Arshinovsky Park

Brief information

Arshinovsky Park began with a forest that the new owner was obliged to preserve. Vasily Arshinov bought the land at the end of the 19th century and then laid out a park here, where the coniferous basis of the area became not a backdrop but the main material. So this is not just a green area in Tsaritsyno: it is better read as an old collection of trees in the open air.

At the beginning of the 20th century, species not typical of natural forests near Moscow were brought here: Siberian larch, Siberian cedar, Banks pine, and Weymouth pine. Greenhouses were even built for heat-loving plants, but nothing remains of them. However, individual plantings and groups of trees still show the original idea: the local coniferous forest was turned into a dendrological experiment that survived changes of owners, an apiary, neglect, and urban landscaping.

What to notice right away

It makes sense to compare the old coniferous plantings along the edges and deeper inside the park. Near the southern boundary, a Siberian larch from the early 20th century has survived; nearby grow Scots pines of almost the same size. Not far away, Banks pines are planted in small groups, usually three trees each. This proximity shows how the park was built not with a single alley, but with sets of species: local and imported trees were placed side by side so that they would form a living collection.

Another layer can be read by the water and in the clearings. Along the western edge, beside the high bank of the pond, stretches a large stand of Siberian larch. By the semi-marshy pond grow naturalized introduced plants, once brought into the local environment. In the center near the clearing stands a Canadian poplar, with a white poplar nearby that has a broken trunk and a small grove of root suckers around it. These details are important precisely as traces of the park’s life: here one can see not only the plantings, but also how they aged, spread, and changed the original pattern.