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Blessed with one of the most picturesque ensembles of Russian wooden churches, the Lake Onega island Kizhi provides the most scenic destination on Russia's greatest waterway, the Volga. Situated in Europe's second-largest lake's geographical center, Kizhi has long since been a strategic stopover for travelers.
At one point in the 16th century, the island was declared a pogost (or parish center) by the Russian Orthodox Church and produced lumber and iron in an economy that sustained over 100 villages. After a two-year rebellion was quelled in 1771, Kizhi's importance waned until finally, in the 1950s, the island was almost forgotten. Most of the inhabitants left, all of the original villages disappeared, leaving behind impressive wooden relics.
Today, this collection of traditional log structures, centered on two churches and a bell tower set in an enclosure still called the Kizhi Pogost, lives on as one of Russia's greatest open-air museums. The pogost and the other buildings from the region left behind were augmented in the 1960s and restored within this newly established reserve for historical wooden buildings.
The buildings were set in 3 special sectors, named after the regions that the structures came from North Karelia, Karelia, and Pudozhsky. Moreover, the island was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990.