![Kizhimap2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Kizhimap2.png)
Kizhi ( rus, Ки́жи, p=ˈkʲiʐɨ, krl, Kiži) is an island near the geometrical center of
Lake Onega
Lake Onega (; also known as Onego, rus, Оне́жское о́зеро, r=Onezhskoe ozero, p=ɐˈnʲɛʂskəɪ ˈozʲɪrə; fi, Ääninen, Äänisjärvi; vep, Änine, Änižjärv) is a lake in northwestern Russia, on the territory of the Repu ...
in the
Republic of Karelia (
Medvezhyegorsky District
Medvezhyegorsky District (russian: Медвежьего́рский райо́н; krl, Karhumäjen piiri) is an administrative district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Republic of Karelia, Russia.Constitution of the Republic of Karelia It is ...
),
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. It is elongated from north to south and is about long, wide and is about away from the capital of Karelia,
Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...
.
Settlements and churches on the island were known from at least the 15th century. The population was rural, but was forced by the government to assist development of the ore mining and iron plants in the area that resulted in a major Kizhi Uprising in 1769–1771. Most villages had disappeared from the island by the 1950s and now only a small rural settlement remains. In the 18th century, two major churches and a bell tower were built on the island, which are now known as
Kizhi Pogost
Kizhi Pogost (russian: Кижский погост) is a historical site dating from the 17th century on Kizhi island. The island is located on Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia (Medvezhyegorsky District), Russia. The pogost is the area inside ...
. In the 1950s, dozens of historical wooden buildings were moved to the island from various parts of Karelia for preservation purposes. Nowadays, the entire island and the nearby area form a national
open-air museum
An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum.
Definition
Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere ...
with more than 80 historical wooden structures. The most famous is the
Kizhi Pogost
Kizhi Pogost (russian: Кижский погост) is a historical site dating from the 17th century on Kizhi island. The island is located on Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia (Medvezhyegorsky District), Russia. The pogost is the area inside ...
, which is a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
site.
History
Name
The name Kizhi is believed to originate from ancient
Veps or
Karelian word “kizhat” or "kizhansuari" ("social gathering" or “island of games”).
[Kizhi island]
Encyclopædia Britannica[Ethnographic and open-air museums]
UNESCO, pp. 170–173 In Russian, it can be pronounced with stress on either syllable; the stress on the ultimate syllable is grammatically incorrect in
Karelian language
Karelian (North Karelian and Livvi Karelian: ; Ludic: ; Tver Karelian: ) is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically, Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland, and ...
.
Industrial development
Since at least the 14th century, the island was part of the exchange route between
Novgorod and
White Sea
The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is s ...
. The numerous settlements on Kizhi and neighboring islands (about 100 by the 16th century) comprised an administrative entity called Spas-Kizhi Pogost.
Since the 13th and 14th century, the area acquired economical importance as a source of
iron ores. By the early 18th century, as a consequence of the industrial reforms of Tzar
Peter I Peter I may refer to:
Religious hierarchs
* Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus
* Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint
* Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...
, several ore mines and metallurgy plants were built on the Onega Lake, in particular on the place of modern
Medvezhyegorsk
Medvezhyegorsk (russian: Медвежьего́рск; krl, Karhumägi; fi, Karhumäki) is a town and the administrative center of Medvezhyegorsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia. Population: 15,800 (1959).
History
A village in ...
and
Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...
cities. Those plants required hard physical labor such as cutting forests for wood, coal burning, ground works, etc., which was mostly provided by the local peasants. The labor was forced; the disobeyed were punished by public beating and fines that sparked local riots. The largest one occurred in 1769–1771 and is known as Kizhi Uprising, which was sparked by a governor order to send peasants during the harvest season for works at Tivdiysk marble mine and construction of the Lizhemsky metallurgical plant. Peasants disobeyed and boycotted the order. They were soon joined by up to 40,000 people from all over Karelia led by Kliment Sobolev, Andrei Salnikov and Semen Kostin. The revolt was based in the Kizhi Pogost that resulted in its name. The peasants sent petitioners to St. Petersburg, but those were arrested and punished, and a military corps was sent to suppress the uprising. They arrived to Kizhi by the end of June, 1771, and after artillery fire the peasants quickly surrendered. The leaders and 50–70 other peasants were publicly beaten and sent to exile in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
. Many others were forced into military service, which was a form of punishment of the time. However, the recruitment of peasants for the construction of local plants and mineworks had stopped.
Farming and other traditional activities
From the early times, the most important occupation of the islanders was farming. All available area, about half of the island was converted to fields; from the remaining half, a quarter was rocky and the rest occupied by swamps. On one occasion in the 18th century, two villages were moved from Kizhi island to the nearby infertile mainland to free land for farming. Until 1970, the island had about of fields yielding various grains and potato, and
combine harvesters and tractors for field cultivation. The farming was stopped in 1971 by a government directive. Some fields were reconstructed in 2004 as part of the Kizhi museum. Those fields are an exhibit demonstrating major steps of the farming and harvesting work.
Other traditional activities of the area included
embroidery
Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...
, making beaded jewelry,
weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
(including traditional
birch bark
Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''.
The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, craftin ...
weaving),
knitting,
spinning,
woodcarving
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...
(which included making traditional Russian wooden toys) and
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...
.
Original churches of Kizhi
![Kizhi churches](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Kizhi_churches.jpg)
The first mentioning of churches on the island is dated to 1563. This document describes two domed wooden churches with a bell tower standing in the southern part of the island (on the site of the present Kizhi Pogost), and mentions their earlier description of 1496.
[ A more detailed description was documented in 1628. In particular, contrary to the later, domed churches of the pogost, the first ones had pyramidal roofs. Those churches were burned by a fire caused by lightning in the end of the 17th century.][ The first church raised after the fire was the Church of the Intercession (russian: церковь Покрова Богородицы, 1694) which was heated and held services all year long. It was reconstructed several times in 1720–1749 and in 1764 rebuilt into its present 9-dome design. In 1714, the 22-dome Transfiguration Church (russian: Церковь Преображения Господня) was constructed and soon after the bell tower was added, thereby completing the Kizhi Pogost. The bell tower was entirely rebuilt in 1862. Much earlier, some time in the 17th century, a long fence was built around the churches, which then served as a protection ground against ]Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
incursions.
Kizhi churches were built on stones, without a deep foundation. Their major basic structural unit is a round log of Scots pine
''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...
(Pinus sylvestris) about in diameter and long.[ Many thousands logs were brought for construction from the mainland which was a complex logistical task at that time. The logs were cut and shaped with axes and assembled without nails, using interlocking corner joinery — either round notch or dovetail. Flat roofs were made of spruce planks and the domes are covered in ]aspen
Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus.
Species
These species are called aspens:
*'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...
.[Церковь Преображения Господня]
(in Russian) Kizhi Museum site
Kizhi museum
Open-air museum
An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum.
Definition
Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere ...
Kizhi is one of the first in Russia, which started functioning on the island in 1951 and currently contains about 87 wooden constructions. The most famous of them is the Kizhi Pogost
Kizhi Pogost (russian: Кижский погост) is a historical site dating from the 17th century on Kizhi island. The island is located on Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia (Medvezhyegorsky District), Russia. The pogost is the area inside ...
, which contains two churches and a bell tower surrounded by a fence. The pogost was included in the UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
list in 1990. Since 1951, a large number of historical buildings were moved to the island. They include Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus from Murom Monastery, which is regarded as the oldest remaining wooden church in Russia (second half of the 14th century),[ several bell towers, more than 20 peasant houses, mills, barns and saunas.][ In 1993, the museum was included into a short list a Russian Cultural Heritage sites. The museum contains more than 41,000 exhibits. Most of them are domestic artifacts: tools, dishes, utensils, furniture, etc. There are about 1000 icons of the 16th–19th centuries which includes Russia's only collection of "heavens". There are also church items, such as crosses early manuscript of 17th–19th centuries. The museum also contains exhibits of the 20th century, about 10,000 photographs and 1,500 drawings.
The museum conducts a wide range of scientific studies in the history, archeology, ecology, nature and other fields related to the island. It is based in Kizhi and Petrozavodsk, has an advanced web portal and a web camera on the island. Kizhi museum also publishes the monthly "Kizhi newspaper". In summer, it runs week-long education courses at the school and university level.
]
Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus
Tradition says that the church was built by the monk Lazarus (1286 (?) – 1391) in the second half of the 14th century. The church became the first building of the future Murom Monastery located on the eastern shore of Lake Onega. Over time, the church became the main attractions of the monastery as it was reputed to miraculously cure illnesses. Clergy announced the monk Lazarus as a local saint, and every summer, on 23–24 June, the church was attracting pilgrims. The building is tall and has a perimeter of .
The original two-tier iconostasis of the church is preserved; it consists of 17 icons of 16th–18th centuries.[
]
Chapel of the Archangel Michael
The Chapel of the Archangel Michael was moved to Kizhi in 1961 from the Lelikozero village.
It measures and has a rectangular frame elongated from east to west and a two-slope roof. Above the entrance hall there is a belfry capped with a pyramid roof. The iconostasis of the chapel has two tiers and contains icons of 17th–18th centuries.
Demography
By the end of the 16th century, there were 14 settlements on the island. By the early 1900s, their number reduced to nine, which were named Pogost, Bachurino, Bishevo, Bosarevo, Vasilyevo, Kyazhevo, Morozovo, Navolok and Yamka.[Pogost settlement]
/ref> By the end of World War II, seven of them disappeared and only Vasilyevo and Yamka remain.[ They are a part of the "Kizhi rural settlement" belonging to the larger Velikogubskoe rural settlement of ]Medvezhyegorsky District
Medvezhyegorsky District (russian: Медвежьего́рский райо́н; krl, Karhumäjen piiri) is an administrative district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Republic of Karelia, Russia.Constitution of the Republic of Karelia It is ...
, Republic of Karelia, Russia.
Settlements
The pogost settlement is located near the Kizhi Pogost. It was first mentioned in the early 17th century; then it consisted of four houses, two of which were burned down during a local revolt. By 1678, the number of houses increased to seven, six of which belonged to the Pogost priests and one to a peasant. The settlement shrank to five houses by the early 1900s and disappeared by 1950. Nowadays, on their place stands a historical house of Oshevnev, which was moved here in 1951 from Oshevnevo village, and which became the first exhibit of the Kizhi museum opened in 1960.[
Bachurino was named after a peasant Fedor Bachurin; between the 17th and 19th centuries, it contained only two houses which then grew to three. This settlement was the poorest on the island – in 1876, it owned only one horse and two cows, and in the early 20th century, only two cows for 24 people living there.
Bishevo settlement was located in the north-eastern part of the island. In 1563, it had one house but there were four houses there by 1678. In 1820, from eight men of the settlement, six were wealthy – the settlement had 5 horses, 11 cows and 4 sheep. In the early 1900s, there were only 4 horses and 3 cows for 11 people, and by 1950 the settlement had disappeared.
Bosarevo settlement was formed in 1858-1869 with one house of 11 people, which became two by 1911.
Kyazehvo settlement was located on the northernmost shore of the island and had two houses in 1563. One more was built by 1876, but the houses were small and had almost no animals. Thirteen people lived there by 1905.
Morozovo settlement was known since 1582 and contained one big house which was taken apart in 1950. Nearby, there is the Chapel of the Three Saints. It stands 22 metres tall with a perimeter of and was built in the late 18th century in the Kavgora village.
Navolok settlement was one of the largest and richest in the area with four houses in 1563 and seven from 1696. About 40 people lived there in the 19th century, most of whom were peasants but two were shoe makers and one carpenter. The settlement had a boat which was used for cargo.
While most Kizhi settlements were shrinking with time, Vasilyevo was growing from one house in 1840 to two in 1876, three in 1911 and five in 2009. Of the present five houses, two are original and others were moved here as museum exhibits. Near them, there is a historical Chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin (russian: часовня Успения Пресвятой Богородицы) of 17th–18th century measuring .
Yamka settlement had two houses in 1563, both of which were burned down in 1616. They were rebuilt later and by 1911, the settlement was the largest on the island with 11 houses. One of its inhabitants, Semen Kostin, was a leader of the Kizhi Uprising of the 1769. One of his neighbors became a wealthy merchant and a regular donor to the reconstruction of the Kizhi churches. Apart from historical houses and barns, in Yamka there is a windmill built in 1930 and two chapels. The Chapel of Spas (russian: Часовня Спаса Нерукотворного) measures . It was built in the 17th–18th centuries in Vigovo village and moved to Kizhi in the 1950s. Its style is similar to that of the Chapel of the Archangel Michael (see above). The Chapel of Petr and Pavel is smaller () and simpler in design. It was built in the early 18th century in the Tipinitsa village and then moved to Kizhi. Its interior could not be preserved.
]
Geography and nature
Geology, flora and fauna
The area of Kizhi island differs from most of other parts of Onega Lake. It is characterized by numerous small islands, which reduce the water flow, and relatively shallow and uneven lake bottom. Whereas the average depth of the lake is ,[Karelia. Tourist portal](_blank)
/ref> the depth is about in the Kizhi and only in some places reaches . Because of the weak flows and shallow depth, water is relatively warm and quiet that promotes growth of aquatic vegetation. Fish types include roach, some gobies
Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...
, crucian carp
The crucian carp (''Carassius carassius'') is a medium-sized member of the common carp family Cyprinidae. It occurs widely in northern European regions. Its name derives from the Low German ''karusse'' or ''karutze'', possibly from Medieval L ...
, sabre carp, perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...
, ruffe
The Eurasian ruffe (''Gymnocephalus cernua''), also known as ruffe or pope, is a freshwater fish found in temperate regions of Europe and northern Asia. It has been introduced into the Great Lakes of North America, reportedly with unfortuna ...
, pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
, common dace, silver bream, Ide, gudgeon, carp bream, spined loach
The spined loach (''Cobitis taenia'') is a common freshwater fish in Europe. It is sometimes known as spotted weather loach, not to be confused with the "typical" weather loaches of the genus ''Misgurnus''. This is the type species of the spiny ...
, European smelt
The smelt or European smelt (''Osmerus eperlanus'') is a species of fish in the family Osmeridae.
Shape and appearance
The body of the European smelt is typically 15 to 18 cm long, slender and slightly flattened on either side. Larger fi ...
, char, pike-perch
''Sander'' (formerly known as ''Stizostedion'') is a genus of predatory ray-finned fish in the Family (biology), family Percidae, which also includes the perches, Gymnocephalus, ruffes, and Darter (fish), darters. They are also known as "pike-pe ...
, rudd
''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). Th ...
and burbot
The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish. It is also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, and eelpout. The species is closel ...
.
Along the center of the island runs a narrow ridge, which is a remnant of the ice age. It has steep slopes in some parts and is up to tall. There are no forests on the island, but only individual trees of elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
, spruce, pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
, birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...
, aspen
Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus.
Species
These species are called aspens:
*'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...
and alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
. The trees host about 28 species of polypore
Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside (see Delimitation for exceptions). They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polyp ...
s (tree mushrooms), and there are more than 100 species of moss. Most of the island is covered in meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...
s, which are quite varied and rich in colors and species, including rare and protected. A large part of them are of legume family. Common are cow parsley
''Anthriscus sylvestris'', known as cow parsley, wild chervil, wild beaked parsley, Queen Anne's lace or keck, is a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant in the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), genus ''Anthriscus''. It is also some ...
, various species centaurea
''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding reg ...
, tansy
Tansy (''Tanacetum vulgare'') is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant in the genus ''Tanacetum'' in the aster family, native to temperate Europe and Asia. It has been introduced to other parts of the world, including North America, and in ...
and verbascum densiflorum.
About 180 bird species from 15 families are known in the Kizhi area, and about 45 types of them were observed on the island. Most of them are migratory and stop on the island either for rest or nesting, such as swans, geese, ducks, lake seagulls, sterna
''Sterna'' is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have recently determined that this arrangement is paraphyletic. It is now restricted to t ...
, but there are also more stationary birds like house sparrow, Eurasian siskin
The Eurasian siskin (''Spinus spinus'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include ''black-headed goldfinch'', ''barley bird'' a ...
, common chaffinch
The common chaffinch or simply the chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in ...
, skylark
''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...
, jackdaw
Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) ...
and crow. Among animals and amphibians, there are only newt
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...
s ( smooth newt and great crested newt
The northern crested newt, great crested newt or warty newt (''Triturus cristatus'') is a newt species native to Great Britain, northern and central continental Europe and parts of Western Siberia. It is a large newt, with females growing up to ...
), vipers
The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs th ...
, common lizard, frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...
s and toads (common frog
The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian ...
, common toad
The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a frog found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, and some Mediterranean islands), in ...
and moor frog
The moor frog (''Rana arvalis'') is a slim, reddish-brown, semiaquatic amphibian native to Europe and Asia. Moor frogs are known for their ability to freeze solid and survive thawing. The frog makes use of various cryoprotectants i.e. antifreeze ...
) and mice – the island is too small for larger animals which are abundant in the area.
Climate
The climate on the island is typical of the area, but is cold for most parts of the world. Low temperatures suppress bacterial activity, which is one of the major factors behind the longevity of the wooden structures of Kizhi.
Access
Although Kizhi island is within a kilometer distance from major islands and peninsulas of Onega lake, there are no major cities and transport routes nearby. Access to Kizhi is provided by hydrofoil (several trips a day from Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...
during the summer months), cruise ship, helicopter and snowcat (in the winter). Transportation over the island is mostly on foot. During the winter, snowmobiles are also used. On nearby islands there are several guesthouses. There is an 8-room (20 beds) wooden guest house and a restaurant on the island.Guest house on Kizhi island
(in Russian)
References
External links
Official homepage in Russian
Gallery of the Kizhi Museum
Orthodox shrines in Kizhi
Virtual visit to Kizhi
Satellite picture by Google Maps
{{Authority control
World Heritage Sites in Russia
Lake islands of Europe
Landforms of the Republic of Karelia
Lake islands of Russia