Kizhi Museum
Federal State Budget Institution “Kizhi State Open Air Museum of History, Architecture and Ethnography”

The World Heritage Site “Kizhi Pogost” (Kizhi Pogost, С544), the object of federal ownership, is in day-to-day management of the Kizhi Federal Museum of Architecture and Cultural History, which is subordinated to the Ministry of Culture of RF. All kinds of activities on Kizhi Pogost are controlled by the Department of Surveillance for Compliance with the Law in Cultural heritage at the Ministry of Culture of RF.

The site is managed according to the legislation in force and the recommendations of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the preservation of Cultural and Natural Heritage on the basis of strategic and current planning to be undertaken by the Kizhi Federal Museum of Architecture and Cultural History.

In 2012, the development of the management plan for the WHS Kizhi Pogost has been completed.

On the 1st of March, 2012, the Federal Department for Surveillance, Supervision and Licensing in Cultural Heritage issued the permission №12-12-09 to continue the first stage of complex restoration of the Church of the Transfiguration. This permission was valid until the 31, December, 2012.

On the 10th of January, 2012, the Federal Department for Surveillance, Supervision and Licensing in Cultural Heritage issued the permission №2-12-09 to complete the repair and emergency works on the roof and porch of the Church of the Intercession.

In 2012, the development of a management plan for the WHS Kizhi Pogost during 2012-2022 has been completed. This work was done in cooperation between the Institute of Economy at the Karelian Science Center of the Russian Academy of Science (RAS) and the Kizhi Museum.

This document reflects a complex way of planning that coordinates interests and activities of the different parties interested in preservation and popularization of the WHS. It sets the goals, tasks and measures for the efficient protection, preservation and development of Kizhi Pogost.

The management plan has ascertained such a condition of the WHS in its natural and architectural surrounding that undoubtedly preserves its authenticity and integrity to the utmost. The criteria for choosing restoration methods for separate design elements and parts have been set as well.

Much attention is devoted to the issues of preserving historical landscape and developing cultural and historical destination of Kizhi.

Specific values of the site area and legal possibilities of its use have been stipulated in the plan.

The tourism strategy has been developed.

The management plan is aimed at the overall protection of authenticity and integrity of the WHS. In 2013, it will be submitted for consideration to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

The plan includes a complex of measures and steps to minimize the risks to lose the outstanding universal value of the WHS, to optimize the protection, sustained development and to establish the communications that coordinate different interested parties, state and local authorities.

In 2012, 62 021,047 RUB were spent on preservation of Kizhi Pogost monuments and restoration, including:

Geographical and cartographical information concerning the WHS Kizhi Pogost was prepared and submitted by the request of the Committee of the World Heritage of UNESCO. It helps to see changes of the WHS in this respect through time.

In 2012, the area of Kizhi Island (totally 9, 8397 ha) was converted from ‘farmland’ to ‘the area of historic and cultural importance under special protection’ by the Decree of the government of RF. The Kizhi Museum was authorized to use this area with no fixed term.

State registration of buffer zones for the WHS Kizhi Pogost was completed. The specifications for land use and town planning within these buffer zones were developed as well.

The information on protected area boundaries and land use specifications for the WHS was submitted to the bodies of cadastral registration of Karelia Republic. This data will enter the State Cadaster of Immovable Property.

Management of the Site security system is accomplished by the personnel of the Security of the Kizhi Museum, Subdivision of the General Board of Ministry for Civil Defense, Emergency Management, and Natural Disasters Response of the Republic of Karelia, and Subdivision of Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Karelia.

Kizhi Pogost monuments are equipped with fire alarm, closed circuit television units located along the perimeter (including thermal imaging cameras to prevent unauthorized access), outdoor fire-fighting equipment with remote-controlled nozzles and in-door fire-fighting system in the Church of the Transfiguration.

The production project for the outdoor fire-fighting system of Kizhi Pogost was developed and approved by some of the coordinating bodies. The further stages of endorsement are facing serious difficulties due to bureaucratization of this field in Russian Federation.

Policemen on the central guarding post control the situation on Kizhi Pogost as well as technical condition of the WHS security systems round-the-clock.

Museum Security officers accomplish access control, observe compliance with regulations within the WHS and with the fire-prevention on Kizhi monuments. Museum employees and contractors receive scheduled and unscheduled trainings. 15 museum employees received training for essential technical and fire-preventing qualifications.

Paramilitary fire station guards the WHS round-the-clock, it is equipped with two tank lorries (АЦ-40), a mobile pump house (ПНС-100), snowmobiles, motor boats with mobile monoblock pumps, a hovercraft (МАРС-2000), and a fire boat 'Vjun' which functions also as a pumping house in summer time.

In February, 2012, a voluntary fire brigade was comprised of museum employees to guard, train and study.

Totally 9 trainings and classes on fire-protection were conducted in 2012 and, one antiterrorist training which involved museum keepers, tour-guides, police and fire fighters.

One remote-controlled nozzle of the outdoor fire-fighting system of Kizhi Pogst was replaced; the configuration of protected zone around the Church of the Transfiguration was specifically revised for the security system with a radio-wave emitter "RADIY".

The wooden floors on the restoration site on the Pogost and the scaffolds for roof repairs by the Church of the Intercession were treated with fire retardant agent.

In 2012, the Kizhi Museum continued a complex monitoring of Kizhi Pogost monuments in cooperation with experts of the Forest Research Institute at the Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences (Petrozavodsk) and “Spetsprojectrestavratsiya” Institute (Moscow).

A part of the monitoring programme for deformations was fixing reference points on facades of the buildings. The points were fixed during a complex geodetic survey of the monuments (the Church of the Transfiguration, the Church of the Intercession, and the Bell-Tower) in June and September, 2012. The survey has not revealed any changes in the existing deformations as well as in heights and turns of the monument. The alternations in reference points have seasonal character.

In 2012, the Kizhi Museum in cooperation with the experts from the Forest Research Institute at the Karelian Research Center continued a complex monitoring of biodeteriorations of Kizhi Pogost monuments. Regular inspections of the monuments, monitoring of temperature and humidity, of fungi growth and insects lesion focus were performed.

Special attention was focused on the condition of structural elements in wooden monuments. Measures for preventive conservation and maintenance were performed during the year. The activity of fungi and insects was estimated.

The weather conditions in 2012 were not favorable for unheated wooden monuments, e.g. high humidity and low temperature, but still fresh focus of biodeteriorations didn't generate.

The preventive measures in the barrel-roofs of the Church of the Intercession and in the Bell-Tower improved microclimate.

The programme of preventive measures was developed on the basis of monitoring results, and will make it possible to eliminate the potential focus of wood deterioration on the earliest stage and thus prolong the lifetime of monuments.

The Kizhi Architectural Ensemble is the main tourist sight of the Kizhi Museum and the focal point of the main outdoor tourist exposition. Thus, the main research is one way or another focused on Kizhi architectural ensemble. In 2012, this research concerned the following:

Development of projects ‘The History of the Kizhi Architectural Ensemble’, ‘Interiors of Kizhi churches’, and ‘Historical and ethnographic study of villages within the protected area i.e. place names, village looks, farmlands, household, families’.

In 2012, the regular 14th collection of museum research papers «Kizhi Vestnik» was formed in the Kizhi Museum. At the present time, the collection is passing the editorial board. A collection of research papers dedicated to 300-anniversary of the Church of the Transfiguration in 2014 was prepared as well. This collection will include about 20 papers this or that way associated with preservation and studies of the Church of the Transfiguration as well as history and culture of the South Zaonezhiye.

Total amount of tourists in 2012 comprised 142 000 persons. Twenty permanent exhibitions were organized in the monuments located in the immediate neighborhood of the Kizhi Pogost Ensemble in 2012. In the Church of the Intercession the following exhibitions were made: interior exposition in the church proper, icon painting exhibition in the refectory and History of Kizhi parish in the hall. In addition to that, the Church bells were exhibited in the Bell Tower.

'Simple Ties of Life' photo exhibition by Oleg Semenenko was presented in the Kizhi Museum halls in 2012. Travelling photo exhibitions 'Karelia. Image in time', ‘Kizhi.Seasons’, 'Kizhi. Wondeful Feast of Summer', 'Kizhi Almost Unreal', and also 'Wooden architecture of Kizhi', 'Kizhi. Primeval Archeology', 'Tiny Island on the Earth Planet.'

Information support of work on preservation and restoration of the Kizhi Pogost is one of the main activities of Press Service of the Kizhi Museum. Printed and internet mass media as well as the materials prepared by the Museum Press Service keep public in Russia and abroad in the know about all the events happening on the UNESCO Site.

In 2012, the following materials were presented on the museum official web-site: 'The Report on the Preservation of the Kizhi Pogost Monuments in 2011', 'Engineering Drawings by Alexander Opolovnikov in Kizhi Museum Collections' (a catalogue), 'Photo Report on the Restoration in 2012', 5 news materials on restoration. Besides that, 5 video films about museum efforts on restoration of the Church of the Transfiguration were presented, and namely 'Monitoring of Logs Condition in the Restoration Complex', 'Preparing the Insertion (a piece of wood used to replace a part of damaged original log' , 'Reconstructing the Foundation of the Church of the Transfiguration', 'Test Assembly of a Stonework Fragment (a visible part of the church foundation )', 'Preparing Restoration Site for Winter and Finishing the Work on the Church Foundation'. Two extra web-cameras were fixed in the Restoration Complex to broadcast on the experts’ web-page. More than 400000 unique users visited the Kizhi Museum web-site in 2012.

The Museum Press-Service prepared two press releases which were published in 50 printed and internet mass media. In 2012, thirteen news materials on restoration of the Churches of the Transfiguration and the Churches of the Intercession and three analytic materials were published in the museum paper 'Kizhi'.

Thirteen news materials were published in local papers 'ТВР-Панорама', 'Карелия', 'Вперед, Медвежьегорск', 'Karjalan sanomat', 'Все'. Four materials were published in the magazine 'Architecture, Restoration, Design and Building'. Concluding analytic material on the restoration of the Church of the Transfiguration was presented to Russian magazine 'Museum'.

The materials concerning the preservation of the Church of the Transfiguration are broadcasted regularly on different TV and radio channels in Russia.

Four news materials were broadcasted on local TV-channels and radio. In addition to that, 8 news materials based on museum press-releases were made on local TV and radio.

Five news materials were broadcasted on all-Russia channels and radio.

In October, local TV-company 'Karelia' filmed the results of restoration season. This material was broadcasted on local and federal TV-channels.

59 links on news materials were published on web-sites of Russian and Karelian agencies, news digests and internet portals.

One of the major TV-channels in Japan TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) worked on the island of Kizhi in June. The telecast will be broadcasted in spring, 2013. In July, the camera crew of 'Lennautchfilm' studio was working on a popular science film 'Sails above the Onego.' Filming for Australian TV-channel took place in the same period. The camera crew of 'ArmadaTsentr' worked in August to the order of the Ministry of Culture of RF. This filming is a part of a united internet portal "Культура.рф" to promote cultural heritage and traditions of Russia. The camera crew of 'ArmadaTsentr' made the aerial photo and filming of UNESCO Site in September. The section of Kizhi Museum appeared on this internet portal in November, thus it is possible to have a look at the Church of the Transfiguration closer and in all details. Saint-Petersburg studio of documentaries worked in September. The film 'In the Beginning was the Word...' (52 min.) will be broadcasted in the end of 2012. The forth series of project 'Kizhi. The Chronicles of the Transfiguration’ is ready. This project covers the restoration process through time.

In 2012, the museum printed about 50 kinds of promotional materials that included images of the Kizhi Pogost monuments and 7 books as well. The museum logotype appears on 40 kinds of published materials and that of UNESCO on 37. Information on the monuments was presented in 3 books and 10 promotional materials.

The work on preservation of the landscapes and natural environment of the Kizhi Pogost monuments was kept on in line with the basic principles developed in the Kizhi Museum and UNESCO recommendations.

The management plan for Kizhi landscape was completed in 2012. This is a long-term guideline for preserving the landscape in a desired condition, based on the up-to-date scientific approaches. The plan is an integral part of a management plan for the WHS.

The management plan for Kizhi landscape contains the conception and information about the object itself and about possible management approaches as well. The conception of landscape is created by the means of geo information systems (GIS) intended for performing the inventory and cartography of the present condition of landscapes; for modeling target condition of landscapes, planning and supporting the steps on maintenance and development; for evaluating the impacts on general appearance.

The decisions of the annual Commission for Preservation of the Historical Landscape were carried out by maintaining open areas and visual links between monuments on Kizhi Island. These activities included sanitary felling and clearing out the meadows from the growth of bushes.

Environmental monitoring programme was implemented, and special attention was focused on inventorying flora and fauna in the coastal part of Zaonezhiye peninsular and in the sector of road building between Velikaya Guba - Oyativtschena. The obtained data will help to keep local environment in tact, with the consideration of developing museum infrastructure.

In 2012, the facts of clear felling on the eastern shore of Zaonezhiye peninsular were reported. These fellings have a negative impact on the landscape surrounding of the WHS Kizhi Pogost. The reports to the corresponding institutions were made in time, which, alongside with the cooperation with non-governmental organization 'SPOK', reduced the acuteness of the problem and then stopped the fellings.

A complex of annual activities was held to secure environmental safety of museum terrain, such as monitoring air and water space, drinking water supplies, and also acaridae treatment, disinfestation and bottom cleaning.

We keep working on the problem of waste management.

The Kizhi Museum power customers were connected to the network of 'МРСК Северо-Запада' Company by the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation №1633; building of the overhead high-voltage line (U=35kW, length 46 km) from Velikaya Guba to Zharnikovo was completed; conductor lines from Zharnikovo to Kizhi were set; transformer substation (2x6,3 mW) was build in Zharnikovo; distribution unit (10kV)was build on the Klimenetsky Island. All of these objects are in operation now and securely supply power to the Kizhi Ilsand and Zharnikovo village by using a new circuit. New power supply system equals to 4000 kW, and the previous one was below 500 kW.

The project documentation for 'Outdoor Network and Power Supply Objects on the Kizhi Island' was developed and submitted for environmental impact assessment.

The project for 'Office and Public Center of the Kizhi Museum on the Kizhi Island' had been developed earlier, and it was concluded with a negative resolution. It was recommended to revise space-and-planning and stylistic concept. The project (architectural section) was revised in the museum in 2012. The possibility of using different facing materials was worked through so that the building could harmonically fit into the surrounding environment. The combination of natural stone, wood and glass is under consideration. Styling of interiors was developed in a separate project. The Commission for Town-Planning at the Ministry of Building and the Council of Experts at the Ministry of Culture of Karelia Republic approved the revised project documentation, and further project development was permitted.

The building of road from Velikaya Guba to Oyativtshena Village is going on (in line with the Decree of the government RF №1633). The work will be completed in 2014. This road makes it possible to transport loads and passengers straight to Kizhi Island all year round.