7 MOST beautiful wooden houses & palaces in Russia
1. Kizhi Pogost (Kizhi Island, Lake Onega, Karelia) MatthiasKabel (CC BY-SA 3.0)
This wooden complex was built in the 17th century. Constructors used no nails (apart from the domes and roof shingles) and delivered thousands of logs from the mainland two difficult tasks at the time.
The complex includes two wooden churches and a bell tower, all surrounded by a wooden fence that serves a symbolic function of dividing the holy ground from the outside world. The wooden Church of the Transfiguration forms the most remarkable part of the pogost. As it has no heating, it only holds summer services. It has 22 wooden domes and is 37 meters tall. UNESCO listed the wooden complex as a World Heritage Site in 1990.