Kizhi
Kizhi (Russian Кижи of Karelian kischat for " Games") is an island in Lake Onega in Russia. Your ensemble of churches constructed in timber, called Kizhi open-air museum, since 1990 a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It currently includes about 80 buildings in the Karelian wooden architecture.
History
The name of the island suggests that previously housed a pagan ritual space of the people of Karelia on the site. The island is about 7 km long and 0.5 km wide. It is mostly surrounded by a plurality ( about 5000 ) of smaller islands (around the Lake Onega around ) belong to the landscape " Saoneshe ". A settlement of the hilly island can be detected from the 11th century. Live in the 21st century around 100 people on the island, spread over two villages. Your main industry is tourism, it used to be fishing as an issued special flat sailboat, the " Kishanka " testifies. Today there are about 170,000 annual visitors from around the world to Kizhi.
In the 17th century an ensemble of churches were built, which also includes the Transfiguration Cathedral and the Church of Maria protection and intercession. In the 18th century a fire destroyed most of the buildings and these were again rebuilt and beautiful using all families.
Some buildings
The Transfiguration ( Церковь Преображения Господня ), completed in 1714, consists of an eye-catching summer church with 22 small, pyramid -like, ascending domes, all of which are covered with shingles made of alder or poplar wood. Except for iron nails to fasten the shingles all other parts of the church are joined together without nails. - The Transfiguration is currently being reconstructed and will be opened again for the 300th anniversary in 2014. Because even in winter services will be held, ( Покровская церковь ) built the residents in 1764 a so-called winter church next to it, ie it is heated. In its rooms you will find a four-row iconostasis of 102 individual icons and some icons from earlier churches that apply with their ornamented frame as a special witness of the typical Nordic icon painting of the 18th century. The winter church is a wooden flat roof with 8 small wooden domes around a mean, their structure is lower than the summer church. The churches were built without private foundation directly to the naturally occurring stones. At both churches has a wooden bell tower ( Шатровая колокольня ), built 1863-1872. It consists of three different walls, the lower part has a rectangular plan, it is a polygonal section, the upper part of the tower is round with a conical roof. The primary material of pine wood was used. The bell tower is also renewed until 2014.
The church is active again since 1994.
There another church ( " Raising of Lazarus " / Церковь воскрешения Лазаря ) and various chapels and farmhouses and outbuildings from the surrounding villages were converted according to Kizhi. A windmill from 1928 of formerly 12 mills on the island is preserved. The buildings are open to tourists and are explained by tourist guides.
Nature and climate
Because of the high ground- water levels in the soil of the island is always moist, so that often arise early morning fog. The vegetation is limited to grasses, shrubs, and a few larger trees. The average annual temperatures are between - 13 and 20 degrees Celsius. There are no paved roads for visitors wooden walkways were built.