Khakhaly

Khakhaly lies among the Kerzhenets forests north of the Volga. Thick woodland and marsh separate the village from neighbouring communities, while the Kerzhenets and its tributaries drain southward to the great river. The forest country sheltered scattered villages and religious communities, including Old Believers who sought refuge after the seventeenth-century reforms of the Russian Church. Paths through the woods connected small clearings with the wider Volga settlements.