Tula Samovar Tradition

A samovar is a water heater with a vertical flue running up the middle of the vessel, charged with charcoal or pine cones, with a tap at the bottom and a small teapot of strong concentrate standing on top in the draught; you draw hot water onto a little concentrate, so everyone drinks at their own strength. Tula had the metalworkers - the arms factory drew smiths and brass workers to the city - and by the 1820s dozens of workshops were producing samovars, in shapes with their own names: the vase, the glass, the acorn, the egg. The Russian phrase about not taking your own samovar to Tula means what its English equivalent about coals means. The museum by the kremlin shows the range from tiny travelling models to enormous ones, imperial commissions, electric Soviet versions and the awards the makers won at exhibitions. Charcoal samovars are still made, though most household use is electric.

What you actually see

• The shapes - vase, glass, acorn and egg forms with their trade names.
• The mechanism - a central charcoal flue with a concentrate pot standing in the draught.
• The range - travelling miniatures through to enormous exhibition pieces.
• The proverb - the phrase about not bringing your own samovar to Tula.

When to go

All year. One to two hours, combined with the kremlin next door. Closed Wednesdays.

Honest expectations

Labelling is Russian. The museum is small. Souvenir samovars sold in the city are mostly electric or decorative; a working charcoal one is heavy, expensive and awkward to carry home. Tula's arms and gingerbread museums compete for the same afternoon.

Nearby

Tula kremlin is beside the museum; Yasnaya Polyana is about 15 km south.