http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kizhi
Kizhi (Russian: Ки́жи, 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 an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kizhi 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 just rock outcroppings (called "skerries"), though some are as big as 35 km long. Access to Kizhi is by hydrofoil across Lake Onega from Petrozavodsk (numerous trips every day in the summer), by snowcat (in the winter), or by cruise ship. There is no lodging on Kizhi for overnight guests.
The Kizhi Pogost, as it is known in Russian, is the area inside the perimeter wall or fence and includes 2 large churches and a bell-tower. But the entire island of Kizhi is a museum with many historically significant and beautiful wooden and log structures including windmills, chapels, boat- and fish-houses, saunas, barns and graneries, and homes. There are two small villages on the island that are home to a few local fishermen. Museum staff also live in the old log homes found in these villages.
The jewel of its architecture is the 22-domed Transfiguration Church (1714), with a large iconostasis—a wooden screen covered with religious portraits, featuring much gold leaf. This iconostasis is in Petrozavodsk until restoration of the Transfiguration Church is completed (scheduled completion is 2014, the 300th anniversary of this monumental church). The massive Transfiguration Church (also known as the "summer church") is about 30m tall, making it one of the tallest log structures in the world. The smaller, nine-domed Intercession Church (also known as the "winter church") was built in 1764, and its iconostasis is intact and can be seen by visitors. The third structure inside the Pogost is the belltower which was built in 1874. The belltower is also constructed with walls of horizontally-fitted logs, though they are covered by exterior wooden planks and cannot be seen. These structures were erected without any nails or other metal, and were made of scribe-fitted horizontal logs, with interlocking corner joinery—either round notch or dovetail—cut by axes. The pine trees used for wall construction were brought to Kizhi from the mainland nearby—a notable transport feat for the 18th century.
A museum of Russian wooden architecture was created in Kizhi by Soviet authorities in 1960. Wooden structures were transported to Kizhi from various parts of Karelia, notably the 14th century St. Lazarus church from the Muromsky Monastery, which is the oldest wooden church in Russia. Other notable specimens of Russian wooden architecture may be found in Kondopoga and Kem'.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/544
http://kizhi.karelia.ru/main_menu.htm
photo by Dmitri kazakov
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