Gorodki (russian: Городки, ''townlets''; sv, Poppi, lt, Miestučiai), is an
ancient Russian folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
whose popularity has spread to
Karelia
Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with Est ...
, parts of
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, and
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. Similar in concept to
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
and also somewhat to
horseshoes
Horseshoe is a shoe for horses and by analogy is applied to many things with a similar shape.
Horseshoes (game), a tossing game played with a horseshoe
Horseshoe(s) or Horse Shoe(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Horseshoe Valley (disambiguation) ...
, the aim of the game is to knock out groups of
skittles
Skittles may refer to:
* Skittles (confectionery), a brand of fruit-flavor chewy candy, distributed by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
*'' Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical''
* Skittles (sport), the game from which bowling originated
* Skittles (ch ...
arranged in various patterns by throwing a bat at them. The skittles, or pins, are called ''gorodki'' (literally ''little cities'' or ''townlets''), and the square zone in which they are arranged is called the ''gorod'' (''city'').
In the
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n and
Baltic languages
The Baltic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 4.5 million people mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. Together with the Slavic lang ...
, the game has many different names, such as ''kurnimäng'', ''kriuhka'', ''köllöi'', ''keili'', and ''miestučiai''. The Finnish variant is called ''kyykkä'', or
Finnish skittles
Finnish skittles, also known as Karelian skittles, outdoor skittles or ''kyykkä'', is a centuries-old game of Karelian origin. The aim in Finnish skittles is to throw wooden skittle bats at skittles, trying to remove them from the play square u ...
.
The game is mentioned in the
Old Russian Chronicles
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
* Old, Baranya, Hungary
* Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...
and was known in a form that is quite close to the modern one at least from the 17th century, since one of the famous gorodki players was
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
.
The history of gorodki
at gorodki.org
Gameplay
The game consists of throwing a bat from a predetermined distance at the ''gorodki'', which are arranged in one of 15 configurations:
* Cannon (, ''pushka'')
* Fork (, ''vilka'')
* Star (, ''zvezda'')
* Arrow (, ''strela'')
* Well (, ''kolodets'')
* Crankshaft (, ''kolenchatyy val'')
* Artillery (, ''artilleriya'')
* Racquet (, ''raketka'')
* Machine gun installation (, ''pulemyotnoe gnezdo'')
* Lobster (, ''rak'')
* Watchmen (, ''chasovye'')
* Sickle (, ''serp'')
* Shooting gallery (, ''tir'')
* Airplane (, ''samolet'')
* Letter (, ''pis'mo'')
The goal is to completely knock the ''gorodki'' out of a marked square using the fewest possible number of throws.
"Letter" figure rules
When a player reaches the "letter" figure, a special set of rules apply:
* You must aim to the center spot and knock the gorodki in the figure out (players say "open the letter")
* Another four gorodki return to their place unless the center spot is knocked out
* You must knock the figure from 13 metres.
Image:Gorodki-pushka.jpg, Cannon
Image:Gorodki-vilka.jpg, Fork
Image:Gorodki-zvezda.jpg, Star
Image:Gorodki-strela.jpg, Arrow
Image:Gorodki-kolodetz.jpg, Well
Image:Gorodki-kolenval.jpg, Crankshaft
Image:Gorodki-artilleria.jpg, Artillery
Image:Gorodki-raketka.jpg, Racquet
Image:Gorodki-pulemet.jpg, Machine gun installation
Image:Gorodki-rak.jpg, Lobster
Image:Gorodki-chasovye.jpg, Watchmen
Image:Gorodki-serp.jpg, Sickle
Image:Gorodki-tir.jpg, Shooting gallery
Image:Gorodki-samolyot.jpg, Airplane
Image:Gorodki-pismo.jpg, Letter
History
Although traditionally ''Gorodki'' is a folk game, it was played by such Russian historical figures as emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Peter I Peter I may refer to:
Religious hierarchs
* Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus
* Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint
* Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...
, Generalissimus Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...
, Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
, and Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
, as well as cultural luminaries like Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov ( rus, Ива́н Петро́вич Па́влов, , p=ɪˈvan pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈpavləf, a=Ru-Ivan_Petrovich_Pavlov.ogg; 27 February 1936), was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist, psychologist and physiol ...
, Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
, Maksim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and sociali ...
, Nikolay Timofeev-Ressovsky
Nikolaj Vladimirovich Timofeev-Resovskij (also Timofeyeff-Ressovsky; russian: Николай Владимирович Тимофеев-Ресовский; – 28 March 1981) was a Soviet biologist. He conducted research in radiation genetics ...
, and others. The game as it existed prior to 1923 had no rules per se
Per se may refer to:
* '' per se'', a Latin phrase meaning "by itself" or "in itself".
* Illegal ''per se'', the legal usage in criminal and antitrust law
* Negligence ''per se'', legal use in tort law
* Per Se (restaurant), a New York City restaur ...
. It was organized into a legitimate sport and its rules codified in 1923, when the first All-Soviet-Union competition was held, and it became an event at the first All-Union Olympiad in 1928.[
]
Popular culture
The game was shown in an episode of the Soviet animated series ''Nu, pogodi!
''Well, Just You Wait!'' (russian: Ну, погоди!, Nu, pogodi!, p=ˈnu pəɡɐˈdʲi) is a Soviet, later Russian, series of animated short films produced by Soyuzmultfilm. In the 2014 all-Russian poll, ''Well, Just You Wait!'' won by a ...
''.
Additionally, Gorodki was featured in the popular CBS reality show ''The Amazing Race 17
''The Amazing Race 17'' is the seventeenth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world.
The season premiered on CBS on September 26, 2010, with a speci ...
'', episode 7, during a Roadblock challenge. The game was also featured on ''Schlag den Raab
''Schlag den Raab'' (, German for ''Beat (the) Raab'') was a live game show that was televised by German television channel ProSieben on Saturday evenings from September 2006 until December 2015. A total of six episodes were produced and broad ...
'' on 4 June 2011, and was a favorite childhood pastime of the eponymous protagonist of the novel ''Pnin'' by Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...
(p. 106, Vintage). The game can be played on the Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
game system through the game disc ''REC ROOM'' released in 2009.
See also
*Bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
*Bunnock
Bunnock (also known as the game of bones or simply bones) is a throwing game that is thought to have Russian origin. The aim of Bunnock is to throw bones at an oppositions rows of bones, trying to do so in the fewest throws possible. The team tha ...
*Finnish skittles
Finnish skittles, also known as Karelian skittles, outdoor skittles or ''kyykkä'', is a centuries-old game of Karelian origin. The aim in Finnish skittles is to throw wooden skittle bats at skittles, trying to remove them from the play square u ...
*Kubb
Kubb (pronounced in Swedish and Gutnish) is a lawn game where the objective is to knock over wooden blocks () by throwing wooden batons () at them. Kubb can be described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Play takes place on a ...
References
{{Authority control
Throwing games
Precision sports
Russian games
Russian inventions
Sports originating in Russia
Bowling