Plesetsky District: Cultural Routes and Chapels

In Plesetsky District, cultural routes lead to village traditions, crafts, and religious buildings. Two routes focus on different time periods: a two-hour walking tour of Vershinino, which is possible year-round, and the route “Nebesa i okrestnosti Kenozerja,” planned for May to October. The Plesetsky Sector of Kenozersky National Park is located in Plesetsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast; its administrative center is in the village of Vershinino.

On foot through Vershinino

The “Selo raskinulos uzorno...” walking tour is a two-hour route through Vershinino. It offers insights into the traditions, customs, trades, and crafts of Vershinino and Kenozero. The tour includes a visit to the 18th-century Nikolskaya Chapel and an introduction to blacksmithing, pottery, and carpentry in the “Ambarny Ryad” museum exhibition.

Its two-hour duration provides a clear point of reference for planning your day. If you would like to include it in your trip, check in advance whether it is currently running.

Chapels and churches along the route

The “Nebesa i okrestnosti Kenozerja” route is planned for the period from May to October. In Tyryshkino, it leads to a 19th-century chapel called “Krest,” considered the smallest chapel in Russia. In Zekhnova, the route leads to the 18th-century Church of St. John the Theologian. The same route thus features a chapel and a church from different centuries.

Another architectural destination is the Pochoserskiy khramovyy kompleks in the village of Filippovskaya. The ensemble, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, consists of two churches and a bell tower. It is one of six surviving ensembles of this kind in the Russian North. The number and variety of buildings make clear that this is a whole complex to explore, not just a single church building.

Ceramics and regional culture

The “Kitovrasovo podvorye” museum is housed in a restored granary. It displays fragments of archaic ceramics found during archaeological investigations on the park grounds. Alongside chapels, churches, and crafts, the exhibition offers another way to explore the past of Kenozersky National Park: through material finds rather than buildings.

In the wider travel destination of Arkhangelsk Oblast, the cultural and historical ensemble of the Solovetsky Archipelago includes medieval road and irrigation systems, harmoniously integrated into the surrounding natural and cultural landscape. The ensemble also includes a monastery fortress dating from the 15th to the early 20th century, as well as sacred sites and dozens of settlements from the 6th to the 1st millennium BC.

The Malye Korely Museum is also part of Arkhangelsk Oblast’s cultural offerings. Its architectural and landscape exhibition comprises more than 100 monuments of the region’s wooden architecture. The museum is included in the state register of particularly valuable cultural heritage sites of the peoples of the Russian Federation.

Plan your trip and holiday rental

The cultural destinations on your itinerary can help guide your choice of a holiday rental in Plesetsky District. The walking tour of Vershinino has a clearly stated duration of two hours; the route to the destinations in Tyryshkino and Zekhnova is planned for May to October. Plan around the experiences that interest you most, and check in advance whether each tour is currently running.

Discover more destinations: Mezensky District, Zapolyarny District, Primorsky District, Kargopol District, Velsky District, City of Novodvinsk, Mezensky District, City of Severodvinsk.

See the wider travel guide: Arkhangelsk Oblast.