ARCHITECTURE
wooden architecture — research, maintenance and restoration

The granary is located on the western shore in the southernmost end of Kizhi Island, on the place of the village of Pogost, close to the northern facade of peasant Oshevnev’s house. The granary’s main facade and doorway face the lake. The basis of the design of the structure is a parallelepiped-shaped rectangle covered with a symmetrical gable roof.

In front of the doorway on the main facade (which is the western one), a two-step platform is made.It is set on the log butt-ends that corbel out from the wall.

The overhang above the platform and doorway is the eave supported by the log butt-ends protruding from the walls, and pillars set on the projecting lowermost logs.

The stairs inside lead to the upper floor, lighted by the air-hole in the northern wall. The framework is made up of logs notched at the corners according to the traditional method with the log ends protruding or extending beyond the corners of each wall (a notch joint called in Russian ‘v oblo’). The doorway is constructed of three jambs;

The roof is a nailless construction, shows some archaisms: each of the logs in the pediment carries a ‘slega’ — the pole that ties two pediments together and bears roof timbers. The granary is an exemplification of archaic household structures typical of Zaonezhye.

The pillars supporting the overhang above the doorway have specific carvings: a combination of coupled triangular cogs and semi-ovals. Carved edge is supplemented with reach-through holes. The ends of ‘facial’ boards are decorated with solar symbols and trapezoidal ornaments. Grain is stored along the eastern wall on the lower floor.