Traditional architecture and everyday culture, festivals, and an airport museum depicting the 1970s shape the cultural highlights of Primorsky District. As you plan your trip, it is worth looking at the different focuses: in Malye Korely, historic living and working environments take centre stage; in Lopshenga, the everyday atmosphere of an airport. Another museum in Uemsky is devoted to the folk crafts and handiwork of Primorye.

Traditional living and working environments in Malye Korely

Set among spruce forests, the village ensembles of the Kargopol-Onega, Dvina, Pinega and Mezen sectors are located in Malye Korely. They include traditional houses, storage buildings, wells and fences. The different sectors provide a framework for exploring rural architectural forms and ways of life.

The range of exhibits spans everything from the mechanism of a large tent-roof windmill to large residential and farm buildings belonging to wealthy peasants from Kargopol or the Pomors. Other exhibits include the interior of a Dvina tavern, a forge from Kholmogory, a fisherman's house and the hut of a commercial hunter. These examples showcase a range of buildings and occupations rather than focusing on a single type of house.

The interiors of the farmsteads are also part of the collection. They showcase the skills of northern Russian carpenters and offer insights into fishing, grain cultivation and household management. Wedding customs and historic forms of transport broaden the subject matter to include social traditions and mobility. In this way, Malye Korely combines architecture with glimpses of everyday life.

The architectural and landscape exhibition at the Malye Korely Museum includes more than 100 monuments of wooden architecture from Arkhangelsk Oblast. The museum is listed in the state register of particularly valuable cultural heritage sites of the peoples of the Russian Federation.

Festivals and everyday culture

Malye Korely hosts celebrations for Maslenitsa, Easter, New Year and Christmas, as well as the Bread Festival, Horse Festival, Hay Festival and Bell Ringing Day. Adults and children take part in festive customs and folk amusements, sing along to the accordion and swing. If you would like to experience a particular celebration, check the dates in advance.

The distinction between the two options is clear: Malye Korely showcases historic living and working environments and festive customs; the airport museum in Lopshenga focuses on everyday life in the 1970s.

An airport museum in Lopshenga

Using furniture, household items and other everyday details, the airport museum in Lopshenga recreates the atmosphere of the 1970s. Its themed areas include a ticket counter, a buffet and a lost-property corner. An area for mothers and children features recordings of fairy tales. In the small post office, visitors can use a telephone to listen to conversations from the airport.

Other areas cover aviation technology, airport staff and medical aviation. This sets the museum apart from the houses, interiors and customs of Malye Korely: here, the focus is on everyday life at an airport and its different work areas in a historic setting.

Culture in the wider destination of Arkhangelsk Oblast

The wider destination of Arkhangelsk Oblast also has its own cultural and historical highlights. The cultural and historical ensemble of the Solovetsky Archipelago includes a monastery fortress dating from the 15th to the early 20th century. The ensemble also encompasses sacred sites and dozens of settlements dating from the 6th to the 1st millennium BC. Its medieval road and irrigation systems are harmoniously integrated into the surrounding natural and cultural landscape. These examples belong to Arkhangelsk Oblast and should be distinguished from the local focus on Primorsky District.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Rikasikha, Yarenga, gorod Novodvinsk, Vel'skiy Rajon, Kargopol Rajon, Plesetskiy rayon, Mezenskiy rayon, Gorod Severodvinsk

Go to the overview of the wider destination: Arkhangelsk Oblast.