RIA Novosti invites its readers on a photo tour of Russia. Today's city is Kargopol.
Kargopol is a city in the Arkhangelsk region situated on the left bank of the Onega River.
The first mention of Kargopol in a written source dates back to 1380. Photo: View of the River Onega.
Before the revolution Kargopol was a traditional center of icon-painting. Icons painted in Kargopol were distinguished by their unique "northern painting style". Photo: View from the Cathedral Bell Tower toward Onega River and the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Kargopol.
The five-domed white stone St. John the Baptist Church is one of Kargopol's tourist attractions. Photo: View toward the St. John the Baptist Church from the Cathedral Bell Tower.
Next to the St. John the Baptist Church is the two-tiered Cathedral Bell Tower (photo). The St. John the Baptist Church together with the Cathedral Bell Tower (and the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ and Vvedensky Church) make up the New Market complex (Cathedral Square) in Kargopol.
The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, whose construction began at the end of the 17th century, is in the Old Market Square. This is the only Orthodox church in Kargopol that continued working during the Soviet era.
At the end of the 17th century the one-story summer Church of the Resurrection was built in the north of Kargopol. Its architect borrowed many features from the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlin.
The village of Lyadino near Kargopol has an architectural ensemble of wooden churches: the Pokrovsko-Vlasevsky Steepled Church built in 1743 (photo left), the five-domed Church of the Epiphany built in 1793 (left) and the 18th century bell tower.
Kargopol toys – brightly-colored clay figurines of people and animals – are widely known throughout Russia.
