Veneration of the prophet Elijah in Vodlozero

Ilinskiy Pogost located in Vodlozero is regarded as a special asset in the spiritual space of the Russian North. It is located on the so to say watershed - not a geographical divide, but a cultural and historical ridge. It absorbs both types of influence: the western (Zaonezhie) and the eastern (Poonezhe) ones and synthesizes them both. The Church of the prophet St. Elijah (1798) has a cubical covering, which is characteristic of the architectural tradition applied in the structures erected on the shores of the lake Onega. Long before that time, the Small Colgostrov had a tent-shape church - a wide range of such architectural structures can be found on the shores of Onega Lake. The mam temple icon was executed by Ignatius Panteleyev in 1647. The Church was rebuilt several times, nevertheless, with all certainty, we can ascertain that in the period of 1708-1798 the image of “The Fiery Ascent of the Prophet Elijah” was exhibited inside the tent-shape church: verticalism specified by the semantics of the icon was supported and amplified by the dynamics of the octagonal tapering toward the Zenith of the coating. Such architectural solution incited doubled spiritual craving. This vector - aspiration to the sky - can be traced in the folklore material collected directly on the site. An attempt to restore the holistic context of the cult accomponing the prophet Elijah in Vodlozero is described in the article. The research also includs the study of Christian realities and pagan reminiscences associated with the worship of Perun. The aspiration toward sublime and heavenly is the most important intention of the local folk culture.