Kizhi is the high point of Russian wooden architecture. On a narrow island in Lake Onega, in Karelia, the enclosure of the pogost holds the Church of the Transfiguration, built in 1714 and crowned with twenty-two domes clad in aspen shingles that turn silver in grey weather and warm gold at sunset; beside it stand the Church of the Intercession and a bell tower, all within a boulder-and-timber wall. The structures were assembled with the traditional carpentry of the north, in which log joints do the work of fastenings. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the site also gathers houses, chapels and mills brought from across the region. Filmed in 4K, the programme circles the island by air and water, examines the shingle work up close, and shows the demanding craft of restoration.
