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COMMUNAL BUILDING IN CHRONOLOGY OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE. MULTIDISCIPLINE STUDIES ON KARELIA HERITAGE PRESERVATION

Svetlana Anderson

IN 1981 RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE OF KARELIAN REPUBLIC HAS

TRANSFERRED SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN DURING THE OUTSTANDING

HISTORICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHIC EXPEDITION TO THE MUSEUM-RESERVE

“KIZHI”. THE LARGE-SCALE INVENTORY OF WOODEN ARCHITECTURE AND A

CONTINUOUS SURVEY OF KARELIAN VILLAGES WAS CARRIED OUT, WHICH LAID

FOUNDATION FOR EVIDENCE-BASED RESEARCH AND INITIATIVES ON FURTHER

PROTECTION OF THE BUILT HERITAGE, WHILE UNDERSTANDING THE

INTERSECTION POINT OF TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

KARELIA; ORTHODOX; ARCHITECTURE; PRESERVATION; COMMUNITY

The proposed conference paper will serve as a brief presentation of the current stage of the

multidiscipline doctoral research aiming in subsequent exploration of the vernacular

settlements through a series of case studies performed within the geographic boundaries of

Eastern Finland – Republic of Karelia, and demonstrates how the livelihood of historic

localities colored with Kalevala epic presence has been changing throughout periods of social

transformation and communal attempts to preserve transnational heritage leading to further

deepening of the human’s role in cognitive research of the environmental reality.

While drawing upon the extensive knowledge of architectural preservation theory and practice

scrupulously accumulated by a group of faithful academics in wooden conservation science, the

author will explore the “black holes” in existing approaches and carry multidiscipline studies of

the social interaction modules and behavior in the human-nature relationship. The studies on

local ethnography in Finnish-Russian border region have been recently elevated to the certain

degree, so local institutions and authorities view it more favorably. A few examples are some

recent cooperative efforts in historical renovation undertaken by the regional communities,

church members and sometimes individual families.

The phenomenon of communal building that takes its roots in monastic culture of the 17th

century Karelian religious settlements can be identified and traced now throughout the regions

spanning along the remote North-European frontiers. The author’s intention is to reveal and

review such efforts in a course of cultural studies, which eventually, end up in production of a

series of media-materials along with compiling a practical glossary/vocabulary of professional

restoration terms and their usage in historic reconstruction of vernacular dwellings and

religious structures.

Furthermore, during the ongoing field examinations and archival studies, the researcher will

attempt to answer major research questions as follows

• How preserving historic heritage accumulated within traditionally lucent and

frequently transforming national borders could result in developing

transnational cultural awareness?

• What are the roots and historical causes of the communal initiatives in

architectural preservation process?

• What is our role, as the partakers, in human-nature environmental discourse?

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A method of participatory observation is to be acquired within the evaluation process with

data collected directly on site. The standard array of dependent and independent variables is to

be defined before the evaluation, such as historic pre-requisites, regional migration factor, type

and form of architecture, essentiality of the research-based solutions for the project, etc. The

humanistic aspect should be also added in consideration of the whole sustainability of the

object or structure under evaluation.

Religious systems as an important component in emerging national identity

Historically, Karelia was considered as a buffer zone between two religious systems – western

and eastern Christianity, namely Orthodoxy. Finland was absorbed into Roman Catholic

Church in the twelfth-thirtieth centuries, and became almost entirely Lutheran in the later

period. Karelia has been consistently remaining under the influences of Byzantine Orthodoxy

and Russia since the twelfth century with elements and practices of pre-Christian belief still

surviving.

Paraphrasing the fundamental postulate ‘form follows function’ associated with modernist

architecture of the twentieth century, we can further evolve it to ‘form follows content’

applying this principle into our current investigation.

Let us focus for a moment on the rituals and traditions of the Old Believers, a minor religious

group appeared in the northern outskirts of the emerging Russian empire, and formed

historically as an outcome of the political and religious persecution by the Patriarchy of the

Russian Orthodox Church and the state in the seventeenth century. In 1866 Pavel Chubinsky

(1839-1864), a prominent scholar, journalist, poet and an author of the Ukrainian anthem, has

published ‘Statistical and Ethnographical Essay about Karelians’ where he highlighted the

effect of Old Believers on Karelian religious culture. He listed three their most influential

centers, such as the Solovets monastery, Vyg community and Topozero hermitage.

The religious minority of Old Believers could be called a foster child of Russian Orthodoxy: it

expressed the true adherence to the roots of Eastern Christianity in a form of unprecedented

opposition to Byzantium religious norms that were ambitiously held by Patriarch Nikon in

1653-1656. The leaders of this movement, such as Archpriest Avvakum, were forced to seek

refuge in the distant corners of Russian state, while other monks and priests were founding

shelter-monasteries in the vast territories of White Sea Karelia, Olonets, Archangelsk. The

history of their continuous migration includes forming many of distant skits as very secluded

settlements of Old Believers, followed by the facts of complete isolation and even self-burning

as a form of mass protest. Old Believers communities were ‘based on rejection of physical

serfdom and pursued the principle of the common ownership of the property as laid down by

the Apostles - process known as Schism” (Opolovnikov, Opolovnikova, Buxton 1989, p.20).

One of the central and earliest settlements was the Vygovsky community near Medvezjegorsk,

the northern Lake Onega. It was founded in 1694 and soon became a branch pursuing non-

priest rituals as a free expression of religious spiritualism. Simultaneously, it played an

important role in forming industrial and commercial relationships in imperial Russia serving as

the headquarters of the Old Believers movement with several grain wharves, two saw mills,

many windmills and tanneries operating on its land. The monastery had a steady production of

rouble coins which were minted of pure silver and appeared to be more valuable than those

made by the state.

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Image 1 - Plan of Vygovsky Monastery (source: History of Vygovsky Old-Believers

Monastery published per manuscript by Ivan Filippov, St. Petersburg, Kozanchikov

Publishers, 1862 (microform); Image 2 – Andrei Denisov (1677-1730) in his study

(source: The Pomorskie Otvety, reproduction of 1911, Slavic and Baltic Division, The New

York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, Slav Reserve 93-1984)

It provided the entire northern region with icons and religious books, constituting somewhat the

source of basic education and religious enlightenment for the local peasants. Thus, brothers

Andrei and Semen Denisov took the initiative among the Vyg writers in producing a range of

highly polemical texts while supporting other opponents of Nikonian reforms.

Inspirations in architecture

Defending humanistic ideas of love and brotherhood the Old Believers faithfully followed

traditions also in architecture and arts. ‘The earliest wooden churches in Russia were based on

a framework of interlocking logs – srub or klet’, as the ordinary dwellings were built, and

differed from them only in having domes and crosses’, as it was stated by one of the faithful

explorers of Russian wooden architecture Alexander Opolovnikov1. In his examinations, he

further explained that the size of the srub or klet’ was determined by the log measurements.

Image 3 - Chapel of Prophet Elijah, cir. 1520 (source:

http://www.kaliningradgid.ru/architecture/monastery/chasovnya-ilii-proroka-13765.html)

1 Opolovnikov, Opolovnikova, Buxton 1989, p.16

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“…one of the most characteristic shapes of Russian wooden architecture was the shater – tent-

like roof that traces its origin in fortification structures vezhi (wooden watch-towers), from the

verb vedat, to know” (Opolovnikov, Opolovnikova, Buxton 1989, p.16). Trapeznaya, a primary

meeting site, as a separate building became a place for local gatherings and served for the

courts of law in certain instances.

Image 4 – Shater-roof church; Image 5 - Roof-top onion domes (source: Grabar I.E.

History of Russian Art, vol.1: Architecture, Moscow, Knebel Publishers, 1919)

Ecclesiastical reforms carried out by Patriarch Nikon and ultimately aimed to reinforce

centralized power of the capital have launched tremendous changes in architecture. Five-dome

churches have officially replaced the tent-like roofs expressing authoritative innovations. Roof-

top onion domes placed on cylindrical drums, both dressed with lemekh (wooden shingles)

often served as a typical landmark in the vast Russian countryside. Trapeznaya lost its original

role as place of public assembly and became a richly decorated extension to the main building

used for the services. Such wise, attempts to plant Byzantium canonical regulations into

Russian grounds led to a dramatic change in evolution of traditional architectural forms.

Review of historic restoration practices in Karelia

Significant interest to the national heritage was sparked right after abolition of serfdom in 1861.

A series of scientific studies were carried by the prominent Russian historians Dal, Suslov,

Buslaev along with the field expeditions around the North. Finnish scholar Lars Pettersson

(1918-1993) made a significant input in researching and cataloguing wooden churches

throughout Karelia. His persistent work included studies on various types of log structures and

painted interiors, and the results of these scientific investigations were compiled in a

fundamental volume “Finnish Wooden Church” (1950).

Before World War II architectural preservation was mainly in the hands of individual scholars

and prominent architects with the extended knowledge of theory and practice. After the war the

state took over the initiative due to the growing interest in the cultural heritage. The emerging

science of historical preservation experienced numerous problems, such as the lack of

professionalism, since there were no restoration schools created, while the main scope of tasks

and goals of the restoration process were not clearly identified. The experience of dealing with

wooden architectural heritage was not adequately explored and respectively presented in

scientific resources. Existing materials looked rather poor, but if someone doesn’t have clear

idea of what exactly needs to be done, it is hard to say how this should be accomplished.

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The scientific basis, methodology and principles of restoration have been successfully laid out

by Alexander Opolovnikov in 1950s in his 233 pages’ volume which included 56 tables, 292

photographs and architectural drawings. He stressed out the need to differentiate between

folklore architecture and prevailing architectural style, e.g. baroque, classicism, Byzantium, etc.

While discussing the theory of architectural layers and different ways of wood application he

gave a high credit to the creativity of traditional folk culture versus blind adoption of decorative

elements from the prevailing styles.

The part restoration initiatives undertaken in postwar period included revitalization of

Paanajärvi (Russian: Panozero) folklore village located in the proximity to the Finnish-Russian

border. Established in the fourteenth century as a trading post between the Vikings and the

people of Byzantium, the endangered village contains excellent examples of vernacular

architecture. The village has remained untouched by war and liquidation efforts, buildings are

constructed in traditional Karelian style, that is, with dwellings and livestock shelters under the

same roof. There are about fifty houses left in Paanajärvi with total population slightly over one

hundred, mostly retirees. Following several attempts to revitalize the historic settlement, it was

included on the Watch List of the World Monuments Fund in 1996, 1998, and 2000. The rescue

of this important archeological site from the flood basin of a proposed hydroelectric plant was

an outstanding act of environmental justice. The Juminkeko Foundation has successfully

petitioned the World Monuments Watch to have the village included in the organization's list of

a hundred most threatened cultural sites in the world. In 1998, World Monuments Fund assisted

the Juminkeko Foundation with the implementation of a four-week training program for young

village residents on the theory and practice of conservation of vernacular wooden structures, as

part of a restoration plan created by Juminkeko. Trainees taught by Finnish architects and local

master carpenters performed emergency repairs on village houses.

Image 6 - conservators at work in 1998; Image 7 – replacement log elements (source:

https://www.wmf.org/project/paanaj%C3%A4rvi-village);

During the Soviet regime, this part of Karelia was a closed zone; visitors were prohibited from

entering the area. It was not until 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, that the village was

opened to international scholars. Visiting ethnologists have determined that the village

represents a unique bridge between Karelian and Russian culture that respected but did not

assimilate to Russian culture.

In the chapel of Prophet Elijah cir. 1520 in Lazarevo village restoration work was initially

undertaken by the Russian company “Restaurateur” and has been suspended for the major

principles and methods of the historic wooden structures conservation have been violated. For

instance, the original logs have never been labeled in the process of taking the chapel apart,

while in the beginning, the workers have been just trimming the historic logs which would not

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fit into the structure. It is obvious the solid professional approach was missing here based on

the knowledge of original historic building techniques used when the chapel was erected (see

the images below).

Image 8 - Chapel of Prophet Elijah; Image 9 - reconstruction site in 2013 (source:

http://restoreforum.ru/restavracia-in-russia/novosti-restavratsii/990-chasovnyu-ilyi-

proroka-v-karelii-otrestavrirovali-do-neuznavaemosti )

In 2014 the chapel has been properly dismantled and restored.

Image 10 – reconstruction process, 2014; Image 11 – completion (source:

http://mincultrk.ru/presscentr/novosti/novosti_ministerstva/zaversheny_raboty_po_restavr

acii_obekta_kulturnogo_naslediya_federalnogo_znacheniya_chasovni_ili_proroka_v_d_la

zarevo_medvezhego/ )

A long-term issue of the local Orthodox minorities architectural preservation, such as the Old-

believers’ wooden heritage of the seventeenth century still rises lots of controversies. A few

breakthroughs in this ongoing polemic process are recent cooperative efforts made mainly by

the local village settlers at the original site of Vygovsky monastery near Lake Onega.

Restoration of the Christian community life on the site of the former Danilov monastery has

begun in 2010, with the blessing given by the Chairman of the Russian Council and the

Common Council of the Ancient Orthodox Pomorian Church Oleg Rozanov. Over the past

three years’ period, by the efforts of the local community members, it was managed to acquire

two plots of land; on one of them a shelter for the Old Believer missionaries has already been

constructed, as well as a wooden worship cross resembling the original one outside the ancient

monastery walls. All the design work has been carried out by the local agency of Petrozavodsk,

while the major problem is seen in the existing infrastructure and means of access, which

remain untouched for the past twenty-five years, so it is near impossible to reach the historical

site with supplies of building materials. The historical revival would require a substantial

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financial assistance, humanistic approach and technologies involved in the process of

reconstruction.

The role of communal building in the national heritage preservation Preserving historic structures and objects is a key to understanding national heritage and

therefore developing national identity constantly facing social and political challenges.

Professional’s primary goal in any environmental intervention is to complete a thorough and

deep research and study of patterns incorporated in already existing historic object. Any

proposed intervention should follow traditional methods and be technically reversible. Only by

learning underlying principles used in some given structure specialists can come up with

responsible and ultimately correct solutions.

While interviewing Tarja Lehikoinen, the owner of Honkavaara Heritage Farm

(Honkavaaranperinnepiha) located in North Karelia region of eastern Finland. I realized how

these postulates became the reality in her personal life, in times of approaching tough decisions

and walking on the unknown crossroads.

The reconstruction process of her family wooden farm structures dated to 1850s spans

throughout the decades. Once the travel point where Elias Lonnrot stayed during his journey, it

later served as a local post office. Tarja mentioned it has been a farm in Honkavaara since the

1600s.

Warming myself up by the original oven in her cozy guest house I was slowly browsing

through the old photographs telling me the story of this life-time adventure and documenting

every step in restoration. Later, I could walk around the old farm observing how and where the

time left its traceable marks upon the log houses, barns and sauna, a twin-sister of my Russian

grandmother’s banya. Tarja kindly provided me with carefully maintained picture-albums on

this major family project starting from the pre-construction stage, and some literature about the

newly built chapel designed years after on the land parcel donated to church by her family.

Image 12 – Honkavaara barn before restoration in 1990s; Image 13 – the owner’s family

undertaking reconstruction (source: Tarja Lehikoinen’s personal archives)

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Image 14 – Honkavaara family house after restoration; Image 14 – old sauna after restoration

(source: author’s photography)

The spirit of a building is always revealed through the variety of construction materials used.

While selection of right materials is being the essential part of the reconstruction process,

special attention often must be given to studies of the materials sacred nature.

The respect in relationship between spirit and matter lays a foundation for our cognitive

research of environmental reality. This ultimate condition is often overseen in our high-

technology world, and even our philanthropic attempts to serve nature sometimes lead to a

disharmony between the partakers.

Research challenges

Within the course of my studies, it has been always a strong reminder to me: plan, before you

start recording your own errors. At the certain research point, some serious thoughts must be

made, as far as producing relevant and reliable questionnaires to be given around. In my case,

there would be a variety of social groups representing the authority officials, artistic craftsmen,

academics… and just ordinary villagers. I am thinking of all possible scenarios that could occur

in the communication process, while nobody is protected from the undesirable outcomes. To

my knowledge, the ideal questionnaire is one the most objective, therefore the hardest point is

to come up with your own tools to produce it. Engagement in the experience relevant to your

area of interest, drawing from the academic expertise, your colleagues and peers should be very

beneficial at any case.

Then, looking further, how you act, your personal motives, aspirations and beliefs should be

taken in consideration too. I see a real value in approaching every work from the standpoint of

reviewing your own ethical standards, your true goals and expectations at a given phase and the

overall motivation to reach these goals. There should be a distinct set of ethical principles one

ought to follow, being at work or in daily life situations, while obviously, developing this

specific set for yourself is the hardest part.

Any potential conflict of interests should be addressed beforehand, although at its fundamental

level, we are not to be influenced by any of these tendencies. Clear understanding of the

research context along with all parties involved in the research process would increase chances

of being perceived correctly by anybody, as well as improve overall transparency of the

research goals, methods and the outcomes. The best way to handle any unforeseen situation, on

my opinion, would be to identify possibility of arising any stressful moments at the earlier

stage, accept it as inevitable, and proceed with confidence. As it is very much clear that every

participant within the context of the research has his own values attached to their individuality,

then it appears, that stating upfront all possible scenarios in the conflict of interest is near

impossible.

At the starting point of the research work, I feel establishing proven ethics guidelines is crucial

in dealing with the whole range of ethical issues that may arise even unintentionally.

Intuitively, if you follow fundamental laws of the human ethics, you should be able to navigate

the waters of the scientific research which could be harshly affecting your overall wellbeing.

By making a deal with your own ethical principles you compromise your own work. Thus,

honesty to your natural inclinations, which is expressed through the spontaneity of work,

should become a baseline for any spiritual doing.

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Literature review

The bibliography of the current culture studies contains Alvar Aalto’s works in relation to

Karelian vernacular architecture, as they carry characteristics of strong connection to the

territorial memory and the sense of physical reality of place:

• Aalto A. Architecture and Humanism (collection of articles, reports, interviews),

edited by Gozak, St.Petersburg: Progress Publishing (in Russian), 1978

• Fleig, K. Alvar Aalto, Volume I: 1922-62, Zürich: Artemis, 1963

• Fleig, K. Alvar Aalto, Volume II: 1963-70, Zürich: Artemis, 1971

• Fleig, K. Alvar Aalto, Volume III: Projects and final buildings, Zürich: Artemis, 1978.

It further contains comprehensive analysis of academic works by Viacheslav Orfinsky,

Professor of Petrozavodsk State University, member of the Russian Academy of Architecture

and Building Sciences, who is most known for his advocacy for Karelian heritage and

preservation:

• Wooden Architecture of Karelia, Leningrad: Strojizdat, 1972

• Folk wooden religious architecture of the Russian North (origins and

development momentum), Petrozavodsk: Architectural Heritage, 1997

• Traditional Karelian Dwelling, Petrozavodsk: Petrozavodsky University

Publishers, 2009

• Laws of Architectural Evolution, Leningrad: Strojizdat, 1987.

The list of literature for a deeper study of the religious community movement and the role of

Old Believers carries Robert O. Crummey works:

• The Old Believers and the world of Antichrist. The Vyg Community and the Russian

state 1694–1855. Madison & London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1970

• The formation of Muscovy 1304–1613. London: Longman, 1987

• Old Believers in a changing world. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2011

Other sources of reference include:

1. Alexander C. The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press, 1979

2. Allin C., McClenaghan R. Encyclopedia of environmental issues, Pasadena, California:

Salem Press, 2000 3. Culture of The Old Believers of Vyg. Catalogue, Petrozavodsk: Karpovan Sizarekset Corp.,

1994

4. EUREGIO Karelia Neighborhood Program 2001-2008. Web-site

http://www.euregiokarelia.fi/attachments/Projects_ENG.pdf (accessed 14.12.2016)

5. Florensky P.A., Iconostasis, St.Petersburg: MIFRIL Russkaja Kniga, 1993

6. Fores J. Tradition in Nordic architecture, Barcelona: Polytechnic University of Catalonia,

2010

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7. Grabar I.E. History of Russian Art, vol.1: Architecture, Moscow: Knebel Publishers, 1919

8. History of Vygovsky Old-Believers Monastery published per the manuscript by Ivan

Filippov, St. Petersburg: Kozanchikov Publishers (microform), 1862

9. Liikanen I., Karelia: a cross-border region. The EU and cross-border regional building on

the Finnish-Russian border, Joensuu: University of Eastern Finland, 2007

10. Mennim M., Instructions for conservation of limber constructions, ICOMOS, 1989

11. Opolovnikov A.V., Restoration of Russian Wooden Architecture. Theory and Practice,

Moscow: Strojizdat, 1974

12. Opolovnikov A.V., Opolovnikova E,

Buxton D., The Wooden Architecture of Russia. Houses, Fortifications, Churches, New

York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, 1989

13. Parrinello S., Picchio F., Recomposing the landscape using structure from motion survey in

the Village of Korza, Karelia (Russia), Scientific Research and Information Technology,

Vol. 4, Issue 2, 2014, Web-site http://caspur-ciberpublishing.it/ (accessed 14.12.2016)

14. Pearson D. Earth to Spirit. In Search of Natural Architecture, San Francisco, California:

Chronicle Books, 1995

15. Pentikainen J., Silent as Waters We Live, Tampere: Tammer-Paino Oy, 1999

16. Principles for the Preservation of Historic Timber Structures, ICOMOS 12-th General

Assembly, Mexico, 1999, Web-site http://www.icomos.org/charters/wood_e.pdf (accessed

14.12.2016)

17. Problems of Restoration, Research and Application of the Northern Russian Heritage,

Inter-university Collection, Petrozavodsk: Petrozavodsk University, 1988

18. Semes S. The Future of the Past: A Conservation Ethic for Architecture, Urbanism, and

Historic Preservation. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009

19. Stark L., Peasants, Pilgrims, and Sacred Promises. Ritual and the Supernatural in

Orthodox Karelian Folk Religion, Tampere: Tammer-Paino Oy, 2002

20. Trubetskoy E.N., Three Essays about Russian Icon (in Russian), Moscow: Info Art, 1991

21. World Monuments Fund, Web-site http://wmf.org/ (accessed 16.12.2016)

22. Chasovnia Ilii Proroka/Часовня Ильи Пророка, Web-site

http://www.kaliningradgid.ru/architecture/monastery/chasovnya-ilii-proroka-13765.html

(accessed 14.12.2016)

23. Часовню Ильи Пророка в Карелии "отреставрировали" до неузнаваемости,

Restoreforum.ru, Web-site http://www.restoreforumru/ (accessed 14.12.2016)