Do not give a hand through the threshold, close the windows at night, do not knock on the table - “God's palm table”, do not spit into the fire (oven) - these and many other rules set the behavior in the house. - a microcosm in the macrocosm, one's own, opposing someone else's.

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A person equips a dwelling, likening it to the world order, therefore every corner, every detail is filled with meaning, demonstrates the relationship of a person with the world around him.

1. Doors

So we entered, crossed the threshold, what could be easier!
But for the peasant, the door is not just an entrance and exit from the house, it is a way to overcome the border between the inside and outside worlds. Here lies a threat, danger, because it is through the door that both an evil person and evil spirits can enter the house. “Small, pot-bellied, protects the whole house” - the castle was supposed to protect from the ill-wisher. However, in addition to shutters, bolts, locks, a system of symbolic methods has been developed to protect the home from " evil spirits": crosses, nettles, fragments of a scythe, a knife or a Thursday candle stuck in the cracks of a threshold or jamb. You can’t just enter the house and you can’t leave it: approaching the doors was accompanied by short prayer(“Without God - not to the threshold”), there was a custom of sitting down before a long journey, the traveler was forbidden to talk over the threshold and look around the corners, and the guest had to be met outside the threshold and let himself go ahead.

2. Furnace

What do we see in front of us at the entrance to the hut? The stove, which simultaneously served as a source of heat, a place for cooking, and a place to sleep, was used in the treatment of the most various diseases. In some areas, people washed and steamed in the oven. The stove sometimes personified the entire dwelling, its presence or absence determined the nature of the building (a house without a stove is non-residential). The folk etymology of the word "hut" from "istopka" from "drown, heat" is indicative. - cooking - was comprehended not only as economic, but also as sacred: raw, undeveloped, impure turned into boiled, mastered, clean.

3. Red corner

In a Russian hut, a red corner was always located diagonally from the stove - a sacred place in the house, which is emphasized by its name: red - beautiful, solemn, festive. All life was focused on the red (senior, honorary, divine) corner. Here they ate, prayed, blessed, it was to the red corner that the headboards of the beds were turned. Most of the rites associated with births, weddings, and funerals were performed here.

4. Table

An integral part of the red corner is the table. A table laden with dishes is a symbol of abundance, prosperity, fullness, stability. Both everyday and festive life of a person is concentrated here, a guest is seated here, bread and holy water are put here. The table is likened to a shrine, an altar, which leaves an imprint on the behavior of a person at the table and in general in the red corner ("Bread on the table, so the table is the throne, and not a piece of bread - so is the table board"). In various rituals, special importance was attached to the movement of the table: during difficult childbirth, the table was pushed to the middle of the hut, in the event of a fire, a table covered with a tablecloth was taken out of the neighboring hut and went around the burning buildings with it.

5. Benches

Along the table, along the walls - pay attention! - shops. For men, there are long "men's" benches, for women and children, front ones, located under the window. Benches connected the "centers" (stove corner, red corner) and the "periphery" of the house. In one ritual or another, they personified the way, the road. When the girl, previously considered a child and wearing one undershirt, turned 12 years old, her parents forced her to walk up and down the bench, after which, having crossed herself, the girl had to jump off the bench into a new sundress, sewn especially for such an occasion. From that moment on, the girlish age began, and the girl was allowed to go to round dances and be considered a bride. And here is the so-called "beggar" shop, located at the door. It got this name because a beggar and anyone else who entered the hut without the permission of the owners could sit on it.

6. Matiza

If we stand in the middle of the hut and look up, we will see a bar that serves as the basis for the ceiling - a mother. It was believed that the uterus is a support for the top of the dwelling, so the process of laying the mat is one of the key points building a house, accompanied by the shedding of grains and hops, prayer, treats for carpenters. Matice was credited with the role of a symbolic border between the inside of the hut and the outside, associated with the entrance and exit. The guest, entering the house, sat down on a bench and could not go behind the mat without the invitation of the owners, setting off, he should hold on to the mat so that the road was happy, and in order to protect the hut from bedbugs, cockroaches and fleas, they tucked under the mat what was found from the harrow tooth.

7. Windows

Let's look out the window and see what's going on outside the house. However, windows, like the eyes of a house (a window is an eye), allow not only those who are inside the hut to observe, but also those who are outside, hence the threat of permeability. The use of the window as an unregulated entrance and exit was undesirable: if a bird flies through the window, there will be trouble. Through the window they carried dead unbaptized children, adult dead who had a fever. Only penetration sunlight through the windows it was desirable and played up in various proverbs and riddles (“The red girl looks out the window”, “The lady is in the yard, and the sleeves are in the hut”). Hence the solar symbolism, which we see in the ornaments of the platbands that adorned the windows and at the same time protected from the unkind, unclean.

Source

The Russian hut symbolizes Russia in a small way. Its architecture represents the persistence of traditions that have come down to us thanks to the loyalty of the peasants to the precepts of the past. For several centuries, the style, layout and decor of the Russian hut have been developed. The interior of all houses is practically no different, it contains several elements: several living rooms, canopy, closet and room, as well as a terrace.

Hut in Russia: history

The hut is a wooden structure, which, up to a third of its part, goes underground, resembling a semi-dugout. Those houses where there was no chimney were called chicken houses. The smoke from the furnace went outside through the front doors, so during the furnace it hung above the ceiling. To prevent soot from falling on people, special shelves were built along the entire perimeter of the walls. A little later, they began to make holes in the wall, and then in the ceiling, which was closed with a bolt. D Russian hut decor kurnoy was unremarkable. There were no floors as such, they were earthen, the house also had no windows, there were only small windows for lighting. At night, they used a torch to illuminate the room. A few centuries later, white huts began to appear, in which there were stoves with pipes. It is this house that is considered a classic Russian hut. It was divided into several zones: the stove corner, separated from the others by a curtain, on the right at the entrance there was a female corner, and near the hearth - a male corner. On the eastern side of the horizon in the house was the so-called red corner, where an iconostasis was placed in a certain order on a special shelf under embroidered towels.

Interior decoration

The ceiling in the house was made of poles, which were previously split in half. Bars were laid out on a powerful beam, the cracks were covered with clay. Earth was poured on top of the ceiling. A cradle was hung from a beam on a special ring. This inside assumed sheathing internal walls linden boards. Near the walls were placed benches where they slept, and chests where things were stored. Shelves were nailed to the walls. There was no special luxury inside the hut. Every thing that could be seen there was needed in the household, there was nothing superfluous. Items needed for cooking were placed in the women's corner, there was also a spinning wheel.

Decor elements of a Russian hut

Everything in the huts was sparkling clean. Embroidered towels hung on the walls. Furniture was scarce; beds and wardrobes only appeared in the nineteenth century. The main element was the dining table, which was located in the red corner. Each family member always sat in his place, the owner sat under the icons. The table was not covered with a tablecloth, no decorations were hung on the walls. On holidays, the hut was transformed, the table was moved to the middle of the room, covered with a tablecloth, festive dishes were put on the shelves. Another element of decor was a large chest, which was in every hut. It contained clothes. It was made of wood, upholstered with strips of iron and had a large lock. Also, the decor of the Russian hut suggested the presence of shops where they slept, and for infants that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Threshold and canopy

The first thing they encountered when they entered the hut was the entrance hall, which was a room between the street and the heated room. They were very cold and were used for economic purposes. Here hung a yoke and other necessary items. Stored in this place and food. A high threshold was built in front of the entrance to the warm room, where the guest had to bow to the owners of the house. Over time, the bow was supplemented by the sign of the cross in front of the icons.

Russian oven

When they got into the main room, the first thing they paid attention to was the stove. So, it assumes the presence of such a main element as a Russian stove, without which the room was considered non-residential. Food was also cooked on it, garbage was burned in it. It was massive and kept warm for a long time, it had several smoke dampers. There were many shelves and niches for storing dishes and other household items. For cooking, cast-iron pots were used, which were placed in the oven with the help of horns, as well as frying pans, clay pots and jugs. Here was a samovar. Since the stove was in the center of the room, it heated the house evenly. On it was placed a couch, which could accommodate up to six people. Sometimes the building was of such a size that they could wash in it.

red corner

An integral part of the interior decor of the hut was considered to be located in the eastern part of the house. It was considered a sacred place; embroidered towels, icons, sacred books, candles, holy water, an Easter egg, and so on were placed here. Under the icons there was a table where they ate, there was always bread on it. The icons symbolized the altar Orthodox church, and the table is the church altar. The most honored guests were received here. Of the icons in each hut, the faces of the Virgin, the Savior and St. Nicholas the Pleasant were obligatory. The headboards of the beds were turned towards the red corner. In this place, many rituals were performed that are associated with birth, wedding or funeral.

Benches and chests

The chest was also important element decor. It was inherited from mother to daughter and was placed near the stove. All the decoration of the house was very harmonious. There were several types of shops here: long, short, kutnye, court and the so-called beggars. They housed various household items, and an uninvited guest or a beggar who entered the house without an invitation could sit on the "beggar" bench. The benches symbolized the road in many old rituals.

Thus, before us is a cozy Russian hut, unity of design and decor which is a beautiful creation created by a peasant. There was nothing superfluous in the house, all interior items were used in Everyday life hosts. On holidays, the hut was transformed, it was decorated with handmade items: embroidered towels, woven tablecloths and many others. This must be remembered if you need to bring a drawing on this topic to school. In the 5th grade at the fine arts, "decor of a Russian hut" is one of the tasks provided for by the program.

People equipped their huts, comparing them with the world order. Here, every corner and detail is filled with a special meaning, they show the relationship of a person with the outside world.

For many centuries, a wooden peasant hut was the predominant dwelling of 90% of the population of Russia. This is an easily worn building, and huts have come down to us no older than the middle of the 19th century. But in their arrangement, they preserved the ancient building traditions. They were usually erected from small-layer pine, and in some areas of the Mezen and Pechora rivers from larch.

Russian hut on a high basement with a gallery. The basement was used to store supplies. The hut is located in the Vitoslavitsa Museum of Wooden Architecture near Novgorod.

The hut is united under common roof with commercial buildings. The peasant dwelling consisted of a cage, a hut, a vestibule, a room, a basement and a closet. The main living space is a hut with a Russian stove. The interior of the hut: motionless wide benches tightly attached to the walls, shelves above them; adjacent to the furnace wooden elements; an open dish cupboard, a cradle and other details of home furnishings have a history of many centuries.

BAKE. Particularly interesting in the interior of the Russian hut is the arrangement of the stove. United by their wooden parts with the internal architecture of the hut in one piece, it embodies the idea of ​​a home. That's why so much love is invested folk craftsmen in the architectural processing of the furnace and its wooden parts.

Sometimes a corner for cooking was arranged near the stove, separated by a brightly painted wooden paneled partition that did not go all the way to the top. Often this partition turned into a double-sided and painted built-in wardrobe. The painting was either geometric in nature (motif of the sun), or depicted flowers. The painting was dominated by green, white, red, pink, yellow, black colors.

STORE. Fixed benches were usually arranged along the walls of the entire room. On one side, they tightly adjoined the wall, and on the other, they were supported either by supports sawn from a thick board, or by carved and chiseled posts-legs. Such legs narrowed towards the middle, which was decorated with a round chiseled apple.

If the stand was made flat by sawing out of a thick board, then its design retained the silhouette of a similarly chiseled leg. To the edge of the bench they sewed a clew, decorated with some simple carving. A shop decorated in this way was called pubescent, and its legs were called stamiches. Sometimes sliding doors were arranged between the stalls, turning the wall benches into a kind of chest for storing household items.

A portable bench with four legs or with blind boards replacing them on the sides, on which the seat was approved, was called a bench. The backs could be thrown from one edge of the bench to the opposite. Such benches with a reversible back were called benches, and the back itself was called a bench. The carving was mainly used to decorate the backs, which were made deaf or through - carpentry-lattice, carved or turning work. The length of the bench is slightly longer than the length of the table. The benches in the upper rooms were usually covered with a special cloth - a bench. There are benches with one sidewall - carved or painted board. The sidewall was a support for a pillow or it was used as a spinning wheel.

Chairs in peasant dwellings spread later, in the 19th century. The influence of the city was most noticeably reflected in the decision of the chair. Folk art is dominated by a stable symmetrical form of a chair with a square plank seat, a square through back and slightly curved legs. Sometimes the chair was decorated with a wooden fringe, sometimes with a patterned back. Chairs were painted in two or three colors, such as blue and crimson. The chairs are characterized by some rigidity, which makes them similar in shape to the bench.

TABLE- usually was of considerable size, based on a large family. The table top is rectangular, made of good boards without knots and carefully processed to a special smoothness. The underframe was solved in different ways: in the form of plank sidewalls with a notch at the bottom, connected by a proleg; in the form of legs connected by two prongs or a circle; without a tsarga or with a tsarga; with one or two drawers. Sometimes the edges of the table board and the edges of massive legs, ending in carved interceptors in their lower part, were covered with carvings.

In addition to lunch, they made kitchen tables for cooking - supplies that were placed near the stove. Suppliers were higher dining tables so that it is convenient to work behind them while standing, and have shelves with lockable doors and drawers at the bottom. Small tables were also common, on which there was a casket or a book, they had a more decorative solution.

CHESTS- obligatory affiliation of the hut. They kept clothes, canvases and other household utensils.

The chests were made large - up to 2 m long and small 50-60 cm (packing). Sometimes the chests were upholstered on all sides with short-haired animal skins (moose, deer). The chests were reinforced with metal parts, which also served as decorations.

A cut-out ornament was made in metal strips, clearly protruding against the background of a brightly colored (green or red) chest. The handles placed on the sides of the chest, the masks of locks and keys were intricately decorated. Locks were made with ringing, even with a melody and a cunning way of closing and master keys. The chests were also decorated with carvings and paintings inside, the most common theme was a floral pattern. Wedding chests were especially richly and brightly painted. Chests made of cedar wood were highly valued, the specific smell of which repels moths.

SHELVES. Shelves, fixed tightly to the wall, were widely used in the hut. Shelves adjoining the wall along the entire length were called pendulous (from the word hang), shelves resting only at the ends were called crows.

Vorontsy regiments divided the premises of the hut into independent parts. Shelves can also be attributed to the hanging flooring - floors, which were made above the front door; between stove and wall. Above the benches there was a shelf-top shelf, which was slightly higher than the windows. Such shelves were supported by curly-shaped brackets.

CABINETS-SUPPLIERS. Over time (XVIII-XIX centuries), cabinets begin to appear in a peasant dwelling various sizes and types. Small cabinets are diverse in terms of decoration (carving, turning parts, profiles, painting). Patterns are geometric or vegetal in nature, more often a flowerpot. Sometimes there are images of genre scenes. Often through lockers were used in lockers, which was done to ventilate products.

The supply cabinets consisted of two parts: the lower one was equipped with shelves with lockable doors or drawers (two to five) and had a folding board, which was used as a table top. In the upper smaller part there were shelves closed with blind or glazed doors.

BEDS. For sleep, benches, benches, chests with a flat lid, built-in and mobile beds were used. The built-in bed was placed in the corner, tightly fastened to the walls on both sides and had one back. For infants, hanging cradles, cradles or cradles were intended, which were decorated with carvings, turning parts, painting, figured cutouts in boards.

The leading color scheme was golden ocher with the introduction of white and red. Golden-ocher tones are characteristic of the walls of the hut, wooden furniture, dishes, utensils. The towels on the icons were white, the red color sparkled in small spots in clothes, towels, in the plants on the windows, in the paintings of household utensils.

A modern version of the Russian house in the performance of the company "Russian House"

The hut was the main living quarters of the Russian house. Its interior was distinguished by strict, long-established forms, simplicity and expedient arrangement of objects. Its walls, ceiling and floor, as a rule unpainted and unpasted, had a pleasant warm color wood, light in new houses, dark in old ones.

The main place in the hut was occupied by a Russian stove. Depending on the local tradition, it stood to the right or left of the entrance, with its mouth to the side or front wall. This was convenient for the inhabitants of the house, since a warm stove blocked the way for cold air penetrating from the entrance hall (only in the southern, central black earth zone of European Russia, the stove was located in the corner farthest from the entrance).

Diagonally from the stove was a table, over which hung a goddess with icons. Along the walls were motionless benches, and above them were cut into the walls of the same width of the shelf - the benches. In the back of the hut, from the stove to the side wall, under the ceiling, they arranged a wooden flooring - a bed. In the southern Russian regions, behind the side wall of the stove there could be a wooden flooring for sleeping - a floor (platform). All this immovable atmosphere of the hut was built by carpenters along with the house and was called a mansion outfit.

The space of the Russian hut was divided into parts that had their specific purpose. The front corner with a goddess and a table was also called a large, red, holy one: family meals were arranged here, prayer books, the Gospel, and the Psalter were read aloud. Here on the shelves stood beautiful tableware. In houses where there was no room, the front corner was considered the front part of the hut, a place for receiving guests.

The space near the door and the stove was called the woman's corner, the stove corner, the middle corner, the middle, the middle. It was a place where women cooked food, practiced various works. There were pots and bowls on the shelves, tongs, a poker, a pomelo near the stove. The mythological consciousness of the people defined the stove corner as a dark, unclean place. In the hut there were, as it were, two sacred centers located diagonally: a Christian center and a pagan center, equally important for a peasant family.

The rather limited space of the Russian hut was organized in such a way that a family of seven to eight people was accommodated in it with more or less convenience. This was achieved due to the fact that each family member knew his place in the common space. Men usually worked and rested during the day on the men's half of the hut, which included a front corner with icons and a bench near the entrance. Women and children were in the women's quarters near the stove during the day.

Places for sleeping were also strictly distributed: children, boys and girls slept on the beds; the owner with the hostess of the house - under the beds on a special flooring or bench, to which a wide bench moved; old people on the stove or golbets. It was not supposed to break the order in the house unless it was absolutely necessary. A person who violates it was considered not to know the commandments of the fathers. Organization inner space the hut is reflected in the wedding song:

Will I enter my parent's bright room,
I will pray for everything on four sides,
Another first bow to the front corner,
I ask the Lord for a blessing
In a white body - health,
In the head of the mind-mind,
In the white hands of the clever,
To be able to please someone else's family.
I will give another bow to the middle corner,
For bread to him for salt,
For sleeping, for feeding,
For warm clothes.
And I will give the third bow to the warm corner
For his warming
For hot coals,
Hot bricks.
And in the last bow
Kutnoy corner
For his soft bed,
Downy behind the head,
For a dream, for a sweet nap.

The hut was kept as clean as possible, which was most typical for northern and Siberian villages. The floors in the hut were washed once a week, and on Easter, Christmas and the patronal holidays, not only the floor, but also the walls, ceiling, and benches were scraped bare with sand. Russian peasants tried to decorate their hut. On weekdays, her decoration was rather modest: a towel on the shrine, homespun rugs on the floor.

On a holiday, the Russian hut was transformed, especially if the house did not have a room: the table was covered with a white tablecloth; on the walls, closer to the front corner, and on the windows hung towels embroidered or woven with colored patterns; benches and chests standing in the house were covered with elegant paths. The interior of the chamber was somewhat different from the interior of the hut.

The upper room was the front room of the house and was not intended for permanent residence of the family. Accordingly, its interior space was decided differently - there were no floorboards and a platform for sleeping in it, instead of a Russian stove there was a Dutch stove lined with tiles, adapted only for heating the room, benches were covered with beautiful beds, ceremonial table utensils were placed on the benches, popular prints were hung on the walls near the shrine. pictures of religious and secular content and towels. For the rest, the mansion attire of the upper room repeated the motionless attire of the hut: in the corner farthest from the door there was a shrine with icons, along the walls of the shop, above them were shelf-shelves, many chests, sometimes placed one on top of the other.

It is difficult to imagine a peasant house without numerous utensils that have accumulated for decades, if not centuries, and literally filled its space. Utensils are utensils for preparing, preparing and storing food, serving it to the table - pots, patches, pelvises, pots, bowls, dishes, valleys, ladles2, crusts, etc .; all kinds of containers for picking berries and mushrooms - baskets, bodies, tuesas, etc .; various chests, caskets, caskets for storing household items, clothes and cosmetic accessories; items for kindling a fire and interior lighting at home - fire flint, lights, candlesticks and more. etc. All these items necessary for housekeeping were available in more or less quantity in every peasant family.

Household utensils were relatively the same type throughout the entire area of ​​the settlement of the Russian people, which is explained by the commonality of the domestic way of life of Russian peasants. Local variants of utensils were practically absent or, in any case, were less obvious than in clothing and food. Differences were manifested only in the utensils served on the table in holidays. At the same time, local originality found its expression not so much in the form of tableware, but in its decorative design.

A characteristic feature of Russian peasant utensils was the abundance of local names for the same item. Vessels of the same shape, of the same purpose, made of the same material, in the same way, were called in their own way in different provinces, counties, volosts and further villages. The name of the object changed depending on its use by a particular hostess: the pot in which porridge was cooked was called “kashnik” in one house, the same pot used in another house for cooking stew was called “puppy”.

The utensils of the same purpose were called differently, but made of different material: a vessel made of clay - a pot, made of cast iron - a cast-iron pot, made of copper - a tinker. The terminology often changed depending on the method of making the vessel: a cooperage-made vessel for fermenting vegetables - a tub, dugout made of wood - a dugout, made of clay - a trough. The interior decoration of the peasant house began to undergo noticeable changes in the last third of the 19th century. First of all, the changes affected the interior of the chamber, which was perceived by Russians as a symbol of the wealth of a peasant family.

The owners of the upper rooms sought to furnish them with items typical of the urban lifestyle: instead of benches, chairs, stools, canapels appeared - sofas with trellised or blank backs, instead of an old table with a base - an urban-type table covered with a “fillet” tablecloth. An indispensable accessory of the upper room was a dresser with drawers, a slide for festive dishes and smartly cleaned, with large quantity pillows for the bed, and framed photographs of relatives and clock-clocks hung near the shrine.

After some time, innovations also touched the hut: wooden partition separated the stove from the rest of the space, urban household items began to actively replace traditional fixed furniture. So, the bed gradually replaced the bed. In the first decade of the XX century. the decoration of the hut was replenished with cabinets, cupboards, mirrors and small sculptures. The traditional set of utensils lasted much longer, up to the 30s. XX century, which was explained by the stability of the peasant way of life, the functionality of household items. The only exception was the festive dining room, or rather, tea utensils: from the second half of XIX in. Along with the samovar, porcelain cups, saucers, sugar bowls, vases for jam, milk jugs, and metal teaspoons appeared in the peasant house.

Wealthy families used individual plates, jelly molds, glass glasses, glasses, goblets, bottles, etc. during festive meals. big city led to an almost complete replacement of previous ideas about the interior decoration of the house and the gradual death of traditional household culture.

A child is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.

The table is decorated by guests, and the house is decorated by children.

He does not die who does not leave children.

Be truthful even in relation to a child: keep your promise, otherwise you will teach him to lie.


— L.N. Tolstoy

Children need to be taught to speak, and adults to listen to children.

Let childhood mature in children.

Life must be disturbed more often so that it does not turn sour.

— M. Gorky

Children need to be given not only life, but also the opportunity to live.

Not the father-mother who gave birth, but the one who made him drink, nurtured, and taught good.

Interior arrangement of the Russian hut

The hut was the most important keeper of family traditions for a Russian person, a large family lived here, and children were brought up. The hut was a symbol of comfort and tranquility. The word "hut" comes from the word "heat". The firebox is the heated part of the house, hence the word "fire".

The interior decoration of a traditional Russian hut was simple and comfortable: a table, benches, benches, capitals (stools), chests - everything was done in the hut with their own hands, carefully and with love, and was not only useful, beautiful, pleasing to the eye, but carried its own protective properties. In good owners, everything in the hut sparkled with cleanliness. On the walls are embroidered white towels; floor, table, benches scraped.

There were no rooms in the house, so the entire space was divided into zones, according to the functions and purpose. Separation was carried out using a kind of fabric curtain. In this way, the economic part was separated from the residential part.

The central place in the house was given to the stove. The stove sometimes occupied almost a quarter of the hut, and the more massive it was, the more heat it accumulated. It depended on its location. interior layout at home. That's why the saying arose: "Dance from the stove." The stove was an integral part of not only the Russian hut, but also the Russian tradition. It served at the same time as a source of heat, and a place for cooking, and a place to sleep; used in the treatment of a variety of diseases. In some areas, people washed and steamed in the oven. The stove, at times, personified the entire dwelling, its presence or absence determined the nature of the building (a house without a stove is non-residential). Cooking in a Russian oven was a sacred act: raw, undeveloped food turned into boiled, mastered food. The oven is the soul of the house. The kind, honest Mother-stove in whose presence they did not dare to say a swear word, under which, according to the beliefs of the ancestors, the keeper of the hut lived - Brownie. Rubbish was burned in the stove, since it could not be taken out of the hut.

The place of the stove in the Russian house can be seen from the respect with which the people treated their hearth. Not every guest was allowed to go to the stove, and if they allowed someone to sit on their stove, then such a person became especially close, welcome in the house.

The stove was installed diagonally from the red corner. So called the most elegant part of the house. The very word "red" means: "beautiful", "good", "bright". The red corner was placed opposite front door so that everyone who enters can appreciate the beauty. The red corner was well lit, since both of its constituent walls had windows. The decoration of the red corner was especially reverent and they tried to keep it clean. He was the most honored place in the house. Especially important family values, amulets, idols were located here. Everything was placed on a shelf or table lined with an embroidered towel, in a special order. According to tradition, a person who came to the hut could go there only at the special invitation of the owners.

As a rule, everywhere in Russia there was a table in the red corner. In a number of places it was placed in the wall between the windows - against the corner of the stove. The table has always been a place where the unity of family members took place.

In the red corner, near the table, two benches meet, and on top - two shelves of a bench. All significant events of family life were marked in the red corner. Here, at the table, both everyday meals and festive feasts were held; many calendar rituals took place. In the wedding ceremony, the matchmaking of the bride, her ransom from her girlfriends and brother were performed in the red corner; from the red corner of her father's house they took her away; brought to the groom's house and also led to the red corner.

Opposite the red corner there was a furnace or “baby” corner (kut). There, women cooked food, spun, wove, sewed, embroidered, etc. Here, near the window, against the mouth of the furnace, hand millstones stood in every house, so the corner is also called a millstone. On the walls were observers - shelves for tableware, cabinets. Above, at the level of the benches, there was an oven beam, on which kitchen dishes, and fit a variety of household items. The stove corner, closed with a wooden partition, formed a small room, which had the name "closet" or "prilub". It was a kind of women's space in the hut: here women cooked food, rested after work.

The relatively small space of the hut was organized in such a way that a rather large family of seven to eight people was located in it with the greatest convenience. This was achieved due to the fact that each member of the family knew their place in the common space. Men worked, rested during the day on the men's half of the hut, which included a front corner and a bench near the entrance. Women and children were during the day in the women's quarters near the stove. Places for night sleep have also been allocated. Sleeping places were located on benches and even on the floor. Under the very ceiling of the hut, between two adjacent walls and the stove, a wide plank platform was laid on a special beam - “platy”. The children especially liked to sit on the floorboards - and it was warm and everything was visible. Children, and sometimes adults, slept on the beds, clothes were folded here, onions, garlic and peas were dried here. Under the ceiling, a baby cradle was fixed.

All household belongings were kept in chests. They were massive, heavy, and sometimes reached such a size that it was quite possible for an adult to sleep on them. Chests were made to last for centuries, so they were strengthened from the corners forged metal, such furniture lived in families for decades, being inherited.

In a traditional Russian dwelling, benches ran along the walls in a circle, starting from the entrance, and served for sitting, sleeping, and storing various household items. AT old huts benches were decorated with "edge" - a board nailed to the edge of the bench, hanging from it like a frill. Such shops were called "pubescent" or "with a canopy", "with a view. Under the benches they kept various items that, if necessary, were easy to get: axes, tools, shoes, etc. In traditional rituals and in the sphere of traditional norms of behavior, a shop acts as a place that not everyone is allowed to sit in. So, entering the house, especially strangers, it was customary to stand at the threshold until the owners invited them to come in and sit down. on the bench by invitation only.

There were many children in the Russian hut, and the cradle - the cradle was just as necessary an attribute of the Russian hut as a table or stove. Bast, reeds, pine shingles, linden bark were common materials for making cradles. More often, the cradle was hung in the back of the hut, next to the firebox. A ring was driven into a thick ceiling log, a “rocker” was hung on it, on which a cradle was attached to the ropes. It was possible to rock such a cradle with the help of a special strap with a hand, and in case of busy hands, with a foot. In some regions, the cradle was hung on an ochep - a rather long wooden pole. Most often, a well-bending and springy birch was used for the ochepa. Hanging the cradle from the ceiling was not accidental: the ceiling accumulated the most warm air to keep the baby warm. There was a belief that heavenly forces guard a child raised above the floor, so it grows better and accumulates vital energy. Gender was perceived as the boundary between the world of people and the world where evil spirits live: the souls of the dead, ghosts, brownies. To protect the child from them, amulets were necessarily placed under the cradle. And on the head of the cradle they carved the sun, in the legs - a month and stars, multi-colored rags, wooden painted spoons were fastened. The cradle itself was decorated with carvings or paintings. A canopy was a mandatory attribute. The most beautiful fabric was chosen for the canopy, it was decorated with lace and ribbons. If the family was poor, they used an old sundress, which, despite the summer, looked smart.

In the evenings, when it got dark, the Russian huts were lit with torches. Luchina was the only source of illumination in the Russian hut for many centuries. Usually birch was used as a torch, which burned brightly and did not smoke. A bundle of splinters was inserted into special forged lights that could be fixed anywhere. Sometimes they used oil lamps - small bowls with upturned edges.

The curtains on the windows were plain or patterned. They were woven from natural fabrics, decorated with protective embroidery. white lace self made all textile items were decorated: tablecloths, curtains and a sheet valance.

On a holiday, the hut was transformed: the table was moved to the middle, covered with a tablecloth, festive utensils, which had previously been stored in crates, were put on the shelves.

as the main colors golden-ocher was used for the hut, with the addition of red and white flowers. Furniture, walls, dishes, painted in golden-ocher tones, were successfully complemented by white towels, red flowers, and beautiful paintings.

The ceiling could also be painted in the form of floral ornaments.

Through the use of exclusively natural materials during construction and interior decoration, in the huts it was always cool in summer and warm in winter.

In the atmosphere of the hut there was not a single superfluous random object, each thing had its own strictly defined purpose and a place illuminated by tradition, which is a distinctive feature of the character of the Russian dwelling.