The Imperiia Project: a spatial history of the Russian EmpireMain MenuProjectsDashboardsData CatalogMapStoriesGalleriesGamesWho said history was boring?Teach Our ContentCiting the ProjectKelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f5The Imperiia Project // Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
apple vine
12022-07-15T08:45:48-04:00Kelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f591illustration from the first volume of Simirenko's treatise on commercial fruit cultivation in Crimeaplain2022-07-15T08:45:48-04:00Kelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f5
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12022-06-30T09:28:25-04:00Russia is apple country.11plain2022-07-15T08:54:28-04:00The tsars did not need to build an empire in order to acquire this particular fruit (oranges are another story altogether!). However, once they pushed the borders south into Ukraine, they found themselves in possession of a proliferation of varieties, many of which came to dominate the markets of St. Petersburg and Moscow.
And everyone agreed that the best apples came from Crimea.
All sorts grew on the peninsula, ranging from pedestrian to highly prized. The "Sary Sinap" held pride of place among them all. Just how fabulous could this apple possible be, you might ask? Well, according to Crimea's most famous horticulturalist (Abram Isaakovich Pastak),
old-time gardeners consider the notion of orcharding in Crimea unthinkable without the Sary Sinap apple.
There you have it. (See the Atlas plodov, vypusk 1, page 77)
