Russian Potpourri
October 17, 2019

Many years ago Tim went on a fishing trip with teacher friends.  They fished in the Canadian wilderness several hours north of Sault Ste. Marie.  The picturesque wilds that we have been cruising through remind Tim of that part of Canada.  When we docked on Tuesday it was on one lone pier with just a few small wooden buildings about.  Our guide book told us we were in Kuzino, Russia.  You could have fooled us.  After a 10 minute or so bus ride we arrived in a small village that looked none too prosperous.  This was Kuzino.  Our destination was the local primary/secondary school. The school was constructed in 1974 and did not look that much different from a similarly aged school building in the states.

Kuzino Primary/Secondary School

Kuzino Student

As we gathered in the front lobby of the school a bell rang and students changed classes.  The interaction of the students as they moved from one class to another was very much like what you would see in an American school.  Our tour group was taken to an empty classroom where we were introduced to a 16 year old student of the school. She talked to us briefly about the school and then there followed a question and answer session.  It became obvious that there were not many differences between Russian and American schools. At one point someone asked her what occupation she was looking forward to.  She said that last year she was hoping to become a doctor but now she wanted to become a liar.  After a few moments she said “I’m sorry.  I meant lawyer”, a comment met with loud laughter from our group.  The poor girl was quite embarrassed, probably not totally understanding what she had said.  A few minutes later we were escorted to a small auditorium where we were shown art works and crafts that had been produced by the students.  Some of the craft work was for sale, the proceeds going to the school.  A 12 year girl then sang a Russian folk song and performed a Russian folk dance.  The only disappointment in the visit was when Tim questioned the student about music in the school and found that there were no performing groups. The only music class taught music history.

The other stop in Kuzino was the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.  This monastery was founded in 1397.  Interestingly, the monastery was inside a walled fortress with another wall inside the fortress dividing the fortress into two parts.  The larger of the two parts was actually a military encampment; the smaller part the monastery.  The monastery was our primary point of interest.  At one time the monastery housed 200 monks but now there are only about 60 living in the monastery.  One of the buildings has been converted into a museum where we saw an impressive collection of icons and other religious artifacts. As part of the tour our guide took us outside the back wall of the monastery to show us the lake that bordered the facility.  She seemed very proud of this lake. We didn’t have the heart to tell the guide that, while the lake was very nice, when you live near the Great Lakes this lake was not all that impressive. Of course, as with tourist sites the world over, we exited the monastery through the obligatory gift shop.  When the bus returned us to our boat we discovered the boat had moved a short distance down the river to a different pier. At this dock we had to work our way through a number of booths offering locally produced fur coats, hats and gloves as well as other souvenirs.

The Monastery

Military Encampment at the Monastery

Wednesday our cruise boat left the Volga River and entered Lake Onega, the third largest lake in Europe. During lunch we docked at Kizhi, a small archipelago at the north end of Lake Onega. Settlements were know to exist on Kizhi as early as the 15th century. The island became an important agricultural center and by the 18th century was home to several thousand people.  However, by the end of the 19th the population had dropped significantly as people left the island for the big cities.

Churches and Bell Tower

During the early 18th century two churches were built right next to each other;  The Church of the Intersession of the Virgin Mary and the much larger Transfiguration Church. The smaller church was also called the Winter Church and the larger the Summer Church.  This was due to the fact that the smaller church was easier to heat in the winter.  Both churches are beautiful structures made entirely of wood. The Church of the Intersession  is built completely without nails. By the 1880’s the Transfiguration Church was leaning perilously enough to force its closure. Soon after its closure there were already discussions about renovating the church. By the mid 1900’s it was decided to create an outdoor museum on the island with the two churches and bell tower the centerpiece of the exhibition.  Other similarly designed wooden structures from nearby islands were brought to Kizhi and the Open Air Museum of Architecture was born, eventually becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The large farm house situated near the churches was a prime example of farm life on Kizhi. These houses were large enough to house entire families; grandparents, children and grandchildren. The fertile soil was excellent for barley, wheat and root vegetables. The family hierarchy was male dominated. During the winter the men went off to St. Petersburg and other nearby cities to find jobs for additional income while the women remained on the island caring for the farm and the older women teaching the younger girls how to weave and embroider so the young girls could go about preparing their dowry.

The All Wood Transfiguration Church

Thursday morning we were cruising on the Svir River that connects Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga. If it is even possible the scenery on the Svir River has been more beautiful then earlier scenery. This morning we docked at Mandrogy, Russia.

Mandrogy, Russia

This village was totally destroyed by the Germans during World War II and was literally wiped off the map.  In 1996 an enterprising and wealthy Russian decided to rebuild the village as an open air museum featuring 18th century construction as well as highlighting the traditional arts and crafts of Russia. While there are several hotels and the village tries to encourage Russians to come to the village for a get away weekend, we are sure that the lion’s share of the tourism is from the river boats that stop for a few hours.  Everything in Mandrogy is within easy walking distance of the dock so the cruise offered only optional tours.  We opted for the Matryoshka Painting experience. Matryoshka are the traditional “nesting dolls” that we are sure you have all seen. There was a group of 16 of us who were taken into a room where two large tables with 16 chairs were arranged. In front of each chair was a kit with everything we needed for painting our Matryoshka.  We had a tray with 7 or 8  different water colors to choose from, a selection of different size paint brushes and 3 small matryoshka. Each doll had a design already stenciled on the birch wood dolls.  The three dolls in each kit each had a different design and the designs from kit to kit were different.  We had an hour and a half to do our painting.  The time flew by and we were hard pressed, read Tim was hard pressed, to complete all three dolls in that time span.  Surprisingly, it was a pretty intense 90 minutes but both of us were excited and pleased with our results. When we were finished we still had time to visit the other shops in the village. The quality of the arts and crafts on sale was considerable higher then we had seen at our previous stops.

Tim & Lynda Painting their Dolls

Our Final Matryoshka Dolls
(Any guesses who painted the Green & White ones?)

Soon we will be entering Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe and the second largest lake in Russia. Think about that for a while! Once we have crossed Lake Ladoga we will enter the Neva River leading to our final port of call, St. Petersburg.  We have a full weekend of activities scheduled in St. Petersburg so check back in a couple of days to vicariously enjoy our experiences in this wonderful city.