summer retreat. Having a piece of land also offered an opportunity for city dwellers to indulge themselves in growing their own fruits and vegetables. In the years before and after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, cultivation of garden crops on dacha plots was substantial, because of the failure of the centrally planned Soviet agricultural programme to supply enough fresh produce. Many dacha owners grew crops for market. Since then, growing garden crops has been of lesser importance, but continues to be widespread. Many Russian dacha owners still see gardening as a key value of ''dachnik'' culture. Keeping historical food shortages in mind, they take great pride in growing their own food rather than buying it at a store. The period after World War II saw moderate growth in dacha development. Since there was no actual law banning the construction of dachas, people began occupying unused plots of land near cities and towns, growing gardens and building sheds, huts, and more prominent dwellings that served as dachas. As time passed, the number of squatters grew and the government had no choice but to officially recognise their right to amateur farming. The 1955 legislation introduced a new type of legal person into the Soviet juridical system, a gardeners' partnership (, ''sadovodcheskoye tovarishchestvo''), similar to ''
community garden A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plot ...
s'' in other countries. The gardeners' partnership received the right to permanent use of land exclusively for agricultural purposes and permission to connect to public electrical and water supply networks. In 1958, yet another form of organisation was introduced, a ''cooperative for dacha construction'' (, ''dachno-stroytelniy kooperativ''), which recognised the right of an individual to build a small house on the land leased from the government. The 1980s saw the peak of the dacha boom, with nearly all affluent families—over a third of families in urban areas—having a dacha of their own. Dacha houses built since the late 1980s are significantly larger than older ones because legal size restrictions were liberalized, and new dacha areas became fields of relatively big houses on tiny land plots. Tracts between lines of dacha land plots are usually unimproved or improved with crushed stone, and narrow (often about between fences) enough that two cars can hardly pass each other by. Dachas also started to be found in other
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
countries, especially in
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
(where it remains quite current even after
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
), and in
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
and
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
.


Post-Soviet

In the 1990s, there was great unemployment in Russia and other post-Soviet states, and salaries in factories and
research institutes A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural sc ...
that still functioned were sometimes not paid for many months. In these hard times potatoes grown in garden plots saved many people from hunger, and fruit and berries helped prevent
vitamin deficiency Vitamin deficiency is the condition of a long-term lack of a vitamin. When caused by not enough vitamin intake it is classified as a ''primary deficiency'', whereas when due to an underlying disorder such as malabsorption it is called a ''second ...
. Due to the rapid increase in urbanization in Russia, many village houses are currently being sold for use as dachas. Many Russian villages now have ''dachniki'' as temporary residents. Some villages have been fully transformed into dacha settlements, while some older dacha settlements often look like more permanent lodgings. The advantages of purchasing a dacha in a village usually are lower costs, greater land area, and larger distances between houses. The disadvantages may include lower-quality utilities, less security, and typically a farther distance to travel. The means of transportation for people to get to their dachas, besides cars, are " water trams", buses, and electric trains (colloquially called "
elektrichka An ''elektrichka'' ( ; , ) is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Eastern Bloc, Eastern bloc commuter (regional) mostly suburban electrical multiple unit passenger train. Elektrichkas are widespread in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former W ...
"). Due to the large number of people traveling to dachas at weekends (especially during the summer), traffic typically builds up around large cities, and elektrichka and buses are filled to capacity. Dachas have started appearing in regions of North America that have high concentrations of immigrants from Russia and Ukraine. Russians and Ukrainians from New York, Long Island, and New Jersey have been retreating to their Russian-style dacha homes in the forests of
Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
in order to recreate the dacha experiences they had during the Soviet era.


Dacha gardens

Dacha plots are usually not more than in area; in some cases over , but nearly never exceeding . They therefore are too small to grow any large amount of fruits and vegetables, thus sometimes they are also grown on separate dedicated plots of ground nearby. In Soviet times and sometimes now, such dedicated plots of ground were often made of the unused sections of agricultural fields owned by collective farms. Many small dacha plots, especially those that were recently purchased, are not used for large-scale fruit and vegetable farming. Instead, they are frequently used for
gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...
and planting exotic plants. Due to custom and the perceived high costs of good equipment, even relatively large plots of land are often cultivated manually using equipment such as a spade or a spading fork. In autumn the grown potatoes and other crops are gathered and transported to the city where they are stored in cellars, dugouts (usually located on unused plots of ground), or in personal automobile garages. Many Russians prefer to grow vegetables themselves because of the widespread belief in the excessive use of agrochemicals in the vegetables from supermarkets and grocery stores, and the higher costs of the vegetables in stores and
bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...
s, especially among the older part of the population. Also, growing one's own food supplies is a long-lived Russian tradition practised even by many affluent Russians. It is seen as a way to have a connection to the land, to be self-sufficient, and for many, to find some escape from a capitalist economy. While a large portion of urban Russians grow some vegetables in their dacha gardens, the perception in some parts of society that urban Russians are becoming increasingly self-sufficient is a myth, and only some 15 percent of vegetables are grown by urban dwellers. The most common dacha fruits in cool temperate regions of Russia are
apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
,
blackcurrant The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, w ...
,
redcurrant The redcurrant or red currant (''Ribes rubrum'') is a member of the genus ''Ribes'' in the gooseberry family. It is native to western Europe. The species is widely cultivated and has escaped into the wild in many regions. Description ''Ribes ...
,
gooseberry Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes Ribes, currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance, and also several unrela ...
,
raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...
and
strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...
(sometimes also
sour cherry ''Prunus cerasus'' (sour cherry, tart cherry, or dwarf cherry) is an Old World species of ''Prunus'' in the subgenus ''Prunus subg. Cerasus, Cerasus'' (cherries). It has two main groups of cultivars: the dark-red Morello cherry and the lighter- ...
, downy cherry,
rose hip The rose hip or rosehip, also called rose haw and rose hep, is the accessory fruit of the various species of rose plant. It is typically red to orange, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form after pollina ...
s,
plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...
, bird cherry,
pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...
, sea-buckthorn, ''
Actinidia kolomikta ''Actinidia kolomikta'', the kolomikta, miyamatatabi, super-hardy kiwi, or variegated-leaf hardy kiwi, is a species of flowering plant in the Chinese Gooseberry family (Actinidiaceae), native to temperate mixed forests of the Russian Far East, ...
'', black chokeberry,
serviceberry ''Amelanchier'' ( ), also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry (or just sarvis), juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear,A Digital Flora of Newfoundland and Labrador Vascular Plants/ref> is a ...
, barberry, sweetberry honeysuckle,
blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...
and
grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
, but many of them are either rare or not hardy enough and require winter protection). Popular vegetables and herbs are
potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...
,
cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.zucchini Zucchini (; : ''zucchini'' or ''zucchinis''), courgette () or ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a summer squash, a Vine, vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and Fruit anatomy#Epicarp, epicarp (rind) are still soft a ...
,
pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...
,
tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
,
carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...
, red bell peppers (capsicum),
beetroot The beetroot (British English) or beet (North American English) is the taproot portion of a ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' plant in the Conditiva Group. The plant is a root vegetable also known as the table beet, garden beet, dinner bee ...
,
cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...
,
cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...
,
radish The radish (''Raphanus sativus'') is a flowering plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. Its large taproot is commonly used as a root vegetable, although the entire plant is edible and its leaves are sometimes used as a leaf vegetable. Origina ...
,
turnip The turnip or white turnip ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties a ...
,
onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...
,
garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...
,
dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...
,
parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Eur ...
,
rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...
,
sorrel Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ("dock" being a common name for the genus ''Ru ...
,
papaver ''Papaver'' is a genus of 70–100 species of frost-tolerant annual plant, annuals, biennial plant, biennials, and perennial plant, perennials native plant, native to temperateness, temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, Africa and North America ...
, earth apple,
horseradish Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes Mustard plant, mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and us ...
and others.


Elite dachas


Gosdachas

The state-owned vacation houses allotted for government officials, academicians, military personnel, and other VIPs are called "''gosdachas''" (, short for ''gosudarstvennaya dacha''— "state dacha"). In modern Russia, the Federal Property Agency of Russia continues to own numerous estates throughout the country that are leased, often on non-market terms, to government officials. The
President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...
has official dacha residences in Novo-Ogaryovo and
Zavidovo Zavidovo () is a village ('' selo'') in Konakovsky District of Tver Oblast, Russia. Next to the village is the location of Rus' state residence, used as an official residence place for the President of Russia The president of Russia, offic ...
. Gosdachas in Komarovo and Peredelkino,
Zhukovka Zhukovka () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Zhukovka, Bryansk Oblast, a town in Zhukovsky District of Bryansk Oblast; ;Rural localities * Zhukovka, Altai Krai, a '' selo'' in Pavlozavodskoy Selsoviet of ...
, Barvikha, and Usovo and
Rublyovka Rublevka or Rublyovka () is the unofficial name of a prestigious residential area in the western suburbs of Moscow, Russia, located along Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway, Podushkinskoe, 1st Uspenskoe and 2nd Uspenskoe highways. There is no official ...
in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
are populated by many
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
-era intellectuals and artists. Russian President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
has a dacha in the
Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...
, as part of a cooperative society called Ozero, and one in
Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from  – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...
.


Modern elite dachas

In modern times, the rise of a new class in the Russian society (the ' new Russians') has added a new dimension to the concept of dacha. (Some wealthy Russians prefer the term 'cottage' for their country homes.) With construction costs often reaching into the millions of U.S. dollars, the dachas of the country's elite bear no resemblance to the small dachas of the Soviet era. Comparable in size and décor to
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
s and
palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...
s, they become an elaborate display of social status, wealth and power. Most dachas of the elite are constructed with brick and concrete, unlike the middle-class dachas that are mostly constructed with wood. These new symbols of prosperity are designed by professional architects, usually in
eclectic style Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact t ...
—that older ''dachniks'' look down upon as reflecting the nouveau-riche tastes of their owners—and feature ostentatious items such as marble statues, fountains and exotic plants. Some have state-of-the-art sporting facilities such as an indoor swimming pool, multiple tennis courts and stables for race horses. A few privately owned estates even have small forests and lakes. Wealthy Russians have also bought up many of the tsarist-era dachas of the aristocracy, and Soviet-era dachas of artists and intellectuals.


Dachas and crimes

Theft is not unusual for dachas. Usually, the dachas are either without surveillance or only one single guard taking care of the entire property. In an attempt to prevent these thefts, dacha owners often take everything valuable back to their apartments in the city at the end of summer. Typically dishes, tools and clothes are stolen. Homeless people and criminals often use the dachas in autumn and winter when the owners are absent. Occasionally minors light unsupervised dachas on fire as entertainment. Thieves also break into dachas with the intention of stealing
non-ferrous metal In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron ( allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable pro ...
, like gold, copper and silver. This happened to the leader of
LDPR LDPR – Liberal Democratic Party of Russia () is a Russian ultranationalist and right-wing populist political party. It succeeded the Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union (LDPSU) in Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. T ...
, Igor Lebedev, in 2000. Two men broke into his dacha in Odintsovo District after which they were stopped by police officers. The
Moscow City Police The Moscow Police (), officially the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the City of Moscow (), is the police force for Moscow, Russia. The Moscow Police is the largest regional police force in Russia with 50,500 officers as of 2010, with p ...
press claims that collectors of non-ferrous metal are a big problem for the Moscow region and that they come from several different nearby regions. Because of drug abuse becoming more prevalent,
poppies Poppies can refer to: *Poppy, a flowering plant *The Poppies (disambiguation) - multiple uses *''Poppies (film)'' - Children's BBC remembrance animation *Poppies (Mary Oliver poem), ''Poppies'' (poem) - a poem by Mary Oliver *"Poppies", a song by P ...
are now being stolen from dachas more often. That is why growing more than two poppy plants is now considered a crime. In 2008, unknown men robbed 10 dachas, including the famous "Zelyonaya budka" () that belonged to the famous Russian poet
Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...
in the settlement Litfonda in Komarovo. In 2002, the United States citizen Yakov Tilipman, who was representing the interests of the "Kremlyovskaya group", was shot in the protected gardening association "Yagodka" () in Opalikha in the Krasnogorsk region of Moscow. In 2008, robbers in camouflage uniforms climbed over a fence and made their way into the dacha of the TV host Aleksandr Tsekalo in Krasnogorsk, where his relatives were tied up and robbed.НОВОСТИ LIFE , NEWS — Первый по срочным новостям


See also

* * *
Holiday cottage A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...


References


External links


Dacha – what does it mean for a Russian?
Detailed description of modern life in dacha community, with many pictures. See als


Dacha Wanna Be Russian?
A History of the Russian Dacha
Russian Dacha
Russian Dacha full HD photo gallery {{Authority control Culture of the Soviet Union Society of Russia Society of Ukraine House types Houses in Russia