Dacha
Seasonal or year-round second home in Russian-speaking and post-Soviet countries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A dacha (Russian: дача, IPA: [ˈdatɕə] ) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (коттедж, kottedzh) or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbuilding, is not considered a dacha, although some dachas recently have been converted to year-round residences and vice versa. The noun "dacha", coming from verb "davat" (to give), originally referred to land allotted by the tsar to his nobles; and indeed the dacha in Soviet times is similar to the allotment in some Western countries – a piece of land allotted, normally free, to citizens by the local government for gardening or growing vegetables for personal consumption.