Kizhi Island among the archipelago of islands at the northern end of Lake Onega appears to be today an outdoor, warm-weather village museum.

When the first settlers settled here they did so, because at this northern latitude the surrounding water helped to somewhat modify and warm this harsh and cold climate. These early inhabitants were pagans and the name of the island derives from the Karelo-Finnish word "Kijat" which refers to the games and festivals of those early pagan ceremonies.

As these first settlers became Christianized, various churches were built here. Around the middle of the 1600s the monastery which existed here was overlord of some 130 villages comprising some 11 000 inhabitants. Gradually the number of inhabitants living here, decreased. By 1917 when the revolution brought the "Reds" to power and took away the priviledges the church had enjoyed, the Kizhi Island monastery and the associated villages ceased to exist altogether. All that was left of them were their two churches and its bell tower.

As happens quite frequently in this northern climate, two churches, rather than one had to be built, a winter and a summer church. Since, in the middle of the winter fewer people would be able to make it to services, the winter church would be smaller, and be built in a way that made heatinng it possible. The one very obvious characteristic of this necessity was a very low ceiling which required less wood to keep it warm.

More details will be given in the write-up that goes with the photos.