Russian Samovar

Have you ever heard about the Russian samovar (sa-ma-VAR)? Do you know when it appeared in Russia and what role it played in everyday life of Russian people?

In the past it was not just a common household item. It was crucial to family life, particularly to tea-drinking. Such tea-drinking with a Russian samovar, which was literally “the center of attention”, was considered to be one of the most significant aspects of the traditional Russian way of life. The samovar occupied the central position on the table and always had to be thoroughly scoured. The Russian samovar was a symbol of prosperity, wellbeing, and comfort. Some people think that samovar has its origins in Russia, but actually it came to our country from Holland in the XVIII century during the reign of Peter the Great. Interestingly, in the West the Russian samovar was called the “Russian tea machine”. In Russia samovars were produced in the Urals where there were a lot of metallurgical and copper smelting works. Today the town Tula (not far from Moscow) is deservedly called “the capital of Russian samovars”. By the way, the word “samovar” literally means “self-boiler”.

The samovar has become our national souvenir that many foreigners are interested in. They want to drink tea made in a samovar, saying it is more delicious than that made in teapots and kettles!

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