Excursions to open air museum Kizhi

Excursions to open air museum Kizhi

Kizhi Island is one of over 1650 islands in Lake Onega, the second largest lake in Europe. Lake Onega is found in the Republic of Karelia, and Kizhi is one of the largest outdoor museums in Russia. Kizhi focuses on peasant life and customs in the Russian north and includes 83 wooden structures, most of which date back to the 18th or 19th century.

One of the main attractions located there is the Transfiguration Cathedral built in 1714. Thirty thousand shingles, made of aspen wood, on twenty-two separate cupolas (domes) on five tents compose the ascending nest. The aspen wood reflects a myriad of hues changing the color of the cupolas depending on the light. A spectacular sight and hard to believe it was done with wood.

The collection of the Open-Air "Kizhi" Museum includes 89 monuments of wooden architecture: old chapels and houses, windmills and granaries, threshing barns and racks for drying crops…The gem of this collection is the 22 domed Church of the Transfiguration of Our Savior, 37 meters height. The Church of the Intercession of Holy Mary and the Bell-Tower located nearby emphasize the harmony and magnificence of the main Church.

Villages original to the island also exist, and some houses are still inhabited by locals. Villages on Kizhi Island demonstrate rural life in Karelia, its traditional crafts and tasks of peasant life. Throughout Kizhi Island are remarkable examples of wooden architecture.

• Kizhi Island is home to the oldest wooden church in Russia, the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus, which was built in the late 14th century.
• While many of the buildings on Kizhi Island have stood for centuries, it was not until the 1960's that the Soviets decided to make Kizhi Island into an open-air museum.
• No nails were used in the construction of the wooden architecture of Kizhi Island. Instead, pieces of wood have been notched together to form even the most intricate structures.

The complex of buildings original to Kizhi Island, the Pogost of Our Savior, is on UNESCO's World Heritage Site list.