In classical works and other sources of information about past times, you probably met such a word as "verst" more than once. It's hard to imagine the distance, size, or length of anything without even the slightest idea of the word's meaning.
Have you ever wondered what the word "verst" means, when it appeared and what was it customary to call it that? This question relates to many other facts about ancient units of measurement.
The meaning of the word "verst"
As already mentioned, a verst is an old measure of length. The meaning of the word "verst" has long been outdated and is now used very rarely. This happened when the metric system of measurement was introduced in the Soviet Union in 1924, thereby eradicating the use of the word "verst".
Mile was used to indicate distance or length on two occasions. To indicate the distance from point to point, the so-called travel verst was used.
There was another kind of milestone. They called her the boundary. As the name implies, this measure of length was used to measure area.land plot. This verst was twice as long as the travel verst.
One more thing can be said about the lexical meaning of the word "verst". Previously, there was the concept of "Milestones". These were actually posts with distance marks from one or another point. Such road facilities have been installed throughout the central part of our country.
What is a verst?
To fully understand the interpretation of the word "verst", you need to know what distance this concept represents.
Modern man will be clearer if you express a verst in kilometers, since it is this measure that is currently most often used to indicate large distances. So, the travel verst will be equal to 1 kilometer and 66.8 meters. Accordingly, the boundary verst will be 2 kilometers and 133.6 meters.
These designations correspond to the last value of a verst before the reform of 1924. In fact, the length of a verst often fluctuated. By 1924, the travel verst was equal to 500 sazhens, and the boundary - 1,000 sazhens. One sazhen at that time was equal to 2.1336 meters.
Solovki milestone
Surely all readers know the Solovetsky Monastery. It is considered a world cultural heritage and is infinitely valued not only in Russia, but also outside our state.
This most beautiful place has long had its own measure of length - the Solovetsky verst. It is not much different from a travel verst, but it is truly unique. Solovetskaya verst is 1kilometer and 84 meters. And here is an amazing fact - a verst is such a length, because the walls of the monastery are exactly equal in length to this number. These miles were used to measure the distance on the islands where the monastery is located.
You can say a lot about the meaning of the word "verst". It has firmly entered the culture of our people and, despite the fact that it has long been outdated, is inseparable from the history of Russia. This was reflected in numerous stable combinations of words, in proverbs and sayings. For example, the expression "for seven miles of jelly to slurp" means a pointlessly traveled path. This is a common expression that is still used today. It is thanks to such strong entries into culture and language that the meaning of the word "verst" will not be forgotten.
