In the open air, on the grounds of the Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life, buildings have been assembled that are genuine wooden residential and utility structures collected from different villages of the Suzdal district.
This project was conceived in the 1960s by restorer V.M. Anisimov. As a result, a real rural settlement was created on the bank of the Kamenka River, where izbas, churches, and other buildings are located. It seems as if 18th-century peasants are just about to walk down the streets — the atmosphere of those times has been conveyed so authentically.
There are two churches hewn from wood on the museum grounds. One of them, Preobrazhenskaya, was built in 1756; the second, Voskresenskaya, dates back to 1776. Both churches have been excellently preserved and delight the eye with their simple and graceful architecture.
The most recent addition to the collection took place in 2012. The Agapov merchants' house was added to the museum, where you can visit an exhibition dedicated to merchant life, as well as become acquainted with blacksmithing in the forge located on the first floor of the building.
On the grounds of the Museum of Wooden Architecture there are also such interesting structures as a windmill, barns on stilts, a wheel well, the house of a prosperous peasant, and other examples of traditional Russian folk construction, astonishing in their authenticity.
