7 MOST beautiful wooden houses and palaces in Russia

The list includes the royal house and a wooden skyscraper.

7 PHOTOS

1. Kizhi churchyard (Kizhi Island, Lake Onega, Karelia).

This wooden complex was built in the 17th century. The builders did not use nails (except for domes and roof tiles) and brought thousands of logs from the mainland, two difficult tasks at the time.

2. Kolomenskoye (Moscow).

At the time of construction in the early 17th century, Kolomenskoye consisted of a wooden palace, a white brick church, and several other buildings. Soon it became the favorite summer residence of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Other rulers of Russia also stopped in Kolomenskoye, including Peter the Great.

3. House of Sutyagin (Arkhangelsk).

The Sutyagin House often referred to as the "wooden skyscraper", is considered the tallest wooden residential building in the world. The construction of the wooden skyscraper began in 1991 when the project was financed by a local entrepreneur from Arkhangelsk. The 13-story building, 44 meters high, was to become Sutyagin's residential building.

4. House of Peter I.

This hut looks like it was made of brick because Peter the Great, who appreciated the aesthetics of European architecture, ordered the wooden structure to be painted accordingly. However, the royal hut in which he spent the summer months was wooden. The log cabin took only three days to build in 1703, and its completion date, 27 May, is now considered the city's founding date.

5. Polivanov's estate (Moscow).

This wooden house is located in Khamovniki, one of the most prestigious districts of Moscow. The house was built in 1823, eleven years after the Moscow fire of 1812, which almost destroyed the city. It belonged to Russian officer Alexander Polivanov.

6. Irkutsk Museum of the Decembrists (Irkutsk).

When the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon, Prince Sergei Volkonsky participated in the failed Decembrist uprising, he was sentenced to hard labor and exile in Siberia. A few years later, Volkonsky moved his family and their wooden house to Irkutsk, where he restored it.

7. House of Europe / House of Shastin (Irkutsk).

This two-story wooden house, located in Irkutsk, is also known as the “Openwork House” due to its lush facade decoration. The house was built in the middle of the 19th century for the Shastin merchant family. Today the Shastin House is one of the main architectural sights of Irkutsk. The house, reconstructed in 1999, is now a hotel.