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
Sary Sinop apple
12022-06-27T22:25:10-04:00Kelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f599Botanical lithograph of a variety that likely originated in the southern coast of the Black Sea and thrived in Crimea. With the Saint Germaine pear the "alpha and omega" of Crimean orchardry. The Sary Sinop is considered a first-class market fruit, appealing for eating and cooking. Candied fruit factories use it exclusively. Yield is high, which explains why it plays a crucial role in the Crimean economy despite fetching 1 ruble 50 kopeks per pood (half the price of many reinette varieties). This is the calling-card apple of Karasubazar.plain2022-07-05T09:07:09-04:0001/01/1700 - 01/01/1917Atlas plodov (1906) vyp.1, no.11Kelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f5
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12022-06-27T22:04:52-04:00Kelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f5Atlas of FruitsKelly O'Neill30structured_gallery2022-07-05T10:16:06-04:00Kelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f5
12022-06-30T09:28:25-04:00Russia is apple country.8plain2022-07-05T09:43:01-04:00The 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" or "Sary Sinop" 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 Crimean orchardry unthinkable without the Sary Sinop apple.