The name Saratov may have been derived from, Sary Tau (Сары Тау), meaning "Yellow Mountain" in the Tatar language.

Another version of the name originates from the words, Sar Atau, which means [the] "Boggy Island".

1590,[2] during the reign (1584–1598) of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, who constructed several settlements along the Volga River in order to secure the southeastern boundary of his state.

During January 1915, with World War I dominating the Russian national agenda, Saratov became the destination for deportation convoys of ethnic Germans, Jews, Hungarians, Austrians and Slavs whose presence closer to the western front was perceived as a potential security risk to the state.

The main target was the Kirov oil refinery, which was heavily bombarded, seriously damaging the installation and destroying 80% of its plant and temporarily interrupting its work.

The Luftwaffe was able to destroy all the fuel stock at bases in Saratov and eliminate the oil plant in the city.

Catherine II, through her two edicts published in Germany, had promised the settlers that they would remain German, enjoying a great deal of autonomy, even if they moved to the Volga region, and they did so.

Summers are hot and in Saratov daytime temperatures of +30 °C (86 °F) or higher are commonplace, up to +40.9 °C (105.6 °F) during a heat wave in 2010.

The rolling stock currently consists of 71-605, 71-619, 71-608 and a number of refurbished Tatra T3, renamed to MTTE and MTTCh.

On July 2, 2021, an intercity route over the Volga was opened, linking to the trolleybus network of Engels.

In the 2021 Census, the following ethnic groups were listed:[27] Saratov is host to a number of colleges and universities.

The main building of the conservatory had been built in 1902 by architect Alexander Yulyevich Yagn, and originally it housed a music school.

When Saratov Conservatory opened in September 1912, it immediately had 1,000 students ready to begin their studies.

In Soviet times, the theater was renamed in honor of Karl Marx, but now carries the name of Ivan Slonov (1882–1945), an actor, theatrical director and educator, born in the city.

A. Slonov Saratov State Academic Theater (Саратовский государственный академический театр драмы имени И. А. Слонова).

The Radishchev Art Museum contains more than 20,000 exhibits, including ancient Russian icons, works by Camille Corot, Auguste Rodin, as well as works by some of the finest Russian painters (e.g. Ivan Kramskoy, Vasily Polenov, Ilya Repin, Ivan Shishkin, Aleksandra Ekster, Pavel Kuznetsov, Aristarkh Lentulov, Robert Falk, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Martiros Saryan, Fyodor Rokotov).