Самовар-/Sa-mo-'var/- tea urn
Among bright images associated with Russia - matryoshka, vodka, samovar. The latter is a heated metal container to heat and boil water. First samovars appeared in the 18th century and were used to prepare tea. At that time it became quite a popular drink among well-to-do people. Most samovars had an attachment on top of the lid where a teapot could be placed. The word samovar itself literary means "self boiling" and indeed the first ones had internal heating device which maintained water at boiling point. Original coal and charcoal samovars were replaced by electrical ones. Beautifully decorated samovars possessed can be seen in the Armoury Chamber which can be included in your Moscow city break tour.
