Day 6: Kizhi

We walked from the hotel to the harbour where we boarded a hydrofoil to take us to the island of Kizhi. The island is situated in the centre of Lake Onega, the second largest lake in Europe. The Island is about 6km long.

 At one point in the 16th century, the island was declared a pogost (or parish centre ) by the Russian Orthodox church and produced timber and iron in an economy that sustained over 100 villages. After a two year rebellion was quelled in 1771, Kizhi's importance waned  and the island was almost forgotten. By the mid 1900s most of the inhabitants had left leaving behind impressive wooden buildings. In the 60s the Soviets decided to make Kizhi Island into an open air museum. 

The buildings that were left were restored and set in three sectors named after the regions they came from - North Karelia, Karelia and Pudozhsky. The island was declared an UNESCO World Heritage site in 1990.The structures date from various centuries and have been transported to the island from various villages so they may be preserved and be accessible to the public.  


The collection centres around two churches and a bell tower. The 22 dome Transfiguration church was built in 1714 from locally cut Scots pine logs using a special notching technique that precluded the use of nails. It replaced an earlier church that had been burnt down. It was the main church for this area until 1764 when a smaller 9 dome church was built for winter use. In 1862 a bell tower was erected to tie the two buildings together.

In the sunshine the domes shine as if made from a precious metal. It is hard to believe they have been constructed from wood. They have to be restored after so many years (can't remember how many!). You can see the older ones towards the front have a silvery sheen to them.

Restoration work was ongoing and currently visitors cannot access the inside of this church

This church is still used for services for those who live and work on the island so we were able to have a look around.

The three priests sang a short hymn for us/

The wall of icons which is an important part of  every Russian Orthodox church.

We had a look in some of the houses.

A typical village home.

This was the home of a more affluent family. The open space at the upper side of the house was where they kept their boat in the winter as the lake freezes in the winter.

A pine bathhouse from the early 20thC. It consists of a dressing room and a washroom heated by a stove without a chimney.

The hand made fences were this shape to prevent cattle from using their horns to remove the fence from the ground.

As well as the restored buildings there were demonstrations of traditional crafts and tasks that would have been undertaken in the villages. This man was making traditional wooden toys.
























Here was another villager tending the vegetable garden. Food from here was used to make food in the restaurant where traditional food is sold.

This is the Chapel of the Archangel Michael (18th C) from the Village of Lelikozeroin the Republic of Karelia which was brought to the open air museum here on Kizhi in 1961. It is a traditional religious building. The chapel consists of three parts: a chapel, a refectory and an anteroom with an octagonal tent belfry.

The original icons  and painted 'heaven' ceiling have been preserved in the chapel.

Windmill (early 20th C) from the island of Volkostrov. The windmill was used for grinding grain.

The Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus was moved to the island from the Murom Monastery on the lake's eastern shore. Dating back to the 14th century it is by far the oldest building in the collection and is actually the oldest wooden church still standing in Russia.

We spent most of the day wandering around the island and had lunch in the restaurant. I had traditional fish soup and bread  which was very tasty. I was ready for a rest by the time we got back to the hotel that evening and decided not to go out but to just have a snack in the hotel bar. I was joined by three others from the tour and we enjoyed a very pleasant evening together.