Arkhangelsk is not only a big city at the mouth of the Northern Dvina. It is also the center of a large region, with an area one and a half times larger than Germany (yes, European countries are a unit of measurement for Russian territories!). The Arkhangelsk region is rich in ancient villages and wooden architecture, which is presented in an open-air museum operating since 1973, 20 kilometers from the regional center. Despite the name, wooden architecture is Russian, like the majority of the population of the region. The name of the museum comes from the village of Malye Karely, where it is located (the name of the village is spelled with an A). However, first things first.
You can get to the museum from the city by bus from the MRV (sea-river station). 22 kilometers along the road along the right bank of the Northern Dvina through several villages. This road continues far to the east, first along the Dvina, then along the Pinega, and so on to the Mezen itself (it was completed there quite recently). But in the bus on which I rode, the village of Malye Karely is the final one. Although the village itself is small, but a significant part of the passengers travels to it - perhaps the museum is popular and just as a good place for walking.
2. Small Karelians themselves look like this. Despite the name, this village is Russian, like almost the entire Arkhangelsk region. However, once these lands were inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes, assimilated by Russians many hundreds of years ago. Including the Korela tribe (ancestors of modern Karelians), from whom the Korelka (Korely) river, which flows into the Dvina, got its name. In the neighborhood there is also the village of Bolshiye Karely, in size, however, about the same.
3. The village is small, and probably many houses are dachas of Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk residents. The flow of cars along the road is quite busy, and maybe some of them even go to the distant Mezen ...
4. Hut with the sun under the ridge of the roof. This is a typical northern tradition, which I also observed in.
5. And this is how a bus stop looks in Malye Karely in an original way. Also, however, wooden architecture!
But let's go to the museum now. It is quite large (an area of 140 hectares, much larger than the village) and has about a hundred wooden buildings brought here from different places in the Arkhangelsk region. To bring the situation closer to the real one, the museum, as it usually happens, is inscribed in the surrounding nature - wooden buildings stand under the arches of a coniferous forest. According to the geographical division of the Arkhangelsk region, the museum is divided into four sectors - Onega-Kargopol, Dvina, Pinega and Mezen.
6. The first one meets the Onega-Kargopol sector (reflecting the western part of the region) and the bell tower of the Ascension Church from the village of Kushereka (Onega district), built in the middle of the 19th century.
7. The Ascension Church itself is older - 1699. The architecture is typical for Poonezhie - five domes on a cubic volume, the church in the village of Arkhangelo is of the same design.
8. And this is an artifact of a much later era - a tent-type windmill of 1902 from the Kozheozersky Epiphany Monastery (located in the wilderness of the Onega region and in our time is being revived after decades of desolation).
9. Inside the mill:
10. Another windmill - from the south-west of the region, from the village of Bolshaya Shalga, Kargopol district. One of the wings appears to have been removed for restoration.
11. And this is a residential building - Pukhov's house-yard from the village of Oshevensk (or rather, the village of Bolshoy Khaluy) of the Kargopol district, where I never got to. Residential buildings in the Russian North are huge and sometimes severe in their appearance. Firstly, the residential part is divided into winter and summer, and secondly, it is combined with the household. In cold climates, everything is under one roof!
12. Against the background of the forest - the chapel of Elijah the Prophet (late 18th century) from the now deserted village of Mamonov Ostrov on Kenozero (Plesetsky district).
14. The landscape here is quite hilly. It seems that there are ski slopes a little further from the museum. However, this was not the case during the summer.
15. This is a ravine, along the bottom of which a stream flows. I was in Malyye Korely on July 18th. It's funny, but it's not the first year in a row that I find myself on this date in a place with long wooden stairs.
17. The next sector is Dvinskoy. Again, several wooden buildings assembled in one place actually recreate the whole appearance of the village.
18. Shchegolev's house-yard (1826) from the village of Irta on the banks of the Vychegda River in the Lensky District (the district center is the village of Yarensk), not far from Kotlas. This hut is no longer five-walled, but six-walled, with two parallel cuts.
19. On the left - a windmill of the second half of the 19th century from the village of Medlesha (Shenkur district).
20. Other buildings of a rural estate: in the foreground is a "black" bathhouse, and on the far right is a barn e day for food storage.
21. Two more six-wall residential buildings: Turobov's house (1820s, also from the village of Irta) and Tsigarev's house (19th century, Vyemkovo village, Lensky district).
22. In the center of the Dvina sector is the Church of St. George the Victorious (17th century, the village of Vershino, Verkhnetoemsky district). This is already a tent structure (as, for example, in the village of Saunino near Kargopol).
23. And this is Shestakov's house from the village of Tsivozero, Krasnoborsky District (1861). It is small because it is only a part of a whole hut in the past, divided during its restructuring.
24. Porch. The house is closed because I was here on Monday when the interior exhibitions are closed. In general, in the outback of the Russian North in many villages it is not even customary to lock houses ...
26. Windows in the northern huts. usually small:
27. And this is Tropinin's estate from the village of Semushinskaya, Ustyansky district. The owner was a wealthy man.
28. Even the ridge of the roof is double-headed!
29. Yermolin's estate (1880, the village of Krivets, Kholmogory district). The hut is five-walled, and not so huge.
30. On the reverse side, a barn adjoins the residential part:
31. The owner of the estate was a blacksmith, so there is also a rural forge in the backyard:
32. And this is Rusinov's house (19th century, now the uninhabited village of Kondratovskaya, Verkhnetoemsky district). Of course, there are also wooden bridges.
33. Rye grows behind the house:
34. And again the forest. The next sector is Pinezhsky. It was in it that at the time of my visit it was the least crowded, most of all mosquitoes, and it was at the moment of arrival there that the sun disappeared behind the clouds. The Pinezhsky sector in the entire museum seemed to me somehow especially detached and mysterious, like, probably, the Pinezhsky region itself in dense and hard-to-reach forests.
By the way, Siberian spruce grows near Arkhangelsk, as well as in North Karelia. But larch is not here, because the climate is slightly softened by the White Sea - it is found to the south, in the Plesetsk region, and to the east.
35. In the foreground - a barn from the village of Sura, Pinezhsky district (19th century), and on the left in the distance - baths.
36. Several barns of the 19th century from the Pinezhsky region. "On chicken legs" they stand specifically so that rodents do not climb into them.
37. Residential buildings from the back (economic) part. They appear to be under restoration at the moment.
38. Bath interior:
A short tour of the Pinezhsky sector was given to me by a museum employee, who herself comes from the Pinezhsky district (in ethnographic museums, including such ones, it is a fairly common practice to specifically hire people from the respective places). In her speech, I drew attention to the characteristic dialect (I especially remember the pronunciation of the word "still" as "ishsho").
39. At the edge of the forest stands the Holy Trinity Chapel (1728) from the village of Valtevo, Pinezhsky district.
40. In the foreground - the house of P. P. Filin (1876, the village of Gorodetsk, Pinezhsky district), and further - Dorodnaya's house (early 20th century, the village of Sheymogory, Pinezhsky district).
41. Well-"crane". In the villages, I now see such people very rarely, mostly in museums and in old photographs.
42. And in the forest - a hunting shed:
43. There is also a hunting hut nearby:
44. Coming out of the forest, we find ourselves in the Mezensky sector, dedicated to the most distant and inaccessible region in the Arkhangelsk region, where I still hope to get (Mezensky and Leshukonsky districts). The Mezensky sector is located at a cliff - here begins the descent into the valley of the Northern Dvina.
45. House of a prosperous Mezen peasant:
46. Another house is already six-walled. The cutouts are nearby.
47. Another six-walled Mezen hut:
48. And this one is five-walled. With painted shutters and overhangs.
50. There are also barns nearby:
52. And a well:
53. At the end of the Mezensky sector - a windmill from the village of Azapolye, Mezensky district (19th century).
54. And a worship cross. For Pomors, they also served as navigational signs and were placed on the seashore. If you see the cross directly from the front, then you are looking to the east.
55. Picturesque ravines and forests spread around:
56. And on the other hand, somewhere below the Northern Dvina, divided into many channels (the water, however, is not visible because of the trees). And on the other side - the city of Novodvinsk, a satellite of Arkhangelsk with 38 thousand inhabitants, and its city-forming enterprise - the gloomy Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill. This landscape reminded me of the view of the Kirovo-Chepetsk chemical plant from the high bank of the Vyatka.
Such is the museum display of rural Arkhangelsk near its capital. The museum is constantly working to replenish its collection, now the Pomeranian and Vazhsky sectors are being created. So it is likely that in the future it will become even more interesting. This concludes the story about the museum "Small Korely".
We answered the most popular questions - check, maybe they answered yours?
- We are a cultural institution and we want to broadcast on the Kultura.RF portal. Where should we turn?
- How to propose an event to the "Poster" of the portal?
- Found an error in the publication on the portal. How to tell the editors?
Subscribed to push notifications, but the offer appears every day
We use cookies on the portal to remember your visits. If the cookies are deleted, the subscription offer pops up again. Open your browser settings and make sure that in the "Delete cookies" item there is no "Delete every time you exit the browser" checkbox.
I want to be the first to know about new materials and projects of the Kultura.RF portal
If you have an idea for broadcasting, but there is no technical possibility to carry it out, we suggest filling out an electronic application form within the framework of the national project "Culture": . If the event is scheduled between September 1 and December 31, 2019, the application can be submitted from March 16 to June 1, 2019 (inclusive). The choice of events that will receive support is carried out by the expert commission of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
Our museum (institution) is not on the portal. How to add it?
You can add an institution to the portal using the Unified Information Space in the Sphere of Culture system: . Join it and add your places and events according to . After verification by the moderator, information about the institution will appear on the Kultura.RF portal.
"Korels" or "Karels"?
Discussions about the correct spelling of the word did not subside for a long time. Fuel was added to the fire by the fact that the museum is located not far from the village of Malye Karely, and the village of Bolshie Karely is located a little higher. The toponyms owe their origin to the White Sea tribe of Korels, who lived on the territory of modern Arkhangelsk in the 12th-14th centuries. The vowel “o” is also supported by the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery (located 60 kilometers from it), and the Korela River, formerly called Korelka by the locals. The chronicles are documentary evidence, since they reflect the spelling of the Korel tribe with the letter “o”.
Akanye transformed the unstressed vowel into "a", thereby being reflected in the names of the villages. Associations with Karelia and the nearby tourist complex "Small Karely" created additional confusion and generated new disputes.
As a result, the law assigned the names “Small Karely” and “Great Karely” to the villages, and the state museum still remained with the vowel “o”.
History of Small Korels
Speaking about the beginning of the construction of the museum, one cannot fail to mention the year 1963. It was then that Lapin Valentin, the chief architect of the Arkhangelsk Special Research and Restoration Production Workshop, took the initiative to create a unique collection of wooden architecture monuments, the number of which decreased every year for various reasons: fires, frequent thunderstorms, and rapid decay of the walls. Ancient buildings were collected and carefully transported from many villages and villages of the Arkhangelsk region to the place where the museum was planned to be created. If before 1973 tourists would have had to travel a lot in order to form an opinion about the skill of the ancient peoples, with the advent of the Small Korels, their route was limited to one walk through the picturesque area. Distinctive features of the Arkhangelsk carpentry art, historical spirit and ethnographic value - this is how the religious buildings of the museum complex can be described.
Museum exposition
Museum Small Korela form four sectors: Pinega, Dvina, Kargopol-Onega and Mezen. 120 samples of wooden architecture are concentrated on their territory. Among them are churches and public and civil buildings. Their arrangement repeats the traditional layout of the villages of that time. The museum management plans to open two more sectors in the future - Vazhsky and Pomorsky.
The oldest buildings on the territory of the museum are the Church of the Ascension and St. George, as well as the bell tower from the village called Kuliga-Drakovanovo.
Church of the Ascension
This cube-shaped temple was built in 1669. The shape of the building served as the architect's creative response to the prohibition of the tent construction by Patriarch Nikon. The Ascension Church has an altar and a porch, to which the porch leads.
Initially, the temple, erected by "the diligence of the peasants", was located in the village of Kushereka, Onega district. A year before the opening of the Malaye Korely museum, it was transported, and since then the Church of the Ascension of the Lord has been the main attraction of the Kargopol-Onega sector square.
St. George's Church
In 1672, a temple was erected in the village of Vershina in the old way. It was an octahedron crowned with a tent. In the 17th century, such buildings were considered the pinnacle of architecture. Contrary to the aforementioned prohibition of Patriarch Nikon, taking advantage of the remoteness of the village from the church authorities, the church was not built “on five peaks”. The material basis was the funds collected by the peasants.
Now St. George's Church can be seen in the Dvina sector of Small Korel.
Bell tower from the village of Kuliga Drakovanovo
The end of the 16th century was marked by the appearance of a unique structure - a hipped bell tower made of wood. Restrained forms and a rough log cabin evoke associations with an impregnable watchtower, which were typical for fortresses of that time.
The bell tower is also notable for the fact that it is the oldest among similar buildings in Russia. You will certainly feel its uniqueness by walking along the Dvina sector of the museum.
Other things to do in Malye Korela
Not a single year in the "walls" of this amazing museum is complete without traditional Russian festivities. Religious holidays are also handled with special trepidation in Malye Korel: Easter, Ascension of the Lord, Christmas and others. Such unusual celebrations as the Bread Festival, the Horse Festival and the Haymaking Festival make an indelible impression on tourists. The entertainment program will amaze you with its diversity: horseback riding, a competition in making the largest sandwich, a competition for the most beautiful loaf, performances by folklore groups, a recreation of the ancient rite of haymaking ... Thoughts that the Malye Korely Museum is limited to just one exposition is the biggest delusion of tourists heading over here!
In addition to the opportunity to take part in numerous festivities, visitors book a sightseeing or thematic tour. You can get to know more closely only one of the sectors of the Small Korel or choose a longer option, covering the entire territory of the museum. Thematic excursions are not so much of educational value as they allow travelers to fully immerse themselves in the unique atmosphere of the Russian land. If the guide's monologue bores you, join the game program or take part in an ethnographic activity. For booking, sleigh rides in a team of horses are available to the cheerful play of bells, fragrant tea and pancakes in wooden huts and much more.
What to buy as a souvenir of the Malye Korely Museum
The best gift is a book. It is she who will help refresh the memories of a visit to an open-air museum. Choose a topic that is close to your heart: flora and fauna, patterned knitting, items of ancient Russian life, elements of national costumes, patchwork, the main attractions of Small Korel. The main advantage is that you do not have to stand in line: the museum's official website allows you to place an order online. Prices range from 30 to 1000 rubles.
Tourists who prefer original products of folk craftsmen can look into the souvenir shop. There will certainly be something unusual, for which it is not a pity to part with a couple of hundred rubles.
Information for tourists
You can visit the Malye Korely Museum from 10:00 to 18:00 (from October to May inclusive) and from 10:00 to 20:00 (from June to September). Compared to many museums in Russia, the ticket price is low. For citizens of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, it will cost 200 rubles from Monday to Friday and 250 rubles from Saturday to Sunday. Visitors of retirement age, children over 16 and full-time students can buy a ticket cheaper: for 100 and 150 rubles, respectively. For a single ticket, you will have to pay 500 rubles, regardless of the day of the week.
The cost of visiting exhibitions and excursions is specified separately on the official website. In addition, you can order a wedding ceremony, a traditional greeting with bread and salt, as well as professional photo and video shooting.
The Small Korel program seems so attractive that you are ready to literally settle here for a few days? Fortunately, the tourist complex "Small Karely" is located 200 meters from the museum. Tourists have the opportunity to stay in a cottage or a hotel room. After coming into contact with the history of Russian architecture, modern entertainment is the best fit: paintball, billiards, bowling, a restaurant and a traditional Russian bath.
How to get there
The Malye Korely Museum can be found at the address: Malye Karely village, Pravdy Street, 15. Buses No. 104 and No. 108 run in this direction. The point of departure is the railway station and the bus station, respectively. Transport runs every 20-30 minutes, so you will have enough time to prepare yourself for an exciting journey through the pages of Russian architecture!
There are not so many open-air museums, and, as a rule, they are created so that the visitor can clearly see the life of the peoples who lived in a certain place or see the exhibits that people could create in past centuries, something that truly became the property . So, for example, there is a very interesting Arkhangelsk Museum of Wooden Architecture "Small Korely". In the Novgorod region there is a museum "Slavic Village of the 10th century", and in Togliatti a technical museum of JSC "AvtoVAZ" was opened. But the museum will be described in more detail. Arkhangelsk region. We wish you happy reading!
Description and location
In the seaside district of the Arkhangelsk region, or rather, in Uemsky rural settlement, The open-air museum is located 25 km from the administrative city of the region.
The area of the Arkhangelsk Museum "Small Korely" is 139 hectares, where you can see the life of the former north, and this is actually the only place that tells about the life of former peoples. The whole museum was divided into several sectors, and excursions often take place in parts of the territory, such as the Mezen or Kargopol-Onega sector.
Story
Arkhangelsk State Museum of Wooden Architecture"Small Korely" appeared not so long ago, or rather in 1963, on the initiative of the architect Lapin. However, its opening took place only 10 years later, because it was not easy to recreate everything that is presented today. Not only architects were involved in the creation of the museum, but also architects, artists, restorers, ethnographers, for whom it was very important to preserve the national heritage of the north of Russia and show it to tourists who come from all over our country and not only.
For example, from remote areas of the region, from villages and towns, some buildings were brought that carried historical value and have survived to this day.
In 1983, the museum was included in the list of European open-air museums, and in 1996 it was included in the collection of important historical and valuable objects of the Russian Federation.
origin of name
Separately, it is worth mentioning the origin of the name that the museum received due to the nearby village, Small Karely, and a little further there are Big Karely.
Disputes often arise about how Karelians are written correctly, through a or o, and where this word came from. Once, in the XII-XIV centuries, such peoples as the Korels of the Finno-Ugric tribe lived on the territory of the White Sea. It should be said that this is one of the factors that the word Korela should be written through "o", also in favor of this version, it is worth noting the river that flows near the museum, which was called Korelka, and now Korela.
Why do disputes arise? But because in the process of shaking, the unstressed sound "o" turned into "a", which left a certain imprint.
Sightseeing tours
The Museum "Small Korely" in Arkhangelsk, or rather not far from it, can be visited by everyone. Here you can just walk, or take an interesting excursion, of which there are a considerable number.
Excursion "Northern Village" - captures several sectors of the museum and lasts about 3-4 hours. Here you can learn about the culture of the Russian North, get acquainted with the monuments of architecture and the way of life of the peasants of the region. For example, guests can see the chapel of St. Macarius, the mill from the village of Azapolye, Tropin's house from the village of Semuninskaya and much more. You can find out about the cost at the ticket office of the museum, such an excursion is suitable for both adults and children.
The tour "Journey through Kargopol" will take about one hour, where you can get acquainted with the culture of the Russian North and see buildings such as the Tretyakov House, architectural ensemble from the village of Kushereka, Pukhov's house. This tour is part of the first tour, so it's probably better to take a sightseeing tour than such a small one. Also part are such excursions as "Journey along the Dvina" and "Journey along the Mezen".
There is a very interesting thematic excursion for schoolchildren at the Malye Korely Museum, a photo of which can be seen on the Internet, called "Visiting Daryushka", the duration of which will be 1 academic hour and children will really like it, where the hostess will talk about how the local peoples lived, what their way of life was, what buildings were and what they played with the children.
Another interesting thematic excursion is "Unheard-of-unheard-of", which is suitable not only for schoolchildren, but also for students and adults. Here you can get acquainted with the traditions of the Arkhangelsk Territory, see the bell tower from the village of Kuliga-Drakanovanovo, Popov's house, Tretyakov's house and the barn from the village of Kondratovskaya. The tour will be held in folk costumes and will take one hour.
There are also such thematic excursions as “Curl birch, curl curly”, “Northern summer”, “Our village is more beautiful than the city”, as well as a very interesting tour “Wedding in the Northern Village”.
Events
On the territory of the Arkhangelsk Museum of Wooden Architecture "Small Korely" there are a lot of different events, and the museum staff asks you to familiarize yourself with the calendar in advance in order to choose the event you like the most. There are events that always take place in the museum, repeating from year to year, such as the New Year holidays, Shrovetide week or Trinity festivities.
In September, for example, the Day of the Horse or the Feast of Saints Florus and Laurus, or the Feast of Bread, takes place on September 10th.
Some interesting events that took place in the summer of 2017:
- May 30 "Fire in flickering vessels", where a collection of appliances that were used in past centuries, such as kerosene lamps, candles, portable lanterns, faience lamps, etc., was presented.
- June 25 - Feast of the Kunitsyna Manor, where one could get acquainted with this house, with the Kunitsyn family, take part in fun.
- In mid-August, the "Revived Crafts" event, where you could get acquainted with how people used to work and spend their free time: knitting, painting, weaving from birch bark, wood carving, etc.
The next event, which will take place in September, is an event called "Leave the city to everyday life", which will host various master classes, folk games and performances by various groups.
Before heading to the museum, be sure to check out the official website, as there you can get to know the museum a little and read useful information, including how to get there and how much the visit will cost.
It should be remembered that the Arkhangelsk Museum of Wooden Architecture "Small Korely" is located in the open air, so it is important to dress for the weather, especially if it is winter or early spring. If there is a desire to visit the museum in the summer, then you should not forget to take mosquito repellent with you. And in winter, it is better to plan a visit in the first half of the day, while it is light.
Study in advance what exhibitions and events will take place, maybe something will not be interesting and it is better to reschedule the visit. The website pre-sets the work schedule for a month in advance and indicates which exhibitions are temporary and which are permanent. For example, the exhibition "Pukhov's House" is permanent, and the exhibition "Cross Image of the Russian North" is temporary and it may not be possible to visit it already in October.
If you go by car, there is a parking lot near the entrance of the museum where you can leave your car and not worry about a parking space.
In winter, in summer, you will be impressed by the open-air museum and will advise everyone to visit it as a must visit if you find yourself in the Arkhangelsk region.
Opening hours of the museum "Small Korely"
Before you go to the museum, go to the official website and read the necessary information not only about the opening hours of the museum, but also about when events of interest will take place.
But for all the museum is open daily. It is worth noting that only the visiting time varies depending on the season. So, from June to September, the museum can be visited from 10.00 to 20.00, and from October to May the museum is open from 10.00 to 18.00.
Ticket price
The Arkhangelsk Museum of Wooden Architecture "Small Korely" hosts a lot of different events, which you can find out about by going to the official website or by calling. As a result, their prices may vary.
Sightseeing tours have their own fixed price. So, for example, to see the village with a tour, where there were more than 6 people, you need to pay 150 rubles for adults, for pensioners, students and schoolchildren, the ticket price will be 100 rubles. The price will be different if there is a group of less than 5 people, and an individual excursion is also possible.
The cost of a ticket to visit the temple complex in the village of Nenoxa or visit the "House of the Commercial Assembly" or "Kunitsyna's Estate" will be 150 rubles for adults and 100 rubles for the preferential category. For each visit, you need to buy a separate ticket, or it is possible to purchase a single ticket, the cost of which will be 500 rubles.
Museum address and how to get there
The Museum "Malye Korely", as mentioned above, is located in the Arkhangelsk region, in the Primorsky district, in the village of Malye Korely, 25 km from Arkhangelsk.
You can get to it both by private car and by public transport, or rather by bus number 104, which departs from Arkhangelsk, from the railway station. And also from the bus station there is another bus number 108.
Museum "Malye Korely": recent reviews
On the Internet you can read a lot of reviews about how people visited this museum and were very satisfied. Someone comes from Arkhangelsk or neighboring cities and villages, someone comes from afar, but all visitors appreciate the high level of service, good guides who tell a lot of interesting things, and also note that not only adults are interested in visiting this place, but also children delighted with the museum.
