Cherry tree. Vladimir region

The history of the appearance of the cherry tree on the Vladimir land has several versions, but all of them say that the cherry tree came to us from Byzantium together with Orthodoxy.

According to one version, the first saplings of the southern tree were brought by Andrei Bogolyubsky, according to another - by Athonite monks, according to the third - the cherry was brought in the wagon of the Kiev Metropolitan.

Delicate blossom, exquisite fruits - a tree unseen in Russia was a rare curiosity.

Those cherry varieties that came from southern countries were not frost-resistant, and in order to preserve them in the cold Vladimir winter, they were dug up every fall and put under a shelter where the trees could winter under the snow cover.

It took at least 300 years of patient selection to develop those varieties that could winter in Central Russia, and by the XIX century hundreds of cherry orchards grew around Vladimir. Cherries were supplied to Moscow and St. Petersburg as fresh berries and in the form of cherry liqueurs, and the Vladimir cherry rightfully became a trademark of the province.

Today there are dozens of cherry varieties for Central Russia - with different tastes, with different blooming and ripening dates, and few people remember that they all come from a few saplings brought to Russia from Byzantium together with the Orthodox faith and hope for a long prosperous future of the Vladimir land.