UNESCO has included a unique place in northern Russia in the World Heritage List The uniqueness of Russian culture and traditions has once again been recognized and highlighted at the global level — another unique place in our country has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Kenozersky National Park in the Arkhangelsk region. Russia now has 32 monuments on the prestigious list. The decision was made at a recent session of the organization in India. Since 2004, Kenozersk has been part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves List — specially protected areas for the preservation of natural resources. In addition to the extraordinary beauty of the local landscapes, the national park boasts unique monuments of Russian wooden architecture from the 16th-17th centuries with unique paintings. Moreover, many objects from the Neolithic era have been found in Kenozersk. Among them are spearheads and darts created in the period of 4-3 thousand years BC. In the protected area of northern Russia, among the forests and lakes of the Arkhangelsk region, — quoting UNESCO experts — “a local cultural landscape that has been formed since the 12th century has been preserved… Here, several traditional rural settlements with unique monuments of Russian wooden architecture are located.” The main one is probably the Pochozersky Pogost (and this is our own addition). Wooden churches have been decorated for centuries with painted ceilings or “heavens”. It was here that many ancient Russian epics and tales were recorded by researchers. The watershed of two oceans — the North Arctic and the Atlantic — also passes here. This protected area preserves not only the architectural masterpieces of Russian craftsmen but also living spiritual and cultural traditions. The most impressive wooden masterpieces are the Pochozersky Pogost in the village of Filippovskaya, the church of the holy apostles Peter and Paul in the village of Morshchikhinskaya, the church in the name of Saint Alexander Svirsky on Khizhgora, and dozens of other churches and chapels. They stand in their native places in villages and on the shores of lakes (there are more than 300 in the national park!) and are not gathered in an open-air museum. To feel the power of nature and the depth of culture, travelers come to Kenozersk. Hotels, tourist bases, and guest houses are open for them (often these are real village houses with Russian stoves and saunas). 15 tourist trails and routes are laid, both walking and water. At the eco-farm, hardy horses of a special breed — Mezen — are bred. The only museum in Russia dedicated to epic heritage “In the Beginning Was the Word”, located in an old peasant house in the village of Vershinino, is dedicated to epics, songs, lullabies, tales… In the workshops, you will learn to cook perch fish soup from freshly caught fish and bake pies with berries. How to get there: from Moscow by car to the village of Morshchikhinskaya (one of the national park’s visitor centers) takes about 13 hours (990 km); from St. Petersburg, 9 hours (640 km). Or by plane to Arkhangelsk, about one and a half hours, and from there 7 hours by car (545 km). By train from these cities, you can reach the Niyandoma station, and from there take a taxi to Morshchikhinskaya (2 hours on the way, 150 km).