Old Russian measures of length

Old Russian measures of length

The Russian system of measures is a system of measures traditionally used in Russia and the Russian Empire. It was standardized on the basis of English measures by the imperial decree of 1835: an inch, line, point, foot, arshin is introduced equal to 28 inches, sazhen - to 7 feet, a number of obsolete measures (lobes relative to verst) are excluded. Later, the Russian system was replaced by a metric system of measures that was allowed to be applied in Russia (optionally) by the law of June 4, 1899. The application of the metric system of measures in the RSFSR became mandatory under the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of September 14, 1918, and in the USSR - by the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of July 21, Legalized basic relations between the old Russian measures and metric: 1 arshin is 0.711200 meters, 1 pound is 0.40951241 kg.

Despite the lack of practical application, the names of Russian measures continue to be used in phraseological turns and historical studies.

Measures and their values ​​are given in accordance with the "Regulations on measures and weights" (1899), unless otherwise specified. Earlier values ​​of these units could differ from those quoted; Thus, for example, in the year 1649 the verst was set at 1 thousand sazhens (mezhevaya) - approximately equal to 2.1336 km, whereas in the 19th century the verst was 500 sazhens; They were also used for the lengths of 656 and 875 sazhens.

Listening to stories, children often ask questions about the measure of length. Now you know what to say.