Today we will visit amazing place in Karelia, the picturesque island of Kizhi, which is located in the northern part Lake Onega in the Kizhi Skerries, a group of islands in the region of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula. By the way, Lake Onega is considered the second largest reservoir in Europe. The first place, as we already know, is occupied by Lake Baikal. The island got its name from the Karelian word "kizhat". The translation of this word means "games." According to historians, the island served the ancient peoples of Karelia as a place where pagan rites were held. The area of ​​the island is relatively small, a walk along the edge of the coast will take no more than an hour. But viewing the expositions can drag on for a whole day. The reserve is open to tourists, but camping and burning fires on the island is prohibited. The island has a unique museum-reserve, located under open sky, Museum of Peasant Culture of the Russian North. The museum includes 76 buildings. In addition to the museum buildings, there are three villages on Kizhi Island (Kizhi, Vasilyevo and Yamka). In the 18th century there were nine villages on the island.

Interesting fact: on the territory of the Museum of the Reserve, the Bell Ringing Festival is regularly held, where the best bell ringers of Russia compete in their art.

Museum of peasant life

The founders of the ethnographic museum managed to restore the life and peasant life of the inhabitants of the North. Numerous tourists got the opportunity to touch a bygone era. On the island, masters of long-forgotten professions in national Karelian attire scurry about their handicraft business. Craftsmen with pleasure and interest share the secrets of their skills with tourists, demonstrate the techniques of carpentry and weaving. Souvenirs are made in front of your eyes, carved from wood, embroidered and woven from beads. All tourists can get the opportunity to get acquainted with household items, visit gardens, in general, plunge into peasant life to the fullest.

More than forty thousand household items of the 17th-18th centuries are collected in the museum. More than 500 ancient icons have been collected in the churches of Kizhi Island. Several species of rare plants listed in the Red Book grow on the territory of the island. The diameter of the trunk of an old linden tree exceeds 1 meter. On the island, traces of the Ice Age remained, captured in the form of funnels and piles of boulders, which were brought by the glacier more than 9000 years ago during its movement along the mainland.

Kizhi Island in its history survived earthquakes with a magnitude of over 12 points (about 3000 years ago). The island is famous not only for its architecture; on its territory, archaeologists have discovered the remains of over 50 settlements of ancient people. In 1993, Kizhi Island was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It takes 1 hour 15 minutes for a speedboat to overcome the distance of 68 kilometers separating the island from the capital of Karelia - Petrozavodsk. The ticket price is 2500 rubles. The length of the island is about 7 kilometers, the width varies from 500 to 1500 meters. The Lazarevskaya Church on the island of Kizhi was actually not built on the island - it was transported from one corner of Karelia.

Kizhi Island Map

1. Chapel of the Three Hierarchs, 17th century
2. Pryazhinsky sector
3. Yamka village
4. Chapel of the Savior Not Made by Hands, 18th century
5. Chapel of the Dormition of the Mother of God of the 18th century
6. Village Vasilkovo
7. jetty
8. Residential building of the 19th century
9. Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord 1714
10. Belfry 1874
11. Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God 1764
12. Residential building 1876
13. Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus XIV century.
14. Windmill 1928
15. Residential building 1907
16. Chapel of Michael the Archangel XVII century.
17. Residential building 1910
18. Forge Kizhi - museum-reserve

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It is difficult to find an adult educated person in Russia who would not know about Kizhi island. Everyone knows that this is a fantastic monument of wooden architecture, included in the list of world cultural values ​​of UNESCO.

The Orthodox are convinced that the island in Lake Onega with its wooden churches is almost the most sacred place in the Russian North.

Linguists argue which of the northern peoples gave the name to the island of Kizhi - Veps or Finns. It's not even clear what it means. According to the Vepsian version, the name of the island comes from the word "kizh", that is, "moss". There is more than enough moss in these places!

Kizhi architectural ensemble. About 1900

But the same Veps also have another word - “kizi”, that is, “games, folk festivals”. Opponents believe that the island was named by the Finns or Chud, Merya or Karelians close to them in language. And in fact, before it was called Kizha-saari, which again translates as "the island of games." But we do not mean folk festivals, but prayers in sacred forests and on sacred shores to the Finno-Ugric gods.

Simply put, Kizha-saari was the center of a pagan cult. With ritual dances, chants and sacrifices. In ancient times - bloody.

This non-Russian land

The island became relatively Russian only in the 11th century, when Novgorodians came to these northern lands. They themselves, of course, did not live on the island, but they kept the “attached” population with a firm hand. Kizhi, like other islands of Lake Onega, and the shores of this lake, were part of the Obonezh Pyatina - one of the administrative-territorial units of the Novgorod Republic.

Of course, Christian Novgorod sought to bring the light of the new faith to the lost Finno-Ugric souls. So the local people got on sacred place their games the Orthodox Church. It was in this unobtrusive way that Orthodoxy was introduced to the lands of the pagans.

True, what this church was - no one knows. It is clear that it was made of wood (it is not very good with stone on Kizhi), but we don’t know how it looked and whether it was similar to the current temples. Baptized local residents (probably, as in other places) willingly went to church and prayed to the pagan gods no less zealously. That is, "kizha" continued for quite a long time, even in the 17th century.

This, however, did not prevent the island from becoming a stronghold of Onega Orthodoxy. In 1478, the independent Novgorod Republic fell, and Moscow princes became the new masters of the northern lands. To strengthen their power, in 1496 they made Kizhi the center of a new administrative unit - the Spaso-Kizhi churchyard.

Now about 130 villages and villages on other islands and on the mainland, Unitskaya Bay and the entire south of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula were subordinate to Kizhi.

Local authorities settled in Kizhi, people's meetings took place here, trade was conducted and litigation was dealt with. The cadastres of the end of the 16th century mention 12 villages on the islet and two wooden churches: "The Graveyard of Spassky in Kizhi on Onega Lake, and on the graveyard the Church of the Transfiguration of Spasovo, and another Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God."

There were also two parish churches: on the Great Guba and on the Lychny Island of Lake Sandal. Both island churches were built on the so-called Maryanina Hill, where pagan games used to be held.

According to one of the legends, one day lightning struck them and burned the buildings to the ground. The legend probably didn't come out of nowhere. It is known that the Finno-Ugric peoples contrived to perform pagan rites in Orthodox churches!

The fate of the metropolitan

Through Kizhi in that era lay the pilgrimage route from Moscow to the Solovetsky Monastery. The legend about the young years of Metropolitan Philip (Kolychev), who became famous for his dramatic confrontation with Ivan the Terrible, is also connected with Kizhi.

During the northern wanderings, Philip (then not yet a metropolitan and not even a monk yet) allegedly hired a worker for a wealthy peasant named Sidorko Saturday in the village of Zharenskaya. The peasant assigned him to herd the sheep. Local residents suffered greatly that year from snakes, they were even afraid to graze cattle near the village. The future saint drove away the snakes.

He also set up a fence that the wolves could not overcome. And once he caught a sturgeon in the lake waters and brought it to a peasant for an Orthodox holiday. But he was a modest man, and when they began to say around him that he worked miracles, he immediately set off again on his journey to Solovki.

Two more legends are also connected with the name of Philip - about Svyat-pillow and Smol-pillow. These are two capes that look at each other. One is on the southern tip of Kizhi Island, the other is on the northern shore of Bolshoi Klimenetsky (Klimetsky) Island. Between them lies a never-freezing strait.

According to legend, when Kolychev approached the strait to cross to the mainland, he was transported by a local resident, nicknamed Smolyu for the color of his hair. The cape where Kolychev stood became known as Svyat-pillow, and the cape where Smol stood became Smol-pillow. The strip of non-freezing water was named St. salma or "holy polynya".

The name of Philip, who suffered from the ruthless Tsar Ivan the Terrible, was very loved in the Russian North. It is not surprising that the pilgrims who flocked to the Solovetsky Monastery connected it with the island of Kizhi, gradually acquiring a halo of holiness.

Without a single nail

In the XVII century, after the reign of Ivan the Terrible and the end of the Time of Troubles, the island's churches fell into some decline. Local legend even says that they were deserted and began to collapse. It was then that lightning burned them to the ground. However, a century later, Peter the Great ordered the restoration of the temples.

In 1714, the construction of the Church of the Transfiguration began, but not on Maryanina Hill. One of the legends says that Peter personally designed this temple. Allegedly, he sailed past Kizhi, saw how everything was deserted there, moored to the shore and drew with a cane on coastal sand plan of the future temple.

Another legend says that the project of the church belongs entirely to the carpenter Nestor - he designed the church and built it himself. And without a single nail. And when the construction was completed, Nestor threw an ax into the waters of the lake and said: "Never happened, never will." That is, no one has built anything like this before, and no one will build anything like this again.

Both legends have nothing to do with historical truth. And Peter had nothing to do with the construction of the Church of the Transfiguration, and the carpenter Nestor did not exist. And in general, six years before the construction in Kizhi, a similar wooden structure was erected in the village of Anhimovo, which is located very close to Kizhi.

The legend that the many-domed northern churches were built without a single nail is also incorrect. Yes, the main structures were interconnected with the help of grooves, like the details of the designer. But the wooden scales on the domes had to be properly strengthened, otherwise the domes would have “bald” and lost all their beauty in the very first year. They were fastened with iron pins, that is, they were practically planted on nails.

In addition to the Church of the Transfiguration, the Intercession Church was erected, as well as a hipped bell tower. But the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin was built half a century later - in 1764. And the hipped bell tower - and at all in 1863, on the site of an earlier building that had fallen into disrepair and had fallen into disrepair.

In ancient times, the complex of church buildings was surrounded by a wooden fence, which was supposed to play the role of a fortress wall. The fence, of course, was not preserved. The one that exists today is a modern reconstruction.

However, in ancient times the fence was of little use. The invaders of Kizhi did not even need it for nothing. Even with the Swedes there were no military clashes. But behind this fence in 1769-1771, the Kizhi authorities hid from the rebellious ascribed peasants.

Soldiers had to be sent to put down the rebellion. Perhaps this was the only serious protest of the inhabitants of Kizhi against their superiors. For the most part, life on the island was peaceful and quiet.

From the 17th century, the island was mastered by industrialists for the smelting of copper, and then iron. Over time, the Spaso-Kizhi churchyard turned into the Kizhi volost. Neither two Russian revolutions, nor two world wars touched Kizhi.

Kizhi has never been blown up and never bombed. So the wooden buildings managed to be preserved in the form in which they were from the moment of construction. So they still delight our eyes today.

Perhaps the most famous landmark of Karelia is Kizhi Island with a unique architectural ensemble. This island is located in the northern part of Lake Onega. Its length is 7 km, width in different places is from 0.5 to 1.5 km. In 1966, the Kizhi State Historical and Architectural Museum was founded here. Now he is known all over the world. Tourists not only from Russia, but also from other countries of the world come here to admire the masterpieces of wooden architecture. Excursions from Petrozavodsk and St. Petersburg are regularly organized. In 1990, the museum on Kizhi Island was included in the List world heritage UNESCO, and in 1993 - in the State Code of Particularly Valuable Objects cultural heritage peoples of Russia. In 2011, the Kizhi Museum received the title best museum Russia. So we can say with confidence that it is a "pearl" not only of Karelia, but of the whole country. The Kizhi Museum regularly hosts various folklore holidays and other events.

An interesting fact is that when pronouncing the word "Kizhi", the emphasis is placed on both the first and second syllables. At the same time, the first variant is often used in Karelia, and the generally accepted variant in other regions of Russia is with an emphasis on the second syllable.

The name of the island Kizhi comes from the Karelian word "kizhat", which can be translated as "games". In the X century. settlers from Novgorod began to develop the harsh northern lands, they began to cultivate the land, fish, and raise livestock. It is the Novgorodians who are the ancestors of modern Kizhans. In the 15th century, Novgorod was annexed to the Muscovite state - along with it, the Kizhi lands were annexed. Around that time, the first documentary mentions of the Kizhi churchyard date back. Here the word "graveyard" means several villages united among themselves. The administrative and religious center was located on the island of Kizhi.

Already at that time there were places of worship. Peasant unrest is known from history. The fact is that in the XVII century. iron-smelting plants were built on Lake Onega, and many Karelian peasants were assigned to these enterprises. But the freedom-loving northerners, accustomed to doing their own thing, rebelled. Two riots are widely known in history, both were brutally suppressed. In 1697, a fire broke out from a lightning strike during a severe thunderstorm. Many buildings were destroyed. After some time, their recovery began.

So, why is the Kizhi Museum so attractive to tourists from all over the world? What objects are included in it? Here is a unique architectural ensemble - a fine example of wooden architecture. Firstly, these are two wooden churches and a bell tower of the 18th-19th centuries, which were originally located here. By the time they were built, carpentry was at its peak. It is clear that gradually wooden buildings give way to stone ones. The churches in Kizhi are a magnificent example of the traditional wooden architecture of northern Russia. In addition, after the formation of the museum, a number of buildings from various regions of Karelia were brought here. It should also be noted the picturesque nature that surrounds all this splendor.

Another building on the island of Kizhi is the Church of the Intercession (or the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin). This is the so-called "winter" (ie, heated) temple. It was built in 1764. Its creators faced a difficult task - after all, there was a magnificent Transfiguration Church nearby, with which the newly erected temple should be in harmony. And it was beautifully executed. The Church of the Intercession does not pretend to the greatness of the Transfiguration Church, but only complements it. Its roof is crowned with nine domes - one central, which is surrounded by eight more.

The third object, which was originally located on the island, and was not moved here in the process of the formation of the museum, is the hipped bell tower. It was built in 1863 on the site of an old dilapidated bell tower. It consists of two log cabins: the lower part is a four-sided log cabin, an octahedral smaller one is installed on it. Above is a belfry, above it is a tent. The hipped bell tower perfectly complements the churches described above.

Also on the island of Kizhi there are several buildings that were transported here already in the 20th century. a few years before the opening of the museum. First, the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus. This is the oldest surviving building in Karelia. According to legend, many centuries ago, the Monk Lazar founded the Murom Monastery on the eastern shore of Lake Onega. He also built the church, which was the first building of the monastery. It is named after the biblical character - Lazarus from Bethany, his miraculous resurrection is described by John in the New Testament. This church was the main relic of the monastery, it was believed that it relieves serious illnesses. During the years of Soviet power, an agricultural commune was organized on the site of the Murom Monastery. In 1959, the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus was dismantled and moved to Kizhi. In 1960 it was restored. The iconostasis of 17 icons of the 16th-18th centuries has been preserved.

Chapel of Michael the Archangel, including a hipped bell tower, was transported to the island of Kizhi in 1961. Previously, it was located in the village of Lelikozero.

Also on Kizhi Island you can see a windmill built in 1928. In 1976 it was reconstructed. The mill is still in operation today. The body is mounted on a vertical shaft, so it can be rotated in the direction of the wind. Eight wings are mounted on a horizontal shaft.

Amazing and mysterious Kizhi island is a place that has become a real symbol of the skill and talent of the architects of the Russian North. Today there is a museum-reserve included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The island is located in the northern part, 68 kilometers from, and is the most popular attraction in Karelia after. Tourists come here from all over Russia, from the nearest Scandinavian states, from the Baltic states and countries Western Europe, from Asia and even from overseas.

Most interesting objects open-air museums - the fabulous Transfiguration and Intercession churches, a bell tower with a hipped dome, a windmill with eight wings, the chapel of the Archangel Michael and the Oshevnev house-museum, as well as old huts and outbuildings brought here from other places and organically complementing the overall historical picture .

About the island of Kizhi and its sights - our article.

• It is believed that the island of Kizhi got its name from the Karelian word "kizhat", which means "games". Archaeologists are of the opinion that in pre-Christian times, pagan rituals and rituals took place here.
• Most of us are accustomed to pronouncing the word "Kizhi" with an emphasis on the second syllable, however, philologists and local residents argue that the pronunciation of the name of the island with an emphasis on the first syllable is the orthoepic correct option.
• In addition to the historical and architectural museum, there are three villages on Kizhi Island - Kizhi, Vasilyevo and Yamka. Each of them has only two or three yards, but this does not prevent them from attracting tourists every year - such landscapes and such a unique peasant flavor cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
• The ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost received the status of a historical and architectural monument in the 20s of the last century, but it became an open-air museum only four centuries later - in 1966.
• During the years of the occupation of Karelia by the Finnish troops, the ensemble miraculously did not suffer - it was saved only by the fact that the Finns treated it with care in the hope of including the island in their country and making it an object of research for Finnish scientists. Of course, these plans were not destined to come true, but they managed to save the unique monuments of Russian wooden architecture.

• There is a legend that the invaders still planned to destroy the island of Kizhi and all its sights, however, seeing the incredible, almost unearthly beauty of the Intercession and Transfiguration churches, the pilots flying the bombers dropped bombs into the lake. However, documentary evidence of this fact has not yet been found.
• The Church of the Transfiguration on the island of Kizhi is made of pine logs, and its cupolas and barrels are covered with the so-called " ploughshare"- small plates carved from aspen. The use of such materials gives rise to an amazing combination of gray-brown shades of log church walls with silver-colored domes covered with aspen plates, reflecting all the colors of the surrounding nature. Against the background of the cold northern sky, this picture becomes even more beautiful and mysterious.

• It is believed that the churches of the island were built without a single nail. This statement is only partly true - nails were not really used in the construction of walls and towers, but they were still used when covering the domes with aspen scales.
• In the middle of the 20th century, the first large-scale restoration of the ensemble was carried out - it lasted 10 years. In the 80s, a metal frame was installed in the Church of the Transfiguration to prevent the building from collapsing. Unfortunately, he damaged some of the logs, so the iconostasis and the unique “sky” ceiling had to be dismantled.
• The last restoration of the ensemble began in 2010 and continues to this day. In order not to damage the overall historical appearance of the buildings and prolong their life, the master restorers also use the techniques used 300 years ago during the construction of the Church of the Transfiguration.

Sights of Kizhi Island

Website of the Museum-Reserve "Kizhi": kizhi.karelia.ru Entrance ticket price: 600 rubles, pensioners, students - 300 rubles, children under 16 years old - free of charge.

The main attractions of the island are, of course, the “summer” Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the “winter” Church of the Intercession, the hipped bell tower and the fence surrounding them. All together they form a single ensemble "Kizhi Pogost", which is unique in the whole world. It is located in the southern part of the island, for the sake of which tourists mainly come, visiting the island for the first time. Word " churchyard" in this case means administrative District. It is the objects of the Kizhi Pogost that are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

There are other buildings on the island that are very interesting for both adults and teenage children.

Church of the Transfiguration on Kizhi Island

Church of the Transfiguration under restoration

The 38-meter Transfiguration Church is the main monument of Kizhi Island, probably known to every schoolchild. It is her photo that is printed in history textbooks in topics about Russian architecture. The completely wooden building, topped with 22 domes, giving it the appearance of a royal chamber from a Russian fairy tale, dates from 1714. It is believed that it was built on the site of a church that burned down at the end of the 16th century.

There are two main legends regarding the creation of this greatest architectural masterpiece. The first is that the designer and builder of the Church of the Transfiguration was none other than Emperor Peter the Great himself. He sailed along Lake Onega, saw a fallen forest on the shore and ordered to build a miracle, which has no equal and never will.

The second legend says that the Church of the Transfiguration on the island of Kizhi was built by a talented craftsman named Nestor. Having finished the work, he threw the ax into the waters of Lake Onega - this was done so that no one would ever dare to build something as great again. Be that as it may, the covenant of both Peter and Nestor has been fulfilled - probably, a master whose talent could surpass the skill of the creators of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord has not yet been born.

Even the shape of the church is not typical for religious buildings of that time - it is rounded. The creator chose the octagon as the main figure. There are three of them in the temple, each of them consists of two tiers and is lower than the previous one in height. The parishioners also took an active part in the construction of the temple. The temple is a "summer" building and does not work in winter.

Unfortunately, in the 80s of the last century, during the installation of the metal frame, the iconostasis and the unique "heavenly" ceiling were damaged - they had to be dismantled and transferred to various museums for storage. Since 2010, the Transfiguration Church has been under reconstruction. I must say that the very frame, due to which part of the interior decoration of the church suffered, nevertheless played a positive role - only thanks to it the building has not yet collapsed under its own weight.

A refectory is attached to the Transfiguration Church - an equally unique structure, the logs of which tend to shimmer in clear and sunny weather. In the past, local residents used it for public meetings, courts, or various holidays.

Church of the Intercession

The Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God, as well as the Church of the Transfiguration on Kizhi Island, is a unique monument that testifies to the incredible skill and talent of the architects of the Russian North. Its architecture echoes the architecture of the Church of the Transfiguration and the hipped bell tower - all together they form an integral composition and organically complement each other.

Intercession Church has a more modest size and austere appearance. It is crowned with only nine domes, and the only decorative element of its facade is a patterned wooden pediment, the geometric shapes of which are directed to heaven. This is the so-called "winter" type of temple, designed for worship in the harsh winter time.

It is known that the Church of the Intercession burned and was repeatedly rebuilt, and it acquired the look that we admire today only in 1764. The temple is equipped with a high porch and vestibule - this is a characteristic feature of the churches being built at that time in the northern part Russian Empire. The interior decoration is represented by a high iconostasis, many elements of which were lost during the bloody events of the first half of the 20th century. In the 1950s, it was restored and today both parishioners and tourists can see it.

Hip bell tower

The hipped bell tower is another building located between two churches, which is an integral part of the ensemble of the Kizhi churchyard and has retained the same style, despite the fact that it was built much later than the Intercession and Transfiguration churches. The melodic ringing of its bells is still carried around the area. It is known that 300 years ago there was a belfry in its place, which was demolished due to dilapidation.

The bell tower, which has survived to this day, was built in 1863. It, like both churches, is clearly visible from Lake Onega.

Chapel of Michael the Archangel

Chapel of Michael the Archangel is another part of the magnificent Kizhi ensemble. This is a small wooden building with a vestibule and a bell tower built at the beginning of the 19th century. The building was brought to Kizhi Island from the village of Lelikozero, in the northern part of Onega.

This building, like many others on the island, has an appearance typical of architectural masterpieces Russian North. It is crowned with a double roof and a high wooden dome with a cross. Its main distinguishing feature is the hipped belfry towering above the entrance hall. The interior decoration is also unique - a high iconostasis, merging with the "heavenly" ceiling. It dates from the 18th century.

The house of the prosperous peasant Nestor Oshevnev is another historic building dating from the second half of the 19th century. This large house, intended for a large family, today is a museum of life, life and customs of wealthy peasants of Zaonezhie late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century.

The house has a typical form for Zaonezhye - the residential part and outbuildings are under the same roof. This allowed the residents to carry out many works without going outside, which was a great advantage in winter. The facade is decorated with patterned balconies and a gallery.

Every thing in the house is real, which has come down to us from that distant and mysterious time. Here is an oven, and a baby cradle, and dishes, and a spindle, and a large chest, and a samovar. All this creates a unique and inimitable atmosphere - entering here, as if moving in time and getting into the past, which is left so far behind.

Sergeev's house has a square shape, so it seems that there are no outbuildings here, unlike Oshevnev's house. But if you go around it from the other side, you can see that they have not gone anywhere, but simply taken back, but they are still under the same roof with the residential part. The façade of the house is richly decorated, especially the carved platbands on the windows attract attention.

The interior decoration has not been reconstructed - there is a shabby wooden floor, the same shabby furniture is placed in the corners and in the center. Today there are two expositions here: one is dedicated to the Karelian applied art, the second - to the oral folk art of the inhabitants of Zaonezhye.

Baths

There are four baths on the island, which are also brought from other settlements Karelia. It is not difficult to find them - they are located on the very shore of the lake near the water. These are simple wooden buildings, inside of which there are several soap bars and a stove.

The facade of the baths was not decorated in any way, because they were perceived simply as a way to maintain the cleanliness of the body, and no sacred meaning was attached to them. Nevertheless, the bath had to be even in the most seedy village.

Eight-wing windmill

The eight-winged mill is a relatively young building, created in the 20s of the last century. It was brought to the island of Kizhi from the village of Volkostrov.

There are two floors inside the mill - on the first there is a flour chest and a device for grinding flour, on the second - a mill ladle, millstones and a shaft, at the end of which wings are located. Surprisingly, at present, the eight-winged windmill is performing its original function - grinding grain and making flour.

I continue the story of a recent trip to Karelia. The first part was devoted to the sights of Petrozavodsk, in the same I will move on to the story of Kizhi. Yes, what Russian has not heard of Kizhi! But not all of them were there.

The Kizhi open-air museum is located on an island in Lake Onega. Tourists from Petrozavodsk are transported there by high-speed hydrofoil boats. The journey takes 1 hour and 15 minutes. This pleasure is worth (there and back) - 1950 rubles. And I also thought that trains in New Zealand were expensive ...

Bearing in mind that there were always some problems with these ships, expressed in the chronic absence of tickets, I specifically timed the trip to the Estonian public holiday August 20, which this year fell on a Thursday, and the next day he took a day off in such a way as to be in Petrozavodsk on Friday, i.e. on a weekday.

The large river station in Petrozavodsk does not work, tickets for motor ships are sold in a small booth at the pier. I came almost to the very opening, around 8 am, but the nearest time for which I was offered tickets was only at 2:15 pm. Tellingly, there was no such time in the Meteors' schedule. Well, then it will be time to walk around the city.

At the appointed time I was at the pier. At the same time, there were not very many people, many seats in the "Meteor" remained free, and this despite the fact that all day in the booth they were offering tickets for this particular time. I wonder where all the tickets for 11:30 and 12:15 went?

A few words about the Meteor itself. Its interior, apparently, has not changed since Soviet times. The foam chairs were so crushed that they had to sit on almost bare metal tubes. However, the toilet was quite decent :)

"Meteor" on the background of the embankment of Petrozavodsk

There are no open decks on the Meteors, but in the middle of the cabin there was a smoking area from which you could lean out with a camera and take pictures of some of the landscapes passing by. It was from here that I managed to photograph the Kizhi churchyard before we moored to the island.

Yes, and with the help of iGo on a smartphone, I managed to measure average speed"Meteora" - somewhere around 57 km / h.

River pier in Kizhi

So, for starters, let's read what the Russian North guidebook from the Polyglot publishing house, which I bought the day before in the House of the Military Book on Nevsky, writes about Kizhi:

Kizhi Island (length 7 km, width - from 1.5 to 0.5 km) is located in the south of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula among a picturesque cluster of islands called the Kizhi skerries. Since ancient times, the island was covered not by forests, but by arable land and hayfields. The Kizhi skerries and the south of Zaonezhye have been inhabited for centuries, this is evidenced by numerous archaeological sites dating back to the era of the middle and late stone. About 9-6.5 thousand years ago, tribes belonging to the eastern branch of the Caucasians lived here, and those who came here in the 10th century. Novgorodians met with the Sami population and the whole. The name of the island comes from the language of the Karelian people - the word kiza meant "play, fun, dance", so "Kizhi" can be translated as "island of games" or "fun".

By the time these lands were transferred to the Muscovite state in 1478, the population was already Russian, although the culture of Zaonezhye was distinguished by its unique originality, representing a fusion of Slavic and Finnish cultures, while the local residents clearly recognized themselves as descendants of the Novgorodians right up to the beginning. 20th century In Zaonezhye, for centuries, ancient Russian legends and epics were preserved and orally passed down from generation to generation, and at the same time, wooden architecture and folk crafts were actively developed.

Kizhi. Postcard

Kizhi Island has traditionally been the center of the villages of Southern Zaonezhie and the Unitskaya Bay - the Spaso-Kizhi Pogost, a district that included about 180 villages, their description is first found in Andrei Pleshcheev's Scribe for 1582-1583, and 20 years later "115 villages of living and 88 abandoned ones. The Kizhi churchyard united the surrounding peasants until the 1930s. 20th century

During the Time of Troubles, the churchyard was ravaged by the Swedes and the Polish-Lithuanian detachments, therefore, after the signing of peace with Sweden, a fortress was cut down around the Kizhi churchyard to protect against attacks. The threat of foreign intervention weakened only with the onset of the Petrine era and victory in the Northern War.

In the beginning. 18th century the peasants of the Kizhi Pogost are attributed to the new ironworks, where they had to work off taxes, which ruined even strong farms. On the second floor. 18th century a wave of riots swept across Zaonezhie after the royal decree on raising taxes. The famous Kizhi uprising of 1769-1771. was shot by government troops. It is believed that the most beautiful Assumption Church in Kondopoga was a kind of monument to the victims of the massacre of the rebels.

During the Second World War, Zaonezhye was under Finnish occupation for about three years, but already in 1945, the Kizhi churchyard was declared state reserve, in 1951 the first architectural monument was transported to the island - the house of the peasant Oshevnev. In 1990, the architectural ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Now in the Kizhi Historical, Architectural and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve, covering an area of ​​about 10 thousand hectares, there are 87 monuments of traditional folk architecture of the 14th-20th centuries, including the ensemble of the Kizhi churchyard, 26 unique archaeological sites, more than ten historical settlements territory of the Kizhi volost. The museum is annually visited by about 170 thousand tourists from Russia and abroad.

Schematic representation of the location of the exhibits on about. Kizhi
(in fact, the distances between buildings are much greater)
kizhi.karelia.ru

The basis of the collection architectural monuments museum-reserve, its semantic center is the temple ensemble of the Kizhi churchyard (XVIII-XIX centuries), consisting of the 22-domed Church of the Transfiguration, the nine-domed Intercession Church, a hipped bell tower and a chopped log fence.

Kizhi churchyard

The Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord (1714) is the most famous building in Kizhi. The names of the creators are unknown, and beautiful legend about the master Nestor, who, having finished his work, threw an ax into the lake with the words “there was no such church and there will not be”, is very widespread in the North in relation to many monuments of wooden architecture. Not very reliable is another popular belief that it was cut down without a single nail - an aspen plowshare (scales covering the domes) is attached to the domes with small nails.

The height of the church is 37 m; On the eight are two more, smaller ones. Chapters vary in size from tier to tier in order to avoid monotony and create a kind of rhythmic pattern. The system for protecting the building from decay is no less thought out, even decorative elements often serve to drain water and properly ventilate the air. Inside the temple, the vertical volume was covered with a sixteen-sided ceiling - the “sky”, lost during the war, a carved iconostasis (1770) has been preserved. It is composed of 104 icons, the oldest of which, typical of the northern school of icon painting, date back to the end of the 17th century.

Church of the Transfiguration

The Church of the Transfiguration, a perfect work of Zaonezhsky masters, is a kind of "swan song" of Russian wooden architecture, which at that time reached the pinnacle of its development. It was built as a "cold" summer temple, and next to it, half a century later, the "warm" Kletskaya Church of the Intercession of the Virgin (1764) was erected. The builders managed to create a work that was a harmonious part of the ensemble, and not just a separate building. In the Church of the Intercession, the original “subordination” to the dominant Transfiguration Church is visible - a powerful octagon on a quadrangle, which could carry a huge tent, is crowned with a modest nine-domed with small, elegant domes; the silhouette expanding upward emphasizes the pyramid of the main building of the ensemble directed upwards. However, some researchers believe that the Intercession Church was originally built as a hipped roof. At present, the four-tiered tablo iconostasis with 44 icons of the 17th-19th centuries has been restored. In the entrance hall there is an exhibition "History of the Kizhi Orthodox parish".

The belfry of the Kizhi Pogost (1863) was erected already at a time when Russian wooden architecture was in decline, and yet, despite the seeming rusticity and details alien to tradition, the building blended surprisingly harmoniously into the ensemble. The scheme is traditional - an octagon on a quadrangle. Heavy, two-thirds of a log house high, the quadrangle surprises connoisseurs of cult wooden buildings with its disproportion, but you can see that it is raised exactly to the height of the piers of the Transfiguration Church and the height of the quadrangle of the Intercession Church, which once again emphasizes the unity of the three buildings. Currently, a remote control for the bell ringer is installed on the bell tower of the Kizhi churchyard. There are 12 bells in the pendant on the console (9 ancient and 3 modern).

Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, bell tower and Church of the Intercession of the Virgin

By the middle of the XX century. only a stone ridge remained from the fence of the churchyard. The appearance of the original fence was restored by restorers according to engravings of the 18th century. in the book of N. Ozeretskovsky "Journey through the lakes of Ladoga and Onega". The reconstruction project was based on the preserved fence of the Vodlozersky-Ilyinsky churchyard, as well as the Pochezersky churchyard Arkhangelsk region. The modern fence is a high stone embankment, on which a wall of powerful logs, tied in rows, is laid. On top of the wall is a gable roof. On the western corner of the fence there is a small turret covered with a hipped roof - epancha. Gates with openwork door panels lead to the churchyard from the north and east. The central entrance in the western wall is limited on both sides by two log cabins under a common roof. The log fence was reconstructed according to the project of the architect A. Opolovnikov in 1959.

Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus

Another of the main attractions of the Museum-Reserve is the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus, brought from the Murom Monastery, with east coast Lake Onega. This small Cletian church gave rise to many legends among believers and hypotheses among scientists. The dating of the construction of the temple has been a subject of controversy for almost a century. The church was first mentioned in the will of the Byzantine monk, the founder of the Murom monastery, Lazar of Murom, who died in 1391, but in the document of the Olonets spiritual consistory it is rather contradictory: “... in the name of St. Lazar, the cemetery was built in 7086. from the Universe (1578), wooden, built by the founder of this monastery, St. Lazar. Analysis of architectural details does not clarify this issue. The iconostasis, consisting of 17 icons of the 16th-18th centuries, has been preserved in the church. It represents the oldest type of a two-tiered iconostasis, consisting of local and deesis rows, including the royal doors and the northern ponomarsky doors.

Peasant's house Oshevnev

Not far from the Kizhi churchyard is the architectural and ethnographic complex "Russian Zaonezhie". The exposition "village" began in 1951-1959. from the House of the Peasant N. Oshevnev (1876) brought from the Bolshoi Klimenets Island. The building is built in the form of a "purse" - a yard-shed adjoins the side wall of the housing and is covered with a gable asymmetrical roof. The outbuilding included a barnyard, a hayloft and two storerooms. The residential part faces the lake and is richly decorated, it includes 2 huts, a hall, a room, a light room in the attic, a pantry and a canopy. The hut was called a room with a stove, it is believed that the owners spent the winter in the hut on the first floor, and settled throughout the house in the summer. Now the interiors of the huts, the upper room, the shed, the stables have been restored in the house, ethnographic exhibitions are held in the hall. Along the second floor there is an open gallery, the windows of the side gables are decorated with balconies. Previously, the window frames were painted orange-yellow, and the roof overhangs were painted red, which greatly enlivened the appearance of the house.

In addition to the main house, the peasant estate also includes separate outbuildings. Fires have always been the main disaster for the peasants, and the barns taken away from the main house could save the most valuable thing - grain and flour, and not let them die of hunger. There are several outbuildings near Oshevnev's house: a two-story barn from the village of Yuzhny Dvor (XVIII century), a barn from the village of Lipovitsy (early 20th century) and a bathhouse from the village of Mizhostrov (early 20th century).

House of the peasant Elizarov

The house of the peasant Elizarov (end of the 19th century) from the village of Potanevshchina is somewhat smaller. The interiors of both buildings are similar, but unlike Oshevnev's house, Elizarov's house was heated in black. This method of heating the premises was in many ways more convenient for peasant families - less firewood was consumed, the wood-boring beetle did not start, it was warmer in the hut. The smoke collected above the voronets, and the walls below this level and the ceilings were carefully washed and scraped every week. Elizarov's house is one-storey, it is made of heavy logs and modestly decorated, although the side balconies and the “ambulance” are also present here. In the utility room there is an exhibition that tells about the secrets of creating the Kizhanka boat. On the shore near the house there is a bathhouse (beginning of the 20th century) from the village of Ust-Yandoma.

A little further south of the Kizhi churchyard is the most modest Shchepin's House (1907). The type of building here is a "beam", when residential and utility rooms are stretched in a line under one roof. In the interior you can see items related to cooperage craft (making barrels, buckets, jugs and other wooden utensils).

Windmill

The exposition sector "Russian Zaonezhie" also includes a water mill (1875) from Berezovaya Selga, a windmill (1928-1929) from Nasonovshchina and the chapel of the Archangel Michael (early 18th century) from the village of Lelikozero.

Chapel of the Archangel Michael

The Klet Chapel of the Archangel Michael belongs to the common type of northern chapels. This is a three-part log cabin, consisting of a vestibule, a refectory and a chapel proper. The building is richly decorated with carved elements, it has preserved a two-tiered iconostasis with icons of local writing and a “sky” - a painted ceiling of 12 segments. From the western shore of Lake Onega, the House of Sergeev (1908-1910) and a forge (beginning of the 20th century) from the village of Suisar were brought to Kizhi.

House of the peasant Sergeyev

In the central part of the island there are two historical villages: Yamka, mentioned for the first time in 1563, on the east coast and Vasilyevo, mentioned in 1582, on the west. In these villages, buildings have been preserved, which are now included in the museum fund, many architectural monuments were brought from other places in Zaonezhie: peasant houses, stables, barns and barns. Near the village of Yamka, the chapel of the Savior Not Made by Hands (XVII-XVIII centuries) from the village of Vigovo has been preserved, and the architectural dominant of Vasilyevo is the local chapel of the Assumption of the Mother of God (XVII-XVIII centuries), which is the most ancient building Kizhi islands.

House of the peasant Yakovlev

Three large peasant houses and several outbuildings make up the Russian Pudozhya exposition sector, where the architecture of the inhabitants of the eastern shore of Lake Onega is presented, and even further north you can see houses typical of Karelians and Vepsians. The Karelian estate here is represented by the house of the peasant Yakovlev (1980-1990s) from the village of Klescheyla, worship cross and granaries, and among the monuments of northern Karelians and Karelian-Ludians, the chapel of the Three Hierarchs from the village of Kavgora (second half of the 18th century) is interesting. Two granaries and a bathhouse make up the outbuildings of the Vepsians.

Visitors are introduced to the monuments of the island by the routes offered by the museum's excursion service. The “Ecological Path” has recently been laid, giving an idea of ​​the nature of the island, an interactive family route has been developed to Yakovlev’s house, where you can take part in traditional peasant household processes. During museum holidays, a folklore ensemble often performs.

On the territory of the museum there are several cafes and shopping kiosks, guest houses. You can also ask for accommodation in the villages to the locals.

Postcard. Kizhi from a bird's eye view

A few words about how the exhibits of the museum are located. Most of them are located in a small area, in that part of the island that is south of the pier. Those three hours that are allotted for the tour are enough for a leisurely inspection. But here the villages of Yamka, Vasilyevo and all other buildings that are from the pier to the north are not included in the usual excursion. How to get to them is not entirely clear. I noticed a bus on the road, but while I was thinking, he left. Perhaps it was just designed to move around the island. Walking here is quite tiring. But I still had almost an hour before the ship's departure, and I still went to that part of the island that is not included in the official route. He reached the windmill that stands there on a hillock, at the same time looked at the village of Yamka and at the chapel of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which towered in the distance. But he didn’t go to the village of Vasilyevo, he was afraid to be late. I wonder if there are no bike rentals here?

Another windmill. On the left is the Chapel of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

Also, the question remained unclear whether it is possible to come here on one ship and leave on the next one. The fact is that when boarding, everyone is given badges around their necks, and when selling a ticket, they also ask for a phone number. All this is done, apparently, so that people do not get lost on the island, do not fall behind their ship and do not violate the well-established conveyor for serving tourists.

View of the nose of the "Meteor" and the Kizhi churchyard

Now let's sum up. Well, what can I say about Kizhi. I liked the museum as a whole, although my expectations were certainly higher. The cost of an entrance ticket of 130 rubles for citizens of the Russian Federation (and equated to them, gygy :)) is quite sane. But 625 rubles for foreigners, or almost 15 euros, is already too much. For such money even Western European museums already have to spin in front of customers. And here everything rests, one might say, on one exhibit - the 22-head of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Meanwhile, it is clearly not eternal, and the metal plates on its rickety walls speak of this. Well it's hard in our climate wooden buildings stand for 300 years! She collapses, what then? And then Kizhi will simply turn into a "wabaihumuuseum", of which there are plenty in the world.

I wonder if there are really no craftsmen who could build something like that now? Is it really that difficult with modern technology? Take something old as a basis, make a project on a computer, cut logs to size and assemble. Of course, at first it will be a "remake", but all the old times were once a remake! Yes, and most of the local exhibits were collected at the current location, in fact, anew. I think that in such a place, new buildings could fit into the overall ensemble. In a word, it is necessary to somehow develop the museum further, the world does not stand still!