October 11, 2025

Russian Manors as Guardians of the Image of the Garden of Eden: Towards the Problem of Recreating Heritage

Key Points

The study concludes that Russian estates are philosophical spaces representing cultural integration.
Key findings indicate a synthesis of Western and Orthodox gardening principles at Kuskovo Manor.
The analysis highlighted the distinct influences of Catholic order versus Orthodox naturalness in garden design.
Cultural dialogue around identity and heritage preservation is reinforced by the symbolic role of these estates.

Abstract

The article considers the Russian estate of the XVIII–XIX centuries as a unique cultural phenomenon embodying the idea of the Garden of Eden – a sacred space symbolizing the harmony of man and nature. The research is aimed at identifying religious, philosophical and aesthetic aspects of manor gardens, as well as analyzing the synthesis of Western European Catholic and Russian Orthodox traditions in their organization. The methodological basis of the work includes a comparative analysis of the symbols, compositional solutions and functions of garden and park ensembles of two cultural paradigms. Special attention is paid to the influence of the Orthodox and Catholic worldviews on the structure of gardens: if the Catholic tradition formed a strict, symbolic order of space, then Orthodox culture focused on the naturalness and sacredness of nature. Kuskovo Manor demonstrates a unique synthesis of French regular parks with the Orthodox concept of the garden as a spiritual space. The Catholic idea of the garden as a lost Eden is intertwined with the Orthodox idea of a created world embodying the divine principle. This interaction contributed to the formation of a special artistic language of the Russian estate, which combined Western European principles of gardening art and national tradition. The results of the study confirm that the Russian estate of the XVIII–XIX centuries is not only an aesthetic, but also a philosophical space reflecting cultural dialogue and mechanisms of integration of various worldviews. The revealed symbolic role of the estate as a guardian of the image of the Garden of Eden allows us to take a fresh look at the issues of identity and preservation of national heritage. The findings can be used in the restoration of historical estates and in the formation of a state strategy for the protection of cultural monuments. The study demonstrates the importance of the Russian manor as a space of spiritual search and cultural synthesis, which allows preserving national heritage and rethinking issues of identity and cultural memory.

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