How were PINEAPPLES grown in 18th-century Russia?

Natalya Kochetkova

Oct 22 2025

Ilya Mashkov, "Pineapples and Bananas," the State Tretyakov Gallery

Sputnik

Peter the Great introduced pineapples in the first third of the 18th century. Having one on the table was a sign of status, a display of wealth and style. But, where could they be found in such a cold and vast country?

Transporting pineapples from South America to the royal table was long and difficult: most of them spoiled along the way. The only way to have fresh fruit was to grow them locally.

The key building was the greenhouse. These were permanent structures heated round the clock by stoves. They were built of glass and brick, often with a solid wall on the north side to better protect from the cold. Pineapples themselves were grown not in the ground, but in large portable tubs. This allowed the plants to be brought outdoors in the summer and kept warm in the winter. The pineapples were also planted in specially prepared soil – a mixture of humus, leaf mold and sand.

Olaf Kruger / Getty Images

Growing never reached industrial scale, but the results of the gardeners' efforts were astonishing, nonetheless. Pineapples were grown for the royal table in the greenhouses of Tsarskoye Selo, Gatchina and Peterhof. The Sheremetev Estate at Kuskovo was famous for its enormous greenhouses, where hundreds of pineapples would also ripen among lemons, peaches and grapes. They were also grown at Arkhangelskoye, Yusupov and other wealthy estates.

The greenhouse of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden

Sergey Kompaniychenko / Sputnik

It goes without saying that, in those days, growing pineapples on an estate was a complex and expensive undertaking. It required a staff of competent gardeners (foreigners had to train Russians), a constant supply of firewood for heating and complex maintenance. A ripe pineapple, meanwhile, cost a mini fortune – roughly the same as an adult cow. And serving guests a pineapple grown in one's own greenhouse was the ultimate expression of hospitality and a demonstration of one's wealth.

"The prospect of the Orangery in the Garden of the Village of Kuskova, Belonging to His Excellency Count Pyotr Sheremetev. Presented at Noon." Engraved by P. Laurent

Public domain

By the end of the 19th century, however, the era of “Russian” pineapples had ended. There are two reasons for this. The first was the development of steamship travel. It became cheaper and easier to ship pineapples from tropical countries than to spend enormous amounts of money cultivating them in greenhouses. Second, the abolition of serfdom deprived landowners of free labor, which, in turn, saw the estate culture decline.