Kizhi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| State Party |  Russian Federation |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, iv, v |
| Identification | #544 |
| Regionb | Europe and North America |
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Inscription History |
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| Formal Inscription: | 1990 14th Session |
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a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List |
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Kizhi (Russian: Кижи́) is an island on Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia (Medvezhyegorsky District), Russia with a beautiful ensemble of wooden churches, chapels and houses. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Russia and a World Heritage Site.
The island is about 7 km long and 0.5 km wide. It is surrounded by about 5,000 other islands, most of which are very small—some of them are about 2x2 meters, though some are as big as 35 km long. Kizhi Pogost, as the whole area is known in Russian, is an old settlement which united more than 100 villages in the 16th century.
The jewel of its architecture is the 22-domed Transfiguration church (1722), with a fine baroque iconostasis. The nine-domed Intercession church was built nearby in 1764, and a belltower was added in 1874. The most impressive thing about these structures is that they were erected without any nails or other metal ties--even the joints were made from wood.
A museum of Russian wooden architecture was created in Kizhi by Soviet authorities in 1960.
Minor wooden structures were transported here from various parts of Karelia, notably the 14th century St. Lazarus church from the Muromsky Monastery, which is the oldest wooden church in Russia.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Russian North |
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| Historical locations: Arkhangelsk | Belozersk | Berezovo | Kargopol | Kem' | Kholmogory | Kizhi | Kola | Kondopoga | Mangazeya | Pustozyorsk | Shenkursk | Solvychegodsk | Totma | Veliky Ustyug |
| Monasteries: Antonievo-Siysky Monastery | Ferapontov Monastery | Kamenny Monastery | Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery | Kiy Island Monastery | Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery | Pechenga Monastery | Solovetsky Monastery |
Central Sikhote-Alin | Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Monuments | Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye | Curonian Spit (w/ Lithuania) | Ferapontov Monastery | Golden Mountains of Altai | Kazan Kremlin | Kizhi Pogost | Lake Baikal | Monuments of Derbent | Monuments of Novgorod | Moscow Kremlin and Red Square | Novodevichy Convent | Solovetsky Islands Ensemble | Struve Geodetic Arc (w/ nine other countries) | Trinity-Sergius Lavra | Uvs Nuur Basin (w/ Mongolia) | Virgin Komi Forests | Volcanoes of Kamchatka | Western Caucasus | White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal | Wrangel Island | Yaroslavl
