Kizhi

(shipping season is from Apr 19 till Sep 30)

The Kizhi outdoor museum is situated on Kizhi island 70 kilometres to the north-east of Petrozavodsk. The famous Kizhi architechtural ensemble became the cornerstone of a collection of architectural monuments. It consists of the 1714 Cathedral of the Transfiguration, the 1764 Church of the Intercession and the Belfry restored in 1874. Besides, there is a number of peasant house initially put up on Kizhi island proper.

The first monument were brought to the island for display in 1951 and the museum was opened to visitors in 1966. Today we can find 82 monuments of wooden architecture there. Monuments of folk wooden architecture, peasant life, applied wooden and ancient Russian pictorial art are still finding their way to Kizhi island.

The museum pursues the aim of exhibiting the culture of various nationalities and ethnic groups of Karelia. New displays have already appeared, such as "Russian embroidery", "The Russian of Pudozhye", "Karelian from Pryazha". Preparation are underway for creating new displays: "Karelia from Kondopoga", "Northern Karelians", "The Vepses". So the repletion of the museum is still going on.

The Kizhi museum-reserve is open to the public from May 25 to October 15 from 9.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. daily. The hydrofoils "Cometa" or "Colkhida" carry visitors from the Petrozavodsk port to Kizhi.