Terem of the Russian Samovar

Although the words “Russian” and “samovar” often follow each other, the homeland of the first samovar was China. The first jars for boiling water by heating charcoal inside appeared there. Old samovars also existed in Iran, and their clay ancestors of over 3500 years old were found in Azerbaijan. Russian people started to boil water for tea only in the 17th century but mastered this technique so well that the whole world considers the samovar Russian.

You can see the largest collection of samovars of Russia in the Terem of the Russian Samovar Museum in Gorodets. It is located in the 19th-century house of the merchant Grishaev: this rich-blue mansion with carved wooden architraves looks like a fairytale palace decorated with white lace. The museum keeps a splendid collection of rare antique items for a tea ceremony. It was based on Nikolay Polyakov's private collection, numbering over 400 exhibits. The most significant samovar here belonged to Polyakov’s grandfather and marked the beginning of this passion.

The museum displays a thousand exponents, including fascinating examples that can hardly be seen anywhere else. Among them are hotel, tavern, road and “egoist” samovars, “tete-a-tete” and sbitenniki, samovar soldiers, samovar coffee pots, even samovar kitchens. The largest samovar is designed for 53 liters so all visitors can have tea at once. Here, you can find out the difference between samovars by their heating method, for example, coal or kerosene samovars. There are samovars of different forms: an egg, a glass, or even a Greek vase. Not to mention that all ancient samovars have the house manufacturer's seal: Vorontsovs, Puchkovs, Demidovs.