Plesetskiy District: Chapels, Churches and Crafts

Chapels, churches and crafts offer a cultural introduction to Plesetskiy District. In Vershinino, walking tours explore traditions, customs and trades; elsewhere, historic religious buildings take centre stage. When planning your trip, a two-hour walk and an excursion route with a seasonal schedule offer different ways to discover the cultural heritage.

Walking Tour and Crafts in Vershinino

The Plesetsky Sector of Kenozersky National Park is located in Plesetskiy District; its administrative centre is in the village of Vershinino. There, the “Selo raskinulos uzorno...” tour takes visitors through the village on foot. It lasts two hours and is considered possible year-round. It offers insights into the traditions, customs, trades and crafts of Vershinino and Kenozero. The tour includes a visit to the 18th-century “Nikolskaya chasovnya” chapel and a look at blacksmithing, pottery and carpentry in the “Ambarny ryad” museum exhibition. Alongside religious architecture, the focus is on crafts and local traditions.

The “Kitovrasovo podvorje” museum offers another perspective on material history. Housed in a restored storehouse, it displays fragments of archaic pottery found during archaeological investigations in the park. While the “Ambarny ryad” exhibition offers insights into blacksmithing, pottery and carpentry, the museum turns the focus to archaeological finds. Together, these subjects complement the walking tour with different ways of exploring culture and crafts.

Chapels, Churches and Historic Ensembles

The “Nebesa i okrestnosti Kenozerya” route is an excursion route available from May to October. In Tyryshkino, it leads to a 19th-century chapel known as “Krest”, considered the smallest chapel in Russia. In Zekhnova, the route leads to the 18th-century Church of St John the Theologian. Along this route, travellers encounter religious buildings from different centuries in different villages.

A larger architectural complex can be found in the village of Filippovskaya: the Pochozerskiy khramovyy kompleks dates from the 17th and 18th centuries and comprises two churches and a bell tower. It is one of six surviving ensembles of its kind in the Russian North. Unlike the individual chapels and churches, several buildings here form a historic ensemble.

Cultural Heritage in Arkhangelsk Oblast

Other cultural heritage sites in the wider destination of Arkhangelsk Oblast add to the picture of Plesetskiy District. The cultural and historical ensemble of the Solovetsky Archipelago comprises sacred sites and dozens of settlements dating from the 6th to the 1st millennium BC, as well as a monastery fortress dating from the 15th to the early 20th century. Its medieval road and irrigation systems are harmoniously integrated into the surrounding natural and cultural landscape.

At the Malye Korely Museum, the focus is on wooden architecture: its architectural and landscape exhibition includes more than 100 monuments of wooden architecture from Arkhangelsk Oblast. The museum is listed in the state register of especially valuable cultural heritage sites of the peoples of the Russian Federation. The examples from Arkhangelsk Oblast highlight different areas of interest: the Solovetsky Archipelago features an ensemble of landscape, settlements and a monastery fortress, while Malye Korely presents an extensive exhibition on wooden architecture.

Discover more destinations: Nyandomskiy District, Primorskiy District, Kargopol District, Vel'skiy District, Mezenskiy District, Novodvinsk, Konoshskiy District, Severodvinsk

Return to the main travel overview: Arkhangelsk Oblast.