Malye Karely State museum of wooden architecture and folklore
Contact details
The village of Malye Korely, Primorsky District of the Arkhangelsk Region
+7 (8182) 25 82 87
koреly@аtнеt.ру
Distance from the nearest town:
25 km from Arkhangelsk on the picturesque bank of the Dvina river near Malye Karely vallage.
More than 100 cult, dwelling and household buildings of 17-20 centuries are located on the territory of 140 hectares. Domes of the ancient log temples and bell towers rise to the sky, fans of windmills stretch their wings, house horses proudly arch their backs on the board roofs of dwelling and household buildings – it is a living story about lifestyle and occupations of the northerners.
The exposition is located on the sector principal, which represent the models of the most characteristic settlments with characteristic planning of the Russian North. Each sector is a fragment of a village, where not only separate buildings are important but their mutual dependence.
Opening time:
Winter season 10.00 - 15.00.
Summer season 10.00 - 17.00.
Closed: Tuesday.
The Kargopol-Onega Sector which opens the Museum exposition renders the planning as a settlement where dwellings surround a square dominated by the Voznesenskaya (the Resurrection) Church of 1669 and a bell-tower from the village of Kushereka. The centre of any living quarter is a house. The climate being severe in the North, living and household buildings are united under one roof, the living houses have a higher basement.
The Mezen Sector presents the architecture of the north-east of the Region. Villages were located along the high and steep river banks there. To strengthen them supporting walls of logs were constructed, covered with planked decks. These original ‘embankments’ were used for putting barns, ice-houses, and closer to water there were bath-houses. The most commonly encountered at Mezen were houses of six walls. The main decoration of the house was a porch built on wooden pillars, twisted, carved, intricately decorated; its decoration was in the same style with the decorations of window surrounds and prichelinas
The Pinega Sector reflects the architecture of the Pinega River basin, the largest tributary of the Dvina. Here izbas (houses) were built in ‘order’ (in a row) all facing the sun. In front of the houses or a little aside bath-houses and barns are arranged in a small group, each of the barns is on high pillars to prevent mice entering them.
Between the Mezen and Pinega Sectors there is a little village of small izbas, barns and a draw-well with a long log for a counterbalance. It is a seasonal settlement of Khornemskoye from the upper reaches of the Pinega River. People lived in such villages during haymaking or logging.
The biggest and diverse in architecture is the Dvina Sector. There monuments from a vast area of Podvinye are collected. In the central square there stands the Georgiyevskaya (St. George’s) Church of the 17th century from the settlement of Vershina of the Verkhnetoemsky District. The frame of iconostasis is restored; it was built in the baroque style. Around the church there are houses of the Dvina Land peasants of different level of prosperity. Windmills make the image of the Museum original and inimitable. There are seven of them. Some are mills on pillars which are arranged in a crib, in a frame or as columns, and some are tent-roofed mills.
