(15 Dec 2019) LEAD IN: Think of Russian architecture, and the opulent palaces of the Tsars and Tsarinas, or the brutal monoliths of Soviet buildings spring to mind.
But in a park on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, an intricately constructed wooden town is being built which celebrates another side to the skills of the country's craftsmen.
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This extraordinary structure is the Church of Intercession.
It has been built on a site covering 589 hectares of land called "Manor Bogoslovka".
Now known as Ethnopark Bogoslovka, the area is becoming a reminder of a particular form of craftsmanship which was famous in the north of Russia.
This is a replica of a cathedral first built in 1708, according to the curators of Ethnopark Bogoslovka. It was considered to be a masterpiece of the time, but it fell into disrepair during the Communist era and was burned down in 1963. The cause of the blaze isn't known.
With its 25 domes reaching 43 metres high, the building was based on photos and pictures which survived and it was completed in just four years in 2008.
Now the government is using the church as a centrepiece for an entire town which will eventually represent other famous wooden buildings of the past, including castles and churches as well as the houses which were built in the north.
The church is already holding masses and providing Sunday Schools.
The Patriarch Maxim Radaev says: "The church was built in 1708. And the same group of builders, having built our temple, went to Kizhi, and began construction of the Kizhi temple. It is possible to tell that these temples have many things in common because they were built by one craftsmen. Russian people from the north knew very well how to work with wood, had a rich experience in cutting wood, drying logs, curving and creating masterpieces."
So far, just seven buildings have been erected.
One of the completed houses here belonged to the family of a noble military man and is named the Nicolay Zinovyev house after him.
Another is based on a house owned by a peasant called Kostin, whose original home was built in 1871 in the Karelia region.
It's a large two-story family. The house was ruined during the Soviet Revolution. Creators of the park have restored its unique wooden ornaments.
As guide Galina Zaynullina explains, he had a very unusual background for a peasant.
"The peasant (who built the house) was not poor of course, not every peasant had such a house. This peasant was rich, he was in the trading business, but even a rich peasant without taste would hardly have built himself such a house," she says.
"It is so beautifully executed, it has such a beautiful carved platband, a horse which we see on a roof, a curved horizontal band which goes down, roof elements, the shutters are also very beautiful. I can not even say exactly which I like best. I want to look at this house."
The ornamental carvings can be seen all over the exterior of the house. The central spine of the roof flows into the shape of a horse creating a figurehead which you'd expect to find on a ship.
Mostly, you can only see the exterior of the houses as entry is forbidden, but at the church people are already welcomed within.
These youngsters drawing angels are part of a Sunday School class.
The teacher here is parishioner Diana Dunina.
Classes aren't confined to the children, adults can come here and learn crafts that are popular in northern Russia.
This celebration of Russia's different ethnic communities of the north is far from complete.
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