Features of the formation of the cultural and landscape environment near the objects of Moscow's natural heritage on the example of the Ramenka River Valley

Shulgina Ol'ga Professor, Chair of the Department of Geography and Tourism at Moscow City Teachers’ Training University 129226, Russia, Moscow, 2nd agricultural str., 4 olga_shulgina@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Shul'gina Dar'ya Pavlovna PhD in Art History Associate Professor of the Department of History at Moscow City Pedagogical University 129226, Russia, Moscow, g. Moscow, pr-d 2-I sel'skokhozyaistvennyi, 4, kab. 3508 fsvids@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The object of this study is the peculiarities of the formation of the cultural and landscape environment of Moscow. The cultural landscape is considered as a result of the co-creation of nature and man, which is especially pronounced in an urbanized space, where both sides of this co-creation are very closely in contact and are in constant dynamics. It is possible to trace this dynamics in historical and cultural contexts most clearly in places where the natural component of the urban environment has a certain stability over time, is an object of natural and cultural heritage. These components include the Moscow rivers, the cultural landscape of the valley of one of them – the Ramenka River – has become the subject of this study.

The relevance of the research is due to the insufficient study of this territory, which became part of Moscow only in the middle of the twentieth century, as well as the importance of scientific understanding of the modern architectural and landscape transformations taking place here. The Ramenka River Valley, now located in the Western Administrative District of Moscow and one of the centers of intensive residential development, serves as a clear example of a creative approach to the formation of a cultural landscape and a careful attitude to the natural environment without violating the principles of ecological conformity. It implements new ideas for creating a visual environment of a large city with non-standard architectural and planning solutions and careful attitude to natural heritage, with the organic inclusion of landscape design sites, with the creation of comfortable living conditions and providing opportunities for various types of recreational activities in an environmentally friendly environment. This clearly confirms that in the process of forming a cultural landscape with the inclusion or near specially protected natural areas, special attention is paid to the latter as the dominant of development, the attraction factor, the brand of the area.

The work is based on literary, archival, cartographic sources, data from their own local history observations. The work uses historical and cartographic research methods, as well as methods of local history observations, system-structural analysis.

The scientific novelty of the research consists in the systematization and generalization of multiple diverse information characterizing the history of the formation of the cultural landscape of one of the districts of Moscow, in identifying the factors that determined the peculiarities of the formation and change in time of these landscapes, in assessing the impact of modern architectural and urban planning approaches on the environmental situation and the comfort of living of the population.

Cultural landscapes of Moscow. Nature as a cultural heritage

The phenomenon of the cultural landscape has now been quite fully investigated by domestic and foreign scientists ^[29]. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the first classical works on this topic by Otto Schlutter ^[32] and Karl Sauer ^[28] appeared abroad, and at the same time research on this topic began in Russia: L.S. Berg, V.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, Yu.G. Saushkin, D.L. Armand ^[2] and others . Among the Russian scientists of the turn of the XX-XXI centuries who devoted their works to theoretical and applied aspects of the study of cultural landscapes, one can name Yu.A. Vedenin ^[4,5], V.L. Kagansky ^[10], V.N. Kaluzky ^[11], M.E. Kleshov ^[14], B.B. Rodoman ^[26], V.N.. Streletsky ^[28] et al.

The concept of a cultural landscape was refined over time, concretized by examples, but, in fact, did not contradict the original idea of Otto Schlutter, who interpreted the cultural landscape as a material unity of natural and cultural objects accessible to human perception. For example, Karl Sauer defines a cultural landscape as a territory inhabited during a certain historical period by a group of people – carriers of specific cultural values, characterized by a characteristic relationship of natural and cultural forms.

Yu.A. Vedenin interprets the cultural landscape as a complex territorial system, in the formation and development of which culture plays a decisive role, understood in a broad context as a combination of traditional management, social and spiritual activities. At the same time, such a landscape needs constant maintenance and regulation ^[5]. It is this interpretation with an acetic culturological subtext that is taken as the basis in this study, as well as the cultural and landscape approach proposed by Yu.A. Vedenin to the study of historical cities, including the cultural and landscape space of Moscow ^{[6, 7]}.

The urbanized space of the Moscow metropolis is developing as a single system, including the creations of human activity and natural components. The history of the formation of all cities is associated with the inevitable attack on nature, the gradual reconquest, complete or partial transformation of pristine natural territories. However, this process, fortunately, is not absolutely dominant, leading to the total extermination of wildlife. With the growth of ecological consciousness, and with it with the presentation of ever higher human demands for the improvement of the environment, the preservation of the natural components of urbanized space becomes an increasingly urgent need in both health-preserving and aesthetic aspects.

Perhaps, the aesthetic aspect in the formation of urban development has acquired a significant value in the minds of people much earlier than the ecological one. Being a part of nature, living initially surrounded by nature, a person at the early stages of the development of civilization and the founding of cities treated it in many ways consumer-like. However, at first subconsciously, then intentionally, when constructing their buildings, a person inevitably took into account the peculiarities of the natural environment: terrain, river network, vegetation features, climatic conditions and other elements of it. Nature largely determined the nature of the development and was perceived as a background, favorably shading and emphasizing the dignity of human creations. In addition, in addition to the aesthetic factor, the strategic factor was of great importance initially, ensuring security and the possibility of defense in the event of an enemy attack.

The period of active industrial development, carried out primarily in cities, was characterized by an aggressive attack on nature. This was accompanied by a negative impact on the ecological situation: pollution of atmospheric air, soils, reservoirs. In addition, there was a decrease in the area of natural vegetation, a change in the species composition of plants and animals. There were fewer and fewer areas of pristine nature in cities.

Until relatively recently, the trend prevailed of ruthless seizure of natural areas of urban space for industrial and residential buildings, transport communications; wastewater discharge into urban watercourses. But civilizational development has predetermined the unconditional priority of natural values as an indispensable condition for sustainable development.

All this can be very clearly represented by the example of Moscow, recalling the history of its origin, territorial expansion, industrial development, and the formation of planning solutions ^[20]. It must be admitted that in the course of the past centuries, Moscow, on the one hand, has lost a significant part of its pristine natural environment, on the other, is a great example of an eco-oriented green city, convenient for people to live in and hospitable for visitors ^[31].

The historical and cultural environment of Moscow has always been inseparable from the natural component of the city, which there are many confirmations in the past and which remains relevant in the present ^[25].

The planning features of the territory of Moscow have historically developed under the influence of the natural environment. The peculiar relief of the place, especially the familiar Borovitsky Hill in the very center of the capital at the confluence of the Moscow and Neglinnaya rivers, the unique bend of the Moscow River - create an unmistakably recognizable image of the city. And its radial-ring structure is largely due to natural elements, which, despite significant transformations, remain an integral part of the urban landscape. Moscow, as a capital city, even despite the two-hundred-year loss of this status during the rise of St. Petersburg, was very lucky, because talented architects and landscape designers worked here until the XVIII century and later, whose legacy we still feel.

Among the 147 specially protected natural territories of modern Moscow ^[23], a significant place is occupied by natural and historical parks, the mere mention of which takes our imagination to the unique places of the city that have preserved, even partially, the ideas of a harmonious combination of architecture, nature, culture and art: Kuskovo, Ostankino, Izmailovo, Tsaritsyno, Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo, Sokolniki, etc. Each of them is unique and peculiar. The noble refinement of the Baroque style can be felt in the former summer residence of Count Sheremetyev, the Kuskovo estate; the palace parks of Lefortov, the progenitor of St. Petersburg parks, were once called Versailles on Yauza by contemporaries; the atmosphere and architecture of the Pushkin era is embodied in the image of Ostankino Park; Izmailovsky is perhaps the most famous ancient park in Moscow with its royal Silver Island, on the rivers and canals of which Peter I began his naval activity…  This is only a small part of the examples of the cultural landscapes of Moscow, in which the co-creation of man and nature has reached impressive heights that once delighted our ancestors, and now do not leave our contemporaries indifferent with their calm, sublime atmosphere that disposes to rest, inspiration, and familiarization with cultural heritage. 

It is on these examples that the organic unity of culture and nature is felt, which is extremely vulnerable in an urbanized environment and completely dependent on humans ^[12]. Nature as a heritage is most clearly manifested in the conditions of a megalopolis.  In addition to the above examples, in this context, we can mention the oldest park in Moscow – the Apothecary Garden, which was laid out at the beginning of the XVIII century. for growing plants with medicinal properties. A pond created during that period has been preserved here; the first three trees planted according to legend by Pet I are carefully preserved – fir, spruce, larch, as well as beds characteristic of those times with signs with signatures of rows of medicinal plants.

These examples give a clear idea of the unity of the cultural and natural heritage of Moscow, which we observe in modern reality. How it looked in historical retrospect can be judged by the images of various corners of the city on art canvases (I.K. Aivazovsky, V.D. Polenov, N.P. Krymov, V.I. Surikov, etc.), postcards of the XIX - early XX century. ^[8], in descriptions of Moscow everyday life of famous writers (A.N. Ostrovsky – Zamoskvorechye, M.A. Bulgakov – Patriarchal Ponds). In addition, archaeological studies of the now-extinct watercourses make it possible to understand how diverse the natural environment of the Moscow urban space was ^[30].

And here we should turn to such a phenomenon in an ancient city with a rich history as associative landscapes ^[3], that is, landscapes that "pop up" in the imagination of a person walking through historical places. Such landscapes can be inspired by memories of what was read in literary works, seen once at art exhibitions or in art albums, in old movies and other sources that make you turn to the past. Very often, the names of streets, alleys, squares of natural origin can serve as an incentive for this ^[19] and thus refer to the once noisy forests (Borovitskaya Square), full-flowing rivers (Neglinnaya), ravines (Sivtsev Vrazhek), etc. Reminders of the pristine landscapes of urban spaces are also the names of Moscow metro stations (Ramenki, Ozernaya, Nagatinsky zaton, etc.).

Of all the objects of Moscow's natural heritage, perhaps the reservoirs have been preserved the most, despite the fact that they, of course, have undergone certain environmental changes, and some have been hidden in collectors. For example, the rivers Neglinnaya, Presnya, Filka – completely; Likhoborka, Beggar – for most of the length, Gorodnya, Smorodinka, Ramenka – fragmentary. Currently, more than 150 rivers and streams flow in Moscow, which once influenced the nature of the city's development, and now have given names to many urban objects: streets, alleys, metro stations, districts.

Features of the formation of the cultural landscape in the Ramenka River valley

One of the districts of Moscow, named after the river, is the Ramenka district, located in the southwestern part of the city. This river, in turn, acquired this name from the name of the area: "ramenye" – a dense, dark, coniferous forest. Unfortunately, nothing remains of this forest, which was used for the construction of ships under Peter the Great. So, from the word "ramenye" the river was named, which gave the name to the village, and in the twentieth century Ramenki Street appeared on the map of the city, the whole district also began to be called.

A spectacular reminder of the dense forests that existed here in ancient times is also the decor of the recently built Ramenki metro station here. The muted green color of the columns in its interior with a stylized image of trees, as if dissolving to the top in the fog, refers us to the once noisy forests here. All this creates a peaceful mood and immerses in the once characteristic of this place, and now only an associative landscape. A little imagination, and you can imagine how a few centuries ago, on the hilly banks of the winding riverbed of the Ramenka River, thanks to the hilly terrain, windmills were located, for which the village of Ramenka was famous then.  Unfortunately, that certainly picturesque landscape is known only by mentions ^[9], and we do not have the opportunity to see it in a picturesque image.

Let's consider the history of settlement and development of the Ramenka Valley, which influenced the spatial and temporal transformation of the cultural landscape of this territory. Prior to the entry of this area into the territory of Moscow, which happened only in the middle of the twentieth century, its landscape was changing under the influence of the peculiarities of economic activity associated with deforestation, recreation, agricultural development. There were no industrial enterprises on this territory, and this created an image of an environmentally friendly space attractive to developers of luxury housing in the early XXI century.

The Ramenka River is the largest tributary of the Setun River. Its length is almost 9 kilometers, and most of it flows in an open channel. Ramenka begins its course in Vorontsov Park, originates from the cascade of Vorontsov ponds. In the XIV century. the owner of this land was the boyar Fedor Voronets (Vorontsov). Among the subsequent owners are Grand Dukes Ivan III and Vasily III, Princes Repnin and Volkonsky.  In 1812, the Vorontsovo estate was burned by the French, and the main house was never restored.

The Ramenka River, having just begun its course, immediately hides in a pipe and already flows in an underground collector along Academician Pilyugin and Kravchenko Streets and so crosses Leninsky and Vernadsky Avenues. It comes to the surface in the park of the 50th anniversary of October, crosses Michurinsky Prospekt, then flows parallel to the track of the Moscow Railway and flows into the Setun near Rublevsky Bridge.

The main tributaries of the Ramenka River are on the right: the Rogachevka River and the river in Onuchin ravine, on the left – Ochakovka ^{[21, 22]}. The right tributaries drain from the Sparrow Hills and are polluted by urban runoff. The left tributary – the Ochakovka River – is more powerful and longer than the Ramenka and therefore in the past was considered its source. And Ramenka was called Dashin ravine (below the mouth of Rogachevka) and Tarasov ravine (above its mouth). The error first appeared on the plan of Moscow in the middle of the twentieth century, and then was repeated in dozens of similar publications. Now returning to the previous names will only increase confusion ^[22].

The landscape of the Ramenka River Valley went through several stages in its formation, during which the natural environment of the river, the nature of the use of the coastal territory, the quality of water in the river, the nature of the population and the level of environmental improvement changed.

You can get an idea about the history of this place from some publications, archival sources; information posted on the official website of the Ramenka district, from old maps, amateur photographs.

The village of Ramenki is considered to be the oldest of the settlements that existed here in the past, which include Vorobyovo, Troitskoye-Golenishchevo, the settlement of Potylikha, Kamennaya Dam, the village of Matveevskoye and Gladyshevo. On the bank of Ramenka, archaeologists discovered two groups of mounds ^[1]. The burial inventory captures a very interesting (and difficult) process of introducing the Slavic tribe of Vyatichi to Christianity ^[17]. Archaeological research in the Ramenka River Valley has been carried out since 1924. These studies have revealed a number of archaeological sites, such as burial mounds and villages. To date, none of the burial mounds discovered in the valley of the Ramenka River has been preserved. A number of kurgan groups were investigated in 1953-1954 by G.P. Latysheva ^{[17, 18]}. The remaining kurgan groups, apparently, were destroyed as a result of human economic activity ^[13].

The lands of the Ramenka River valley in the XIV century belonged to the Moscow metropolitans. Since the XVII century, these lands were chosen by Moscow officials for the construction of country houses – dachas.

In the XIX century . this place was not a popular holiday destination, and there was also no industry here, since the railways built were on the sidelines. After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, latrines were the main occupation of the population. The peasants were not rich, the land was bad, they mostly planted vegetable gardens for sale in Moscow.  After the October Revolution, collective farms were established on this territory.

Then the territory in question was part of the Kuntsevsky district of the Moscow region, and since 1958 it has been annexed to Moscow. Since that time, the transition from a rural lifestyle to urbanized development has begun in this territory. From Michurinsky Avenue to its mouth, the Ramenka River flowed through a huge undeveloped territory, where fields were still preserved, dissected by overgrown beams.  The river valley was deep, wide and picturesque here.

There was a process of demolition of single-storey wooden buildings and the construction of standard multi-storey houses, laying ground and underground utilities, which was accompanied not only by a violation of the natural, traditional landscape for these places, but also by pollution of the Ramenka River as a result of dumping various kinds of waste into it. Ramenka was then heavily contaminated with petroleum products and chlorides. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, including the authors of this article, this river as a rule did not freeze as a result of thermal pollution, the water in it acquired a muddy hue and at times emitted an unpleasant smell, which even without special measurements indicated an unfavorable ecological situation here.

Nevertheless, even then the river gave a peculiar architectural and landscape appearance to this part of the city and had a certain recreational significance. The rugged terrain (the high right bank with descents to the river of different steepness, the more gentle left bank), areas of natural vegetation adjacent to urban buildings created a natural flavor to the urbanized space. Three decorative ponds were added to this artificially created during the construction of the new Olympic village. In spring, not far from the houses, you could hear the singing of nightingales, in winter you could enjoy skiing on the snow-covered slopes down to the river. But still there was an impression of the negative impact of the city on the nature of these places: wastelands overgrown with weeds, sometimes spontaneous piles of garage and other buildings, littering ... Over the years of economic development and settlement of these places, there is little left of the pristine natural landscapes. The species composition of vegetation has changed: instead of a dense coniferous forest, deciduous trees and shrubs have spread here. And although the Ramenka River Valley was declared a natural monument in 1991, this did not significantly affect its ecological condition.

This territory is not as well-known and promoted as the well-known natural territories of Moscow. However, in confirmation of its value, this territory was awarded the status of the Ramenka River Valley Landscape Reserve in 2018 as one of the specially protected natural territories of Moscow ^[24], located in the southern part of the Ramenka district, which historically bore this name (the modern Ramenka district was formed in 1997 as a result of the merger of the Ramenka and Mosfilmovsky districts).

The creation of a landscape reserve contributed to some improvement of the ecological situation in the part of the valley of this river included in the territory of the reserve: in some places there were landscaped descents to the river, picnic areas with gazebos and benches, paths along the river were cleared. But this did not contribute to a cardinal improvement of the landscape environment here, although it created more favorable conditions for recreation of the population, studying nature and its protection, and allowed residents of the district to observe cultural and landscape transformations.

New construction of modern residential complexes of comfort, business and premium classes has begun near the landscape reserve. There were different opinions about the impact of modern development of the Ramenka River Valley on the ecology, the predominant of which is definitely bad ^[27]. There is evidence of how unfriendly the local population met the new construction projects.  There was a fear that intensive development would change the environmental situation and living conditions of local residents for the worse. However, the worst fears were not confirmed. Here it is appropriate to compare the past periods of settlement of this territory, which left their mark on the cultural landscape.

Since ancient times, when the first villages appeared in the Ramenka River valley and up to the XVII century. forests were ruthlessly cut down, spaces were cleared for rural buildings, vegetable gardens and other structures. The suburban and agricultural use of these places before joining Moscow was also accompanied by the transformation of the cultural landscape. Finally, by now the attack on nature has reached critical values, when the irreversibility and catastrophism of its losses became clear. At the same time, the ecological comfort of the environment began to be very highly appreciated when home buyers began to pay attention not only to the walls, but also to the surroundings, attaching dominant importance to the natural environment, "green aesthetics". The prestige of green areas has increased enormously, the Ramenka district in Moscow has become one of the most attractive for those who want to combine modern cozy housing and proximity to nature.

What has changed first of all is the visual environment, unprecedented for this area in the conditions of the formation of a new urbanized space with several architecturally original residential complexes located on both sides of the landscape reserve "Ramenka River Valley". A kind of oasis has appeared here, the natural axis of which is the river – an object of natural heritage, in the protection of which not only Moscow environmental services are interested, but above all people who have settled in the erected residential complexes. It is also important to add that some residents of the surrounding panel nine-story buildings have moved to these complexes in order to improve the quality of life. 

The ecological situation in this area began to change for the better. And this happened largely due to the fact that along with the growth of the general ecological culture, with the desire for a healthy lifestyle, the interests of the environmental structures of the city, the business sector and the resident population coincided here. Creative architects and landscape designers took part in the formation of the cultural landscape of these places. In the valley of the Ramenka River, cleared of emissions, along with the already existing parks: Vorontsovsky, the park of the 50th anniversary of October, the Olympic Village Park, Ochakovsky - a modern park "Event" was created in 2022. This park includes several walking areas: the main boulevard and a nature park with a promenade along the Ramenka River. There is also a concert venue, equipped with places for recreation and games, it is planned to create a pond, garden, indoor parking. A workout and skate park, sports grounds and running tracks are being created for active visitors.

Conclusions: despite the centuries-old efforts of people to dominate the "nature-society-man" system, with the development of ecological culture, the priority of natural values in the formation of urban cultural landscapes increases; the natural heritage of Moscow is an integral element of its cultural heritage; the construction of modern residential complexes in the vicinity of natural heritage sites, paradoxically, contributes to the improvement of environmental situations, creative improvement of the visual environment.