CIVIL ARCHITECTURE

Civil Architecture

Civil Architecture

Introduction

The ancient wooden churches built here in the eighteenth century and a later bell tower, as well as Orthodox-sanctified structures of crossroads and chapels that were relocated here.( Nida, 2002) Together with impressively ornamented peasant houses from the nineteenth century (also relocated), the Kizhi outdoor museum allows visitors to experience the ancient cultures and crafts of the Russian north; externally expressed in wood, internally, in elaborate woven and embroidered textiles.

The colonizers with churches built here from the twelfth century of which nothing remains today. The five-storey Church of Transfiguration dating from 1714, its lower neighbor the Intercession Church (1764) and the belltower chapel erected in 1874, were built on much older sanctified ground. You wonder why those anonymous handicraft carpenters of the eighteenth century chose to build these extraordinary wooden churches out in Kizhi. The answer lies in the founding of Petrozavodsk by Peter the Great.

Plentiful iron ore, vast coniferous forests, a ready supply of labor and a network of waterways through the lakes to the Neva river and the Baltic encouraged Peter to establish an arms workshop on the Lake Onega shore to supply cannons and balls for his wars against the Swedes. Petrozavodsk, ''Peter''s workshop'', was founded in 1703 and ten years later the Church of Transfiguration was raised, providing a spiritual beacon in the Karelian wilderness. Last year, Peter''s secular stone cities of St Petersburg (AR December 2000) and Petrozavodsk both celebrated their 300 year jubilee.

Religious Architecture

The 37m high Church of Transfiguration adopts an octahedral plan on stone foundations which forms the basis of the five-storey composition. Adjoining rectangular extensions symbolizing the four corners of the world provide additional stability and two smaller further extensions rise above the main octahedron. The carinate ceilings are crowned by 23 different sized cupolas sheathed in carved aspen shingles.

The Church of Transfiguration is a ''cold'' temple, with services conducted only in warm weather. (Nida, 2002) The structure is made from pine cut in winter and dried for three to four years and the church was originally built using the dry method, without moss infilling gaps in the timber and without double doors. Since 1980 the church has been closed and at the start of the ''90s the pine structure was reinforced with a metal frame. The 30 000 aspen shingles are replaced on both churches every 35-45 years. Aspen is known to absorb moisture and dry up quickly in the sun, first turning golden then finally silver.

The carved crown of the Intercession Church hovers in the air beside its taller neighbor, creating harmony between the two with its single-storey, multi-cupola form. It was built 50 years later, in 1764, and is a ''warm'' temple, recently opened again for religious services. Built as an elongated rectangle with a central axis, it differs from the Church of Transfiguration. (Nida, 2002) The rounded corners of the refectory were intended to withstand the harsh Karelian frosts.

The icons of the Church of Transfiguration have been moved to the Petrozavodsk Museum of ...