As a kid you may recall making birdhouses out of popsicle sticks and tongue depressors. Or maybe you even had the engineering prowess to win the toothpick bridge building contest in your young adolescence? Well, I think the Russians win for most ridiculously incredible wooden church.
I love me some modern architecture, but when I came across pictures of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Kizhi Island, I had to pick my jaw back up. I grew up down the street from a Russian Orthodox church and always loved it’s shiny gold domes. And I’ve always marveled at the brightly colored domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. But the intricate beauty of this completely wooden structure, in which NO NAILS were used, and the way the light reflects of the aspen shingles is breathtaking. I can only imagine what it must be like in person.
Khizi Island, according to the wonderful world of Wiki “is an island on Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia” in Russia. “The entire island of Kizhi is a museum with many historically significant and beautiful wooden and log structures including windmills, chapels, boat- and fish-houses, saunas, barns and granaries, and homes.”
This church was built in 1714, and is currently undergoing preservation. It’s apparently one of the tallest log structures in the world and it’s 22 domes are made of thousands of hand cut aspen shingles.
This. Is. Craftsmanship.
