Kissing Rite

In the XVI century and earlier in Russia, women from wealthy families lived quite closedly, communicating only with close relatives. The church was visited on major holidays. The streets moved in closed crews ^[2] .

The kissing rite appeared in Russia no earlier than the 17th century . After the end of the feast, the wife or daughter of the owner of the house came out to the guests, brought a glass of drink to the guests, and received a kiss from the guest on the cheek.

G.P. Uspensky believes that the rite could be borrowed from foreigners living in Russia. Ivan Zabelin compares it to “pagan worship” ^[3] .

Baron Mayerberg, who visited Moscow in 1661 , composed a description of the rite. After the end of the table, the guest of the house owner comes out in the best clothes, accompanied by two or three girls. Touching her lips to the goblet , she passes the goblet with the drink to the guest. While the guest is drinking, the hostess goes into another room and changes the outerwear there. In new clothes, she brings the cup to another guest. After the drink was served to all the guests, the hostess, having downcast her eyes, rises to the wall (or stove) and takes a kiss from all the guests.

Tanner wrote that the kiss ceremony was carried out after the intensified requests of the guests, or to honor especially important guests. The husband or father asked the guest to kiss his wife or daughter as a sign of friendship and love. The husband allowed one of the guests, or his benefactor, to talk with his wife in his absence.

• Meyerberg A. A trip to Muscovy by Baron Augustine Mayerberg and Horace Wilhelm Kalonczucci, ambassadors of the August Roman Emperor Leopold to Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich in 1661, described by Baron Mayerberg himself . - M .: University Printing House, 1874. - 260 p.
• Uspensky G.P. Experience in the narration of Russian antiquities. - Kharkov: 1818. - S. 101-105.