Kizhi Pogost Historical Facts and Pictures

Located in the southern part of Kizhi Island, the Kizhi Pogost is a famous historical site in Russia that has been listed by UNESCO as one of the World Heritage sites in 1990. Pogost means an area within a fence, which comprises two large wooden churches and a bell tower.

Kizhi Pogost Images

Kizhi Pogost

Architecture and Design

Surrounded by Lake Onega, this architectural masterpiece is entirely built with pine, aspen and spruce woods without the usage of nails.

Kizhi Pogost Top View

The most remarkable part of the pogost is the 22 domed Church of Transfiguration, the larger of the two churches, also considered as one of the tallest wooden structures in the world. This 37-meter high structure is entirely built with scribe-fitted ornate horizontal logs, using the interlock corner joinery technique instead of nails. The church is called a summer church as it is not heated and does not hold any winter services. This multi-storied, single block, and multi-cupola structure was decorated with batten and thin strips of steel in the 1950s. The pentagon shaped east side of the structure contains the altar that was laid in 6^th June, 1714.

Kizhi Pogost Photos

Kizhi Pogost Pictures

Known as a church for being heated, the Church of Intercession holds the services from October to Easter time every year. The church was a single-domed structure in 1694 when it was built, but later in 1764 it was reconstructed into a 9-domed structure, echoing the main Transfiguration Church. This scantily-decorated structure contains a single-part high porch, leading into the 4 interior sections of the church. Similar with the Church of Transfiguration, the altar of the Church of Intercession is placed in the pentagon-shaped eastern part.

Kizhi Pogost Bell Tower

Kizhi Pogost Inside

The 30-meter tall, wooden-framed bell tower consists pyramidal roof with a cross on top of it. The interior part of the tower contains an antechamber, a storage place and stairs.