A Weekend at The Russian Dacha
For many Muscovites, a weekend in the summer means escaping the heat and crowds of the city by spending time at an out of town cottage, known in Russian as a dacha or дача. The dacha is an important place for many Russians. It is a place to relax and recuperate in the countryside and spend time with
Typical produce from a Russian dacha
their family. In addition, many Russians use the land around their dacha to grow fruit and vegetables. This weekend, my Russian friend and her family invited me to stay at their dacha! Obviously, I accepted the invitation immediately!
The weekend started on Friday evening when we left the city by car. After battling through some rush hour traffic we finally arrived – to a delicious meal with the whole family. The next day we enjoyed a walk in the countryside and an afternoon relaxing in the sun. In the evening we had a traditional Russian barbecue – with shashlik [шашлык] and roasted vegetables. Overall, the weekend was a very relaxing experience and it was a wonderful escape from city life. One can clearly understand why so many Russian city dwellers leave for the dacha whenever they can!
A brief history of the Dacha
The tradition of the dacha is believed to have begun under the reign of Peter the Great, who granted plots of land to his loyalest subjects. Following the Russian revolution of 1917, land (including plots with dachas) became public property, but the tradition of the dacha still continued. Workers had the chance to relax at publicly owned holiday properties. Many high ranking communist party members were granted a dacha by the state. Following the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s, the tradition of the dacha continued to grow and thrive with many new dachas being built in communities near to Russia’s big cities.
The Dacha in Literature
Many of Russia’s famous writers immortalised the Russian dacha in their works. Anton Chekhov wrote a short novel called Dachniki, or Summerfolk, in 1885 about the idyllic way of life at the Russian summer cottages. Later, in 1904, Maxim Gorky wrote a piece of the same name. In it, he criticised the excesses of the lifestyle of those retreated to lavish dachas in the summer months.
Thank you to understandingrussia.com for some extra information on the Dacha tradition!
Megan Beddoe, currently studying Russian at Liden & Denz Moscow
