Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord
The main “highlight” of the Church of the Transfiguration is the ring of choir that encircles it, made up of twenty-two differently sized domes-these are what create the instantly recognizable look of Kizhi worldwide. Legend credits the authorship of the Church of the Transfiguration to a certain master, Nestor, who, after building it, threw his axe into the waters of Lake Onega with the words “Never was, never will be.” Another common myth says that the Church of the Transfiguration was erected without a single nail. There is some truth to this: the church’s log structure indeed has no nails-nails were used only in the famous domes. Thanks to the properties of aspen, depending on the lighting, the “scaly” domes can turn silvery, steel-gray, and even pink.
Chapel of Archangel Michael
A chapel of Archangel Michael appeared at the end of the 17th century in the village of Lelikozero, of the Spaso-Kizhi parish, and in 1961 it was moved to Kizhi Island. This is not just an ordinary place of worship from a small northern village: the creators of the chapel clearly tried to make it not only functionally suitable, but also externally attractive and elegant. Inside the chapel of Archangel Michael, the iconostasis and a painted ceiling covering-so-called “the sky,” which is quite common in the Russian North-have miraculously been preserved. Unique ceiling icons, like the iconostasis, are contemporaries of the chapel itself. You will also be drawn to the bell tower here, because it is in the chapel of Archangel Michael that tourists are shown the sound of the bells.
Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus
Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus - the oldest of the surviving wooden churches and one of the most revered shrines of the Russian North. The church is over six centuries old. Founded in the second half of the 14th century as part of the Murom Monastery, the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus has witnessed many fateful moments for our country, survived the period of the monastery’s flourishing, the agricultural workers’ commune, and complete neglect, until it was transported to Kizhi Island in the middle of the last century. According to tradition, it was built by Saint Lazarus of Murom, a revered holy man, and very quickly the church gained a reputation as a “miraculous healer of ailments.”
Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God
Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God is the only functioning church and the “architectural echo” of the Kizhi Pogost. For the creators of the Intercession Church, there was a challenging task: the new temple had to be no less perfect than the nearby beauty, the Church of the Transfiguration, but at the same time not overshadow it. And the architect managed it: for all its magnificence, the Intercession Church has a clearly subordinate character and echoes its famous neighbor. It is also many-domed-the “crown” of nine domes crowns it. So why were two churches built side by side? The answer is simple: the Transfiguration Church is a summer, unheated church, while the Intercession Church is a winter, warm one. The creators of the latter had to think about preserving heat, so the Intercession Church is lower and smaller.
Windmill
It’s hard not to notice this eight-winged beauty on the island - it acts like a magnet, attracting the youngest visitors to the Kizhi Museum-Reserve, most of whom had previously seen wooden windmills only in pictures in books. Despite its fairy-tale appearance, the windmill is one of the newest exhibits in the Kizhi collection - it was built in 1928. By the way, even today it not only helps create the legendary atmosphere of Kizhi, but can also be used for its original purpose. The windmill is by no means the only outbuilding in Kizhi (nearby there are racks, barns, and bathhouses), but, perhaps, it is the most popular and most photogenic object.
