Fish farm, grapevine garden and Baroque: history of Moscow ponds

Summer recreation frequently involves water. Aside from visiting beaches and floodplains around rivers, Muscovites staying in the city also have an option to relax by the ponds in various parts of it. There you can enjoy the greenery, sunbathe, take a boat ride, feed aquatic birds, use fishing as an excuse for meditation or play sports.

Rich and fascinating history of many Moscow ponds comes as a bonus to nature. Read on to learn which of them came to be back in the 16th century and which got immortalized in novels and movies.

Great Patriarch’s Pond: from a fish farm to an iconic location

The history of Great Patriarch’s Pond is quite convoluted. Before the 17th century, the place was occupied by Kozye Boloto (Goat Marsh) that handed its name down to Bolshoi and Maly Kozikhinsky pereuloks nearby. In the early 17th century, the residence of Patriarch Hermogenes was there, and that’s where its modern name came from. In the same century, Patriarch Joachim gave an order to drain the marsh, making three ponds where there used to be one and populating it with valuable breeds of fish. When Moscow was being rebuilt after the fire of 1812, two of the three ponds were filled in, with only Great Patriarch’s Pond remaining.

The place is familiar to all lovers of literature; that’s where the plot of Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita starts. In 2012, they even erected a joking sign there saying, “Never talk to strangers”. However, that’s not the only interesting thing about the pond; carps have been living there for 10 years. They survive harsh winters thanks to aeration: the pond water gets saturated with oxygen. Mosvodostok staff are responsible for that “fish spa”; they do it following a special procedure.

The pond shores are lined with shaded alleys, surrounded by old lanes full of secluded courtyards. Their inhabitants through the years included many scientists, culture personalities, poets and writers: Vladimir Mayakovsky, Klavdia Shulzhenko, Alexander Blok, Marina Tsvetaeva, Ivan Sechenov. Artists Vasily Surikov and Vasily Polenov, architects Fyodor Schechtel, Ivan Zholtovsky and Lev Rudnev used to rent workshops and make their art there.

Chistye Prudy: scenes from favorite movies

According to a popular version, Chistye Prudy (Clear Ponds) had not always had that name. In the 17th century, butchers from Myasnitskaya (Butchers’) Street used them to dump their waste, so the ponds got the name Poganye (Disgusting). After Alexander Menshikov, Peter I’s confidante, came to live there, he ordered the ponds cleaned up, and that’s how they got renamed into Chistye. Later, two of them got filled in, so Chistye Prudy today is actually just one pond.

It has everything for leisurely walks: the oblong park area is circled by paved walking and bike paths and peppered with benches. In summer, you can rent a boat or a paddle boat there.

The Chistye Prudy area is a well-known cinema place appearing in many Soviet movies such as Walking the Streets of Moscow or The Pokrovsky Gate. Chistye Prudy are surrounded on all sides with architectural and cultural landmarks: the Sovremennik theater, the monument to Alexander Griboyedov, the Church of St. Michael, etc. Many tourist routes in the city go through that place.

Serebryano-Vinogradny pond: the Royal estate

Another historical pond is located in the east of Moscow. It was dug up in the 1660s on the order of Tsar Alexis of Russia who started to turn his Izmailovo estate into a progressive farming land. They planted fields, landscaped gardens and set up hunting grounds.

Initially, Serebryany (Silver) and Vinogradny (Grapevine) ponds were separate. The former was named after the Serebryanka river, the latter – after the royal garden where they grew exotic fruits, including grapevines. However, the dam built over Serebryany pond caused the two of them to combine and form Izmailovsky Island.

Serebryano-Vinogradny pond is popular with fishing enthusiasts. It’s is populated with crucians, Chinese sleepers and carps. Seasoned fishers say the best place to go with a fishing rod is under the 1st Bauman Bridge.

Those who prefer more proactive ways of recreation, can rent a boat or roller skates to race around the pond. Swimming is not allowed there, but sunbathing on the sandy shores is okay. Children have playgrounds with swings and slides at their disposal, while grown-ups have a chance to play golf or team sports at two football fields, basketball or volleyball courts.

Tsaritsyno ponds: 180 hectares of water

One of the oldest and the largest pond system in Moscow is in Tsaritsyno. Its history starts back in the 16th century, during Boris Godunov’s reign. Today, the ponds take up about 180 hectares in total, but the belief is that at the time of Catherine the Great they were even larger.

The Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve has three ponds: Upper, Middle and Lower. They form a single cascade with Borisovo pond and are separated by Shipilovo Dam.

Their green shores have beaches and recreation areas for Muscovites: sports grounds, gazebos for BBQ, walking and biking paths. Swimming is not allowed, though. Nevertheless, you can go to the ponds to get away from the city hustle, as well as to admire rare birds or plants, or to go fishing. By the way, Tsaritsyno ponds get populated with fish regularly: there’s crucian, river perch, carp, roach, Chinese sleeper and muddler.

Great Catherine Pond: supermodel ducks

Wildlife photographers will for sure meet ruddy shelducks, black and white goldeneyes or mottled ducks near Catherine Pond in Catherine’s Park. They have long since made themselves comfortable in the city, are not scared of humans and pose for cameras willingly enough. They have shelters built for them in the northern part of the pond and use them to lay eggs regularly. There, you can also photograph large carps released into the pond in 2020. Among them, there are some bright orange koi carps popular in Japan.

Great Catherine Pond (Bolshoi Ekaterininsky Prud) has been known since the 14th century when a string of ponds along the Naprudnaya River used to be where the park now is. In the second half of the 18th century, Count Vladimir Saltykov’s country estate was built there; in 1807, the building was repurposed for the Catherine’s Institute for Noble Maidens, and the park renamed to Catherine’s Park.

Near Great Catherine Pond, there are walking paths paved with ornamental bricks. There, you could sit on a bench, take a leisurely walk, or rent a boat or a paddle boat to take a water ride.

Novodevichyi Ponds: the place for lovers

The main point of interest in that place is, of course, the Novodevichy Convent, an exceptionally well-preserved specimen of Moscow Baroque style. Bolshoi and Maly Novodevichyi ponds, separated by a white stone bridge, are located near its walls.

The ponds are framed by an alley and a small park. Swimming is not allowed there, but fishing is: Muscovites love going there with fishing rods. Sometimes, those who want to feed aquatic birds crowd the fishers out, though. There’s even a monument to ducks there: a bronze statue of a mallard with its ducklings.

On the convent side, there’s a comfortable descent to the pond, suitable for baby strollers; you can also rent a bike near Sportivnaya Metro station to travel faster through the park area. Novodevichyi ponds are also the favorite place for newlyweds to take a stroll around and hang a lock, a scarf or other memorabilia on the rails of the white stone bridge.