About Me

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Recent retiree--35 year's experience teaching reading, English, adult basic education and volunteer leadership skills. Started this blog to exchange ideas and commentary with friends and others having an interest in joining the discussions. Greatest life accomplishments include: 1.organized my 3rd grade class to check out library books for me to get around librarian's weekly limit--Amazon.com, the Mullins Elementary 3rd Grade Class of 1956 is still waiting for "thank you" notes; 2. volunteered in the Peace Corps, island of St. Kitts, West Indies; 3.taught adults to read, earn their GEDs., and speak English as a second language; 4. bought a border collie puppy for $6, got evicted rather than give him up, and began a life-long love affair with all things "Dog"; 5. joined a physical fitness boot camp in my mid-50s--don't mess with someone who's been doing regulation pushups in wet grass at 5:30 a.m.; 6. walked across Northern England with best friend Sally--over 80 miles from the Irish to North Seas; and 7. travelled to many foreign countries for pleasure and work.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Macro Monday - Russia's Kizhi Island


On my recent river cruise in Russia we arrived at the most spectacular sight on the trip after three day's cruising from St. Petersburg.  On Onega, the second largest lake in Europe we stopped at tiny Kizhi Island (4 mi long, 3/4 mi wide) to visit open air museum of northern wooden architecture with several historic timber buildings that have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site including the Transfiguration Cathedral, several farm structures, peasant houses, and a windmill.  Throughout the week I'll be sharing photos of this amazing place for Macro Monday, Barn Charm, Wordless Wednesday, Nature Footstep Watery Wednesday, and Friday Fences.  Yes, this small island has it all!

For today's Macro Monday I'll focus on Transfiguration Cathedral built in 1714 to commemorate Peter the Great's victory over Sweden.  This church was built out of aged pine with not a single nail.  It is capped with 22 different cupolas, all covered in over 30,000 carved aspen shingles.  Depending on the light, the shingles shimmer like silver.  We visited in the rain so the low light made them appear a deep, rich purple.

Here's a closer look at the church before we disembarked from the cruise ship.  Unfortunately, for photography there was some repair going on on the front facade, but you can still appreciate the fantastical shapes of the classical Russian Orthodox onion domes and cupolas, and the belltower:


Then here are some closeups of aspen shingles:


Here's a good sideview of the cathedral and bell tower:


And then the back view:


Luckily, we were able to go inside the church and see the interior construction and this treasury of church icons dating back to its establishment in the early 1700s. The worship area was incredibly small with the altar and priest's area taking up most of the space. In Russian Orthodoxy, worshippers stand for the very long services. There were a couple of "grandmothers' chairs" for the old and frail who couldn't last for three hours!

So, come back tomorrow if you'd like to see the farm house/barn/farming implements and then later in week for some truly beautiful water scenes and fences.

For more closeups from all over, or to enter your own macros, be sure to check out Lisa's Chaos here every Monday.

 

8 comments:

Brian King said...

Wow, what a building! I've never seen a church quite like it. I wonder how long the original construction took? I like the view from the lake...gorgeous!

TexWisGirl said...

quite an amazing building, for sure!

Linda said...

Incredible buildings! Imagine the age...just beautiful!

Lois Evensen said...

What a fabulous place! I love your images. Thank you for sharing.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Faye, I enjoyed reading back through some of your blog posts and keeping up with you on FB. Your Russian trip must have been awesome... WOW---what a gorgeous building!

I hope you are feeling better. I laughed when reading about your dog eating your medication... GADS!!!

Hugs,
Betsy

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful photos and post ~ Love Russian churches ~ something special about them ~ (A Creative Harbor)

thanks for coming by and commenting ^_^

Jan n Jer said...

This just amazing...NO NAILS!!!!...I can't get over that! Guess with such long worship services they make the congregation stand so they won't fall asleep..LOL

Rose said...

Wonderful, wonderful pictures!