There are times when beach activities get bored, and on vacation you want majestic beauty and peace of mind at the same time. Then it is worth taking a closer look at the Russian North, the spiritual center of the country, its embodied history. The region, unique in its culture and rich past, has many wonders. Kizhi is one of them.
The museum-reserve is probably known to everyone as the greatest creation of human hands. Included in the golden fund of UNESCO and the Russian collection of especially valuable objects of cultural heritage. The ensemble is beautiful, unique and authentic. Here are just some interesting facts that support this.
1. Before Christianity, Kizhi was used for carrying out pagan ceremonies and rituals. Hence its name: "kizhat" is translated from Karelian as "merrymaking". The inhabitants of Novgorod took possession of the island in the 11th century and can be considered the ancestors of its modern inhabitants. By the 17th century, the Kizhi churchyard (union of settlements) consisted of 120 villages. At this time, the Transfiguration Church appeared.
2. The island had every chance of becoming an industrial zone. Novgorod merchants founded 5 small factories here. Cast iron was poured on them and metal products were produced. Knives were especially famous - they were snapped up, because they did not rust, did not dull. But the peasants of the island took the "industrial revolution" with hostility, even tried to rebel.
And the island in Lake Onega gained world fame thanks to wooden temples and a bell tower.
3. During the Troubles, at the end of the 16th century, the Poles attacked the island. People took refuge in the temple, but the invaders invaded there too. One of the arrows pierced through the image of the Savior. In the same instant, all the Poles were blinded at once and killed each other. The defiled church was burned down by a lightning strike. The new temple was built a little to the side, in 1714.
4. According to legend, one of the carpenters, Nestor, having finished the construction of the Church of the Transfiguration, threw an ax into the lake. With the following words: "Nicoli was not there, Nicoli will not be." Thus indicating that no one can repeat such a creation.
5. The unique wooden church was built without a single nail. This is what the legend says. In fact, they are in the main domes. At a height of 37 meters, the tops would not have held without nails. But the whole temple was cut down without them. In total, the temple has 22 domes located on different tiers. And the whole church is covered with carvings.
6. The second church, Pokrovskaya, architecturally is a continuation of the Transfiguration. Its eight chapters surround the towering ninth. The church was built as a winter one, heated. Until now, services are held here from the Feast of the Intercession to Easter.
7. The third part of the ensemble, the bell tower, was built, or rather rebuilt, later - in the second half of the 19th century. But history has retained the name of the author. Sysoy Osipov, a local builder, perfectly fitted the building into the style of both churches.
The bells were silent for 60 years, since 1929. Just ringing bells at that time was banned. Since 1989, everything has been sounding - 9 old bells and 3 newly cast ones.
8. Since the 18th century, the island has become a place of pilgrimage - the fame of the beauty of ancient churches spread throughout Russia. From the middle of the 19th century, Kizhi came to the attention of artists and architects. The painting by the artist Schlugate "In the Far North" was bought by Emperor Nicholas II. Views from her began to be released on postcards.
In Soviet times, the architectural ensemble again became a fashionable trend in the works of artists and graphic artists. Today there is no such boom, but paintings of the most organic monument of wooden architecture are still in demand.
9. Miraculously, the Kizhi churchyard managed to survive during the occupation. There are 2 versions here. One by one, the Finns, namely, they occupied Karelia, planned to make the island their territory. And they took care of the monument as a future object of their own culture.
Another story says that the island was to be destroyed. But the bomber pilot, seeing the incredible beauty of the churches from above, dropped bombs into the lake.
10. The state declared Kizhi a nature reserve in 1945. 20 years later, the State Historical and Architectural Open Air Museum was founded here. On its territory, about 70 unique wooden buildings from all over Karelia have been collected. Including the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus This ancient wooden temple was mentioned in the chronicles even before the 16th century.
And the most interesting ethnographic building was a house from the village of Oshevnevo. Built in the 19th century, it is large, two-story, with outbuildings. It is decorated with patterned platbands and is surrounded by beautiful galleries.
11. The status of a UNESCO site was assigned to the churchyard in 3 categories at once:
- the crown of carpentry,
- the highest achievement of the creative human genius,
- construction in unity with the surrounding nature.
