Malye Korely Museum-Reserve

About museum

The Malye Korely Museum of Wooden Architecture and Folk Art is one of the largest open-air museums in Russia. It was established in 1964 and opened to visitors in 1973. The museum's exhibition is a large-scale depiction of the Arkhangelsk Region with its four sectors: Kargopol-Onega, Dvina, Pinega and Mezen. Here you can see more than a hundred monuments of northern wooden architecture spanning five centuries, including a 16th-century wooden tent-like bell tower — a contemporary of Arkhangelsk — and one of the oldest tower belfries in Russia. In addition, you can see natural landscapes — cedar and birch groves, high riverbanks, the Korelka River, ponds and hop gardens. The museum also organizes an annual cycle of folk festivals, and its collection holdings total more than 27,000 items. Here you can see elements of folk costume, icons, bells, traditional fishing vessels and a large collection of windmills.