Description of the attraction
Kiy-Ostrov is located in the Onega Bay of the White Sea, 15 km from Arkhangelsk. The island is 2 km long with a width of up to 500 meters, up to 500 species of plants grow on it, the coastal waters are rich in fish and in summer they warm up to 24 degrees. The granite gray of 25-meter cliffs, wide sandy beaches and magnificent pine forests rich in berries are amazing.
The history of Kiy Island is closely connected with the name of Patriarch Nikon, a famous religious figure of the 17th century and reformer of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to legend, Nikon got into a fierce storm near the Kiy-island, and, having lost his companions, found salvation on the island. In memory of his miraculous salvation, Nikon founded the Kisky Krestny Monastery on the island.
Founded in 1656, the ensemble of monastic buildings was practically formed by the end of the 17th century. The monastery occupied a small area and therefore the internal layout of its buildings was very compact. Due to the use of granite blocks as a building material, the monastery resembled a fortress and organically fit into the rocky relief of the island.
The Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross, consecrated by Patriarch Nikon on September 4, 1661, has survived to this day; The overlapping church (1661) with adjoining stone cells above the stone cellars; a two-tiered church of the Nativity of the Virgin (1689) with a refectory and cellar chambers and adjoining a massive bell tower and burial vault; the wooden Rector's building (1871), two-story, with a mezzanine, on a boulder foundation. Also preserved is the Church of All Saints (1661) - the oldest surviving wooden monastery buildings. Now it has been unrecognizably rebuilt for housing, and the walls are hidden under late cladding.
