Monuments of Old Russian Wooden Architecture: Plastic Windows, Satellite Dishes, Devastation

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Many old houses in Russia are decaying: some citizens and authorities simply do not care or do not have money to restore them. It’s rather sad – not only because such houses are beautiful and have their cultural value but also because many of them still keep old secrets. For example, in village Cherevkovo of the Arkhangelsk region a woman whose name is Tatiana, resident of the house built 120 years ago, removing old wallpapers, found a piece of old paper with an announcement about the first concentration camp of the German Empire of Otto von Bismarck. That house initially belonged to merchants Gusevs, but after the revolution 1917 the family was resettled.

Some citizens remove old carved frames and replace them with plastic ones…

3 thoughts on “Monuments of Old Russian Wooden Architecture: Plastic Windows, Satellite Dishes, Devastation”

  1. These are beautiful buildings.
    However, I am interested in their structure.
    Obviously, they are designed and built to withstand an extreme climate.
    Is there anywhere we can see the structural details of how these houses were built, and what features they contain in response to the needs of the climate?

    Reply
    • I don’t believe they are designed for the climate, as witnessed by the typical whale of a stove. For winter you just glue up the windows, prepare firewood and put on 3 sweaters around the clock

      Reply
      • Well, I wouldn’t think so… Even in Soviet times Dachas (that’s the term for these houses), were made of wood logs (which is an extremely efficient heat insulator) using wool or hemp rope as interspace insulator, had double thick windows (with a frame of almost 50cm) and huge ovens / stoves / kilns made of bricks, adorned with ceramic tiles. Also, the layout of the house is pretty specific. In other words, these houses were MADE to withstand Winters effectively.

        Reply

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