The Kizhi Pogost. Karelia: attractions

What Russian has not heard, what is the Kizhi Pogost, Kizhi? Of course, immediately appear familiar from childhood associations: a museum of unique peasant culture of the Russian North, a complex of original Russian log churches, the walls of which are built without nails. A unique architectural ensemble of churches of the XVIII century, built on an island of wood, is considered the property of the World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO criteria. It should be acknowledged that in Russia there is no more such important constructions-works of folk wooden architecture anywhere else (though they were quite numerous in the 19th century).

It is characteristic that people who are poorly acquainted with the history of Karelia, the name of the museum, as a rule, causes bewilderment. "And where is the word churchyard?" - Asked the young man, admiringly considering arched wooden entrances, ribbed log walls, magnificent scaly domes. "Let's not talk about that!" - answer Zhvanetsky's words. It is about the original Old Russian sense of this ancient word. On the Karelian land in the XIII - XV centuries, so once called the administrative center, spontaneously separated from several dozens or even hundreds of surrounding villages. And it is this content that corresponds to the status of Kizhi as the center of the vast Spassky Kizhi churchyard.

Further, the above-mentioned concept begins to shrink and change its original meaning. It "grew", as a characteristic, to a large village (not necessarily an administrative center, but with its church and cemetery.) And only from the end of the 18th century was it so called a lonely church with a cemetery near it.

Kizhi - a phenomenon of the people, communal

As history shows, the Kizhi Pogost united about 130 devious villages. And the largest of them - Great Guba, Kosmozero, Sennaya Guba, Typinitsy - and are currently operating populated areas. Such historic villages are rich in present-day Karelia. Sights of the local architecture - purely national know-how. Up until the 18th century, the decision to build on this land was not made by the state powers, but by the community, of which the merchants were the main sponsors. The best folk masters undertook the construction of temples for the villages that showed their confidence. They were, as a rule, people "with a concept" and with a name in construction, building as if singing a song. Only their goal was not the approval of the jury or any casting. No, they had an incentive much more valuable: people's respect, unmistakably marking the most worthy. This period - the stage of "communal architecture" - can be called the heyday of Russian wooden architecture.

Original nature of Karelia

Original landscapes and picturesque landscapes are famous for Karelia. Sights of this region are widely known. The local nature is called hard stone and lake-forest. Taiga grows from local stony ground. The property of Karelia is one of the most significant lakes in Europe - Ladoga with a footprint of 17 700 km ² and Onega (9900 m ² ).

Less than 70 kilometers from its capital, the city of Petrozavodsk, washed by the waters of Onega Lake, is the island of Kizhi (in Old Russian "Kizhi" means "merrymaking.") The nearest settlement on the way to the architectural museum, territorially related to Medvezhyegorsk district, is the village Great Lip.

Welcome to Kizhi!

Every day this architectural museum is open to everyone who wants to visit it: in the summer from eight to eight, in winter - from 10 ⁰⁰ to 16 ⁰⁰ . Historically, Kizhi Island can be called a cult place, which was used to celebrate festive Christian rituals. Here on holidays the peasants gathered, and afterwards they organized folk festivals.

The island nature harmoniously complements the works of human hands, fascinating visitors with the intricacies of rocky islands with blue bays between them. If you use the services of cartography, you can see: Kizhi on the map of Russia is not connected with the mainland by roads. However, the island, thanks to water transport, is widely available. Hundreds of thousands of Russian and foreign tourists visit this amazing place every year. By the way, the historical and architectural complex of Kizhi is the first open-air museum opened in Russia.

If you decide on a motor cruise from St. Petersburg to the capital of ancient architecture, then the map of the island of Kizhi will be given to you as a gift. From May to December, you can get here on the "meteors" and "comets", departing from Petrozavodsk from the Water Station.

Between the navigation of tourists from Upper Guba (where you can get there by car) deliver boats of entrepreneurs. Extremes in the non-navigational period, when the lake is icebound, are used for crossing skis and exotic transport - dog sleds.

Russian hospitality

Arrived on the island guests have the opportunity to choose one of three options for two-hour excursions. The first is for the main architectural complex (small circle). The second idea is to review the Russian and Karelian folk wooden architecture (a large circle). The third introduces the villages of the island. In the villages there are three exposition areas "Pryazhinsky Karelies", "Russian Zaonezhye", "Russian Pudozhye". The historic villages of Vasilievo and Yamka also have unique architectural structures.

The administration of the museum also organized numerous additional overview, interactive, thematic excursions for all visitors to Kizhi. Architecture, of course, is the main local bait for tourists, not only Russian, but also from abroad. By the way, the ancient cult buildings of the island, since the 50s of the last century, were supplemented with restored and reconstructed log buildings necessary for housekeeping. Therefore, in addition to the main exposition, visitors can see in what environment the spiritual and economic life of the peasants took place on this island. For a deeper immersion in the life of the Russian village of the XVII-XVIII centuries, the administration of the museum-preserve organizes "Days of crafts, folk games and fun", a folk-ethnographic theater, a fair of folk crafts, and at the end of summer the Kizhi regatta starts.

Folk wooden architecture is the property of Karelia

Kizhi, as one of the largest architectural museums in Russia, is very proud of Karelia. The sights of the Russian folk architecture of this region, however, are not determined only by the exposition mentioned; Here they are also represented on the island of Ladoga Lake (Valaam Monastery). It was once visited by Russian emperors. Alexandra Dumas-father paid a visit there. Many great Russian artists (Vasiliev, Kuinzhi, Shishkin), poets and writers (Tyutchev, Leskov, Shmelev) drew inspiration here. In a word, the map of Karelia with sights (and not only architecture - here there are also reserves and national parks) will help tourists to choose the program that interests them.

The Ensemble of Churches

However, we return to the main topic of our article. The uniqueness of the Kizhi churchyard is determined by the world's only multi-headed Transfiguration Church, erected in a traditional way for Rus - without a single nail. Next to it for the execution of services in the winter time (north all the same) is another multi-domed temple, heated - the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin. The third most important building of the magnificent ensemble is the tented bell tower of the Kizhi Pogost. Around these three objects of Russian folk architecture, the fence has now been restored, but not from logs, as it was originally, but from boulders.

The historically high, powerful fence was an indispensable requisite of the Russian pogost bordering with Sweden. A single system with the above-mentioned buildings is made up of other watchtowers - chapels of the island of Kizhi, located in the landmarks of the surrounding island relief.

The Legend of the Architect Nestor

The story about this amazing lace architecture from a tree still wants to start with a legend. After all, the Kizhi Pogost is a land of legends, one of which acquaints us with a man of amazing talent who created a real man-made miracle - an amazing 22-dome temple. The old builders who built it did not have either "glorious genealogical trees" or state statuses. Styled in the thickness of the centuries and their biographies, and names. But the name of the amazing Russian master Nestor nevertheless reached us.

According to folk legend, he himself determined the place for the construction of the Transfiguration Church, ignoring the instructions he had given, selecting the site right in the middle of the juniper thickets. Here, breaking through the thicket (inscrutable paths of creativity), bypassing the Kizhi pogost, he discovered a holy book, reading through which he spent day and night.

In the rays of the rising sun, the master, tearing his eyes from the pages of the book, saw the picture of the future temple in the middle of the dewdrops on the grass ... Then he announced how he had cut off: "We will build here!"

When the marvelous church was built of specially prepared boards of pine, spruce, aspen without the use of nails, admired Nestor committed an eccentric act, as if to sum up the acquired professionalism. On the eve of the consecration of his child, he climbed onto the dome with his faithful consecrated ax, looked around the Kizhi churchyard, tied a scarlet ribbon on the cross. Then he threw an ax into the lake and said that the Transfiguration Church is the most beautiful temple in the world, and it will never be like that. Later, the architect did not build more temples, despite numerous requests. So he decided - to leave the work on the highest note. Is not this a true Master?

Church of the Transfiguration

This 37-meter temple, founded in 1714, is classified as an octagonal tier church. It was built in place of a wooden church-predecessor, burnt by a lightning strike. The base of the building is the "octagon" - an octagonal frame with four holes cut in all directions. On top of the lower "octagon" are placed two more, but smaller in diameter. The lower frame is located on a primitive foundation - a stone tube. The outer corners were cut "into oblo", the internal corners were "pawed" from the pine. Limes and "barrels" of domed chapters are made of aspen. All this - local tree species that grow on the island of Kizhi. Karelia is also famous for the special iconography of the "northern letter". In this technique, a couple of the earliest icons of the Transfiguration Church ("Pokrov" and "Transfiguration", the 17th century) were executed, which were first decorated with an altar in the eastern aisle and shaped like a pentagon. It is four-tiered and decorated with one hundred two icons.

The refectory in the form of a log cabin adjoins the main building. Roof cuts and octal is decorated with twenty-two chapters. The outlines of this building are familiar to every inhabitant of the Republic of Karelia. Kizhi Island is literally inspired by this church, equally beautiful from all sides.

Church of the Intercession of the Virgin

This temple was created half a century later, after the Transfiguration Church - in 1764. The idea of its construction is to continue the cycle of the Orthodox service for the winter season (the church is heated). Its building was erected by folk architects as a natural continuation of the architecture of the summer temple. It is multifaceted: eight of its chapters are located around the ninth, the main one. However, in all its appearance, it is felt that this temple is an architectural reflection of Preobrazhensky. By its rather refined elements, it only echoes, emphasizes the originality of the dominant architectural complex.

This church on the island of Kizhi is built in a more pragmatic and strict style. It is adorned, perhaps, only by the gable belt, which has a toothed structure.

The entrance to the temple is traditionally located on the west side, respectively, the altar is from the east. Those who enter are first in the hall, then in the refectory. The purpose of this room is to separate the place for the secular conversation of the flock about pressing economic and other matters, which allows to cover a significant number of people. Here the jury trials took place , the decrees of the king were announced. Behind him, in fact, the very room of the temple, designed for the performance of the prayer service, is a chapel. It is the most spacious and capacious, its volume is formed by log-houses, connected by the scheme from below - "chetverik", at the top - "octagon". It is equipped with a tybal iconostasis. The altar is equipped as the fourth, easternmost room. It is a pentagonal frame, in the continuation of which is built an elongated structure - a barrel, ending with the ninth chapter of the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin. In all rooms of the temple there are windows: in the hall and the altar there are two; In the chapel and the refectory - four (for natural light). The interior is decorated with a sawdust through thread, the central element of which is an Orthodox cross.

Bell tower

The architectural ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost is harmoniously supplemented by the third building - the tent bell tower. The scheme of its construction is traditional for wooden architecture: from below "chetverik", from above "octagon". Three layers (through overlaps) divided its internal structure. "Chetverik" is cut from the north and south by entrances, each of which is equipped with a porch. From the east and west there are arched pseudo-portals, repeating the form of the acting ones. The lower tier, "chetverik", is divided into a canopy, a five-march staircase and a storage room. Over the "octagon" is a bell tower, inside of which there are 9 pillars. The crown of the building is crowned with a crosshead with an Orthodox cross on top.

Current restoration

The Kizhi pogost is now undergoing restoration, timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the Transfiguration Church, celebrated in 2014. About 70% of the project has already been completed by this time. The end of it is planned in 3-4 years. He heads the architectural center "Zaonezhye", which produces works, Vitaliy Skopin. Together with this company, the carpentry center of the museum and the St.Petersburg company Alekon also work. Last year, the UNESCO commission, which arrived at the site, highly appreciated their quality, qualifying it as an international one, which inspired workers.

Earlier, the church was reinforced with a metal frame. Which, in fact, saved her from destruction. At first, the builders strengthened the foundation and the lower belts, the largest, because at their level is the refectory. Currently, the work is carried out at the fourth to fifth levels. The builders, if possible, preserve the historical logs, replacing the new ones with only new ones that have failed as a result of rotting or erosion. Only 35% of them, which means that the restored Church of the Transfiguration by 65% will consist of a historical tree.

Conclusion

The ancient center of Spassky Kizhi churchyard, located on a fairly compact island of Kizhi, is now experiencing a stage of revival. The reason for this is a growing awareness of the importance of preserving continuity, historical heritage, in the end, its roots.

How was the spirituality of Zaonezhie formed, the morality of the people who inhabit it? Of course, in the mainstream of the creative civilization factor, which later the great Pushkin called extremely laconically - "the Russian spirit."
It is he who generates that special rise of folk art, which is demonstrated by architectural monuments of wooden architecture that adorned the island of Kizhi (photo attached).