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Exploration of monuments

If you are interested to explore the historic wooden buildings in Russia, the best place to start is to learn about and even visit participants of the project ‘Disappearing Masterpieces’, i.e. 2 national parks, 2 open-air museuns and 2 well-preserved historical settlements.

Kenozero National Park

Among the dense forests and the swamps in the North-West of Russia there is a miraculously preserved piece of ancient Russia. Kenozero National Park is a specially protected natural area, one of the last islands of the native Russian way of life, culture, traditions and an outstanding example of the northern European cultural landscape. Kenozero is the living example of the ancient world with 100 wooden churches and chapels spread on the isles amidst the lakes and the forests, withth small villages with the friendly people and ancient monasteries hidden in the dense forests, and with sacred groves and worship crosses ... The historical memory of the local population is filling these places with the profound spiritual content. Read more...

Vodlozero National Park

Vodlozerye is an ancient historical area of Russia North, where a thick layer of original culture is concentrated steeped in traditions of aboriginal population, in toponymy and many remarkable works of wooden architecture. Occupying 0.5 million hectares, Vodlozero National Park is one of the largest national parks in Europe and a unique piece of untouched wilderness of great scale. On the Vodlozero islands, old village structures, peasant houses, barns, chapels, and the ancient Ilinski Pogost (monastery), the Ili-Proroka Church adorned by the many domes, and an old fence in the form of fortress-walls are preserved. The architectural complex of Ilinski Pogost is widely recognized as a masterpiece of wooden architecture and is an object of special pride for the National Park. Read more...

Museum ‘Semenkovo’

The architectural and ethnographic museum “Semenkovo” in the Vologda region represents typical Russian village at the end of 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It allows exploring the old way of life, authentic Russian traditions and customs, character of the Russian spiritituality and hospitality. The wooden architecture and its development in the Russian North is delicately presented and well preserved in its diverse forms and styles in the museum “Semenkovo”. The museum organizes a great number of festivals and visitor programmes. Read more...

Museum ‘Malye Korely’

Arkhangelsk State Museum of Wooden Architecture and Folk Art ‘Malye Korely’ presents typical rural buildings as well as the recognized masterpieces of wooden architecture of the 16th - 20th centuries from the Arkhangelsk region. The museum includes several model villages representing the architectural, construction and economic traditions of the peasants within the historical and cultural regions formed along the 5 waterways of the Arkhangelsk region. Each part has its own type of planning, typical to the northern villages. The parts are linked by the net of roads and paths, going through the forests and the village, along the edge of the cliff down to the river. The architectural image of the Northern village of the 19th century is aggravated by the bell’s rings, folk festivals and customs. Read more...

Village Kimzha

The village is located on a steep bank of the river Mezen in the very North of the Arkhangelsk region. The singularity of the village is in having preserved its historic layout with old two-story houses lined up in several rows along the riverbank. Nearby there are two windmills. The church of the Hodegetria was a dominant feature beforem but now it partly dismantled for restoration. The local residents keep a community-run museum featuring the everyday village life. Several old cottages were converted into guest houses for tourists.

Village Oshevenskoe

The village is located about 45 km from the ancient city of Kargopol in the Arkhangelsk region. The village retains unique monuments of wooden architecture such as the Church of Epiphany (1784) with a belfry, two chapels, worship crosses and three kurnaya huts (with stoves without chimney). The chapels are decorated by the ‘heavens’– painted ceilings of the pyramidal shape. The monuments of Pre-Christian culture are very interesting as well, such as the sacred grove with the stone-sledovik (God’s trace) and the sacral lake. The residents of the village still keep the ancient customs associated with the summer rural holidays. They have created an interactive museum in the village with a ‘Guest House’ and ‘Spasov Zhitnik’ to save not only the traditional wooden buildings, but also to revive the typical Russian hospitality traditions.