Malye Korely: A window to the heritage of the Russian North

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian chemist and photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky developed a complex process for vivid, detailed color photography. Inspired to use this new method to record the diversity of the Russian Empire, he photographed numerous historic sites during the decade before the abdication of Nicholas II in 1917. 

Prokudin-Gorsky’s final expedition took place in the historic Russian North during the late Summer of 1916 as the Great War raged in Europe. His special passage during these difficult times was enabled by a state commission to photograph railroad construction north along the White Sea to the new port of Murman (now Murmansk), developed at the northwestern corner of the Kola peninsula to receive Western military supplies for the hard-pressed Russian armies. 

Maselskaya Station

Among the stations photographed by Prokudin-Gorsky was Maselskaya, built as a large depot north of Petrozavodsk. His two views include the new station building and a row of houses behind. The use of standardized designs permitted rapid construction and, yet, the buildings were notable for their use of stout pine logs to create well-proportioned functional forms with traditional detailing.

In the aftermath of World War II and with decreasing local population, the Maselskaya Station that Prokudin-Gorsky had photographed ceased to exist. However, the flair for log construction seen in his photographs is part of a deeply rooted practice in the Russian North. 

Fortunately, excellent examples of large northern log houses (izba in Russian) have survived, particularly in remote villages, such as Kimzha near the Arctic Circle. For the wider public, traditional log buildings are on display in well-planned outdoor museum parks.

With the advent of the summer months, visitors descend on these popular outdoor settings, whose appeal combines the beauty of traditional design with frequent festivals and displays of folk crafts.

Malye Korely 

One of the largest such outdoor museums is Malye Korely, located on high bluffs overlooking the Northern Dvina River some 25 km to the south of the city of Arkhangelsk (population around 350,000). The southern boundary of the museum is the small Korelka River, which flows into the Dvina and gives the park its name.             

Opened to the public in the summer of 1973, Malye Korely is far removed from the more accessible Golden Ring destinations such as Suzdal and Novgorod, both of which have their own museums of wooden architecture such as Vitoslavlitsy. Nonetheless, cruise ships dock at Arkhangelsk in the summer, and many tourists visit the Malye Korely park.             

The layout

Malye Korely is currently divided into four sectors spread over some 140 hectares of rolling forested landscape (There are plans to add two more sectors). These sectors represent distinct historic parts of the vast Arkhangelsk Province. On display are wooden churches and chapels, as well as log houses and barns - and even a collection of windmills.

Indeed, a windmill is visible from the entrance gates leading to the first sector, devoted to the western regions near the ancient town of Kargopol and scattered along the Onega River. This area served as an important trading route north to the White Sea and the Solovetsky archipelago.

In the woods near the entrance are two spacious log houses from Kargopol Region: the Pukhov House, from the hamlet of Kiselyovo near Lyadiny, and the Kirillov House, from the hamlet of Big Khalui near Oshevensk. Each house provides a sense of the arrangement of interior space in these northern “fortress” dwellings, which include an attached barn in the back to protect livestock and supplies from the long winters.            

First sector

One of the striking displays in the first sector is the Church of the Ascension (with a separate bell tower) erected in the village of Kushereka in 1669. Its five cupolas rise from a flared roof with wooden shingles overlapping in a pattern known as “fish scales”. The interior had two altars. The one on the upper level was dedicated to Elijah the Prophet and to the martyr Saint Paraskeva, patroness of market day, while the lower level (heated for use throughout the year) was dedicated to the Ascension.

No less impressive is a late 16th-century bell tower originally built in the village of Kuliga-Drakovanovo, part of Krasnoborsk Region at the southern reaches of the Dvina River. Among the oldest surviving log structures in the Russian North, the bell tower rises some 26 meters primarily on an octagonal shaft of horizontal log courses. The interior has three landings with flights of stairs leading to the open space for bells, which is sheltered by a tall “tent” roof.             

Second sector

A wooden pathway leads down a steep forested ravine to the second sector, devoted to structures from villages along the Northern Dvina River. On display are large houses that combine intricate craftsmanship with utility and strength of construction. 

The dominant feature is the Church of Saint George from the hamlet of Vershina, near Upper Toima on the right bank of the southern part of the Dvina. The church has a soaring tower roof typical of the Russian north. The interior has a partially preserved icon screen with rich baroque carving.

Sectors 3 & 4

Adjoining the Dvina sector to the south are the smaller Pinega and Mezen sectors, named after the Pinega and Mezen rivers in the northeastern part of Arkhangelsk Province. Both sectors benefit from a picturesque setting on bluffs overlooking the Korelka River.             

The Pinega and Mezen sectors display several houses, including some that belonged to Old Believers, religious dissenters from the official Orthodox Church who were numerous in this part of the Russian north.             

The Pinega sector also contains the lovely Chapel of the Holy Trinity, built in the early 18th century in the village of Valtyevo. This miniature grouping of entrance, vestibule, and main space is elevated high above the winter snow level. The planks of the steeply pitched roof have carved ends that cast a shadow design on the log walls. The chapel is capped with a wooden cupola and cross. 

From this small jewel of a chapel at the southeastern corner of the park, one can return through the park territory with its log houses and windmills, cross another wooden pathway down the ravine and return to the park entrance. 

In the early 20th century, Russian photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky developed a complex process for color photography. Between 1903 and 1916, he traveled through the Russian Empire and took over 2,000 photographs with the process, which involved three exposures on a glass plate. In August 1918, he left Russia and ultimately resettled in France where he was reunited with a large part of his collection of glass negatives, as well as 13 albums of contact prints. After his death in Paris in 1944, his heirs sold the collection to the Library of Congress. In the early 21st century the Library digitized the Prokudin-Gorsky Collection and made it freely available to the global public. A few Russian websites now have versions of the collection. In 1986 the architectural historian and photographer William Brumfield organized the first exhibit of Prokudin-Gorsky photographs at the Library of Congress. Over a period of work in Russia beginning in 1970, Brumfield has photographed most of the sites visited by Prokudin-Gorsky. This series of articles juxtaposes Prokudin-Gorsky’s views of architectural monuments with photographs taken by Brumfield decades later.