In April 2020, the restoration of the 22-domed Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Kizhi Island was completed. This unique temple was declared emergency and closed to visitors in 1980. In 1990, the Kizhi Pogost was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, becoming one of the first three sites in Russia, alongside the Moscow Kremlin and the historic center of St. Petersburg.

Active restoration began in 2009 thanks to an Action Plan signed by V.V. Putin for the restoration of the architectural ensemble of Kizhi Pogost and the development of the infrastructure of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve.

A unique phased log replacement technology was developed for this object. The entire 600-ton structure, 38 meters high, was suspended on a metal frame. The church was divided into seven restoration belts, which could be extracted without compromising integrity. The church was lifted and placed on a strip of rubble-concrete foundation. The belts were sequentially extracted and sent to the Carpentry Center on the island, where work was carried out year-round. Each belt was reassembled and checked for deviations from the original geometry that could threaten collapse.

Efforts were made to preserve as much historical material as possible. Ancient logs were restored using "crowns," "prostheses," and "patches" according to the method of Andrey Kovalchuk, head of the Carpentry Center. The historical geometry was returned to the belt and reinserted into the church's log structure. As a result, the replacement of historical material amounted to 36 percent.

The restoration was monitored by experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and a commission from the Ministry of Culture of Russia, consisting of leading specialists in wooden architecture. All noted the high quality of the work.

The church is now free from scaffolding. Inside, the authentic iconostasis with 105 icons in a carved gilded frame has been restored. This iconostasis is one of the largest monuments of ancient Russian icon painting of the 18th century in the Russian North. Its width exceeds 24 meters, and its height reaches 7 meters.

The reconstruction of the church's interior is now nearing completion. With the start of the summer season in 2020, the temple will be ready to welcome its first visitors. On August 19, 2020, on the feast day, the first service since 1937 will take place here.

The restoration was carried out by project author Vladimir Stepanovich Rakhmanov, three of the seven highest category Russian restorers, Vitaly Skopin, Alexey Chusov, and Andrey Kovalchuk, as well as craftsmen from LLC ARC "Zaonezhye" and LLC AFC "Alecon."

One log structure contains about 3000 logs, some over 15 meters long, with a total length exceeding 10 km. A total of 742 logs were restored with more than 1100 inserts, totaling 25 cubic meters. Almost 40,000 aspen tiles, handmade using ancient technology, were needed to cover the church's domes.

The experience of Kizhi specialists has been highly valued and has become sought after in the professional community. In 2017 and 2019, ICOMOS courses were held on Kizhi Island, attracting specialists from nearly 30 countries. In 2020, a nationwide center for the preservation of wooden architecture monuments named after Vladimir Stepanovich Rakhmanov opened at the museum.