In the untouched landscape of Karelia in Russia is the island of Kizhi on
Lake Onega. In 1951 an open air museum of Old Russian wooden architecture
was built here. Since then many visitors have travelled to the island by
boat between May and September as the other months are freezing with the winter
cold.
The main attraction looks like something out of a fairy-tale. Two huge
wooden churches, one for summer, one for winter. The Transfiguration of Our
Lord Church is the larger one, built for the summer. The Maria Protection
Church is the smaller, with heating and well equipped for winter.
The gem of this space is the Iconastasis preserved in all of its colourful
splendour and with the typical motifs of the Russian Orthodox church.
The national chapel of Archangel Michael was brought here in 1961 from the
village of Lelikozero. It looks like a rectangular log cabin and above the
entrance is a small belfry with a pyramid-shaped hut and, at the rear, a
double-tiered roof.
There are many timber buildings within the world famous ensemble of Kizhi,
that contains the largest wooden churches in Russia.