Russia

Solovetsky Islands

WHS Score 3.43
rate
Votes 13 Average 3.96
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Votes for Solovetsky Islands

0.5

  • Yevhen Ivanovych

3.5

  • Lesoruble
  • Martina Rúčková
  • Wojciech Fedoruk

4.0

  • Alexander Barabanov
  • Ivan Rucek
  • Olli-Pekka Turunen
  • Szucs Tamas

4.5

  • Alexander Lehmann

5.0

  • alexandrcfif
  • Atila Ege
  • Malgorzata Kopczynska
  • Sergio Arjona

The Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands is a late medieval Russian Orthodox monastic settlement in an inhospitable environment.

Located on six islands within the Solovetsky archipelago are a monastery-fortress, a monastic village, and some detached monasteries, their hydraulic and irrigation systems plus sacred and archeological sites. It also includes memorials to Solovetsky Special Prison Camp of 1923-1939, which was a model site for the GULAG system for political prisoners.

Community Perspective: The site can be reached by plane through Arkhangelsk (as done by Alexander) or train through Murmansk or Sint Petersburg (by Wojciech). The monasteries and churches still need a lot of repairs; the museum of the Solovetsky Gulag however is a must-see.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands (ID: 632)
Country
Russia
Status
Inscribed 1992 Site history
History of Solovetsky Islands
1992: Advisory Body overruled
Referral advised, also nominated as a mixed site at the time
1992: Name change
From "Cultural and natural historic ensemble of the Solovetskiy Islands" to "Cultural and historic ensemble of Solovetskiy"
1992: Inscribed
Inscribed
2005: Requested by State Party to not be examined
Extension to include adjacent water area withdrawn
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • iv
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Religious structure: Christian
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (16) .
Connections of Solovetsky Islands
Geography
Trivia
History
Damaged
  • Bombarded by the British Navy
    "During the Crimean War, the Solovetsky Monastery was attacked by three British ships. After nine hours of shelling on the 6 and 7 July 1855 the vessels left with nothing." (Wiki)
World Heritage Process
  • Inscribed on a single criterion only
    iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history
Human Activity
Constructions
Timeline
  • Built in the 15th century
    "The Solovetskii Monastery was founded by three monks from the Kirillo-Belozersk and Valaam Monasteries in the 1430s." (AB ev)
Science and Technology
  • Botanical Gardens
    "The Makaryev monastery was converted to a botanical garden supplying hothouse fruits to Russian cities." (AB). This took place in 1882 at the Makarievskaya pustyn (Makaryev Hermitage) situated 4kms N of the Solovetsky Kremlin. Both outdoor and indoor cultivation takes place, making use of the micro-climate of a sheltered valley as well as hot water pipes. They are now known as Solovki or Khutor Gorka Botanical Gardens and are "famed" for the very wide temperature range 31/-35 C in which they operate. See

    See www.gardenhistorysociety.org

18
  • Works by Nobel Prize winning authors
    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Nobel Prize 1970) spends a great deal of Volume II of The Gulag Archipelago discussing the development of Solovki and the conditions there during the early Soviet regime. (wiki)
News
voiceofrussia.com 08/19/2014
Russia to spend $22 million to res…
barentsobserver.com 09/22/2012
Scrap heap meets visitors

Community Reviews

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First published: 01/09/16.

Alexander Barabanov

Solovetsky Islands

Solovetsky Islands (Inscribed)

Solovetsky Islands by Alexander Barabanov

Unfortunately I couldn't attend WHS get-together event, as I booked the trip to Solovetsky islands, my old and much wanted target. The trip was by air, through Arkhangelsk first and then by a bit scaring 40-years old AN-24 turboprop airplane.

So-called airport (in fact, just tiny wooden blue construction) is located just 1 km away from the monastery, which immediately dominates the skyline and creates fairytale spiritual atmosphere.

We explored the monastery and the island for the 2 days, however the weather was quite rainy and changed so quickly that we haven't completed our bike tour to the Northern part of the island.

The main island is not a much visited place by toursits even in August (mainly we met pilgirms). Howver during our stay we intersected several time with a brave group of 20 British tourists, mainly pensioners, who were visiting a number of interesting places on the Russian North (Kizhi and Ferapontonv included). We chattered a bit and advised to visit special exhibition in Arkhangelsk, where they were heading next, dedicated to 75th anniversary of Dervish - American-British Ally marine convoy, which during the war transported numerous strategic aid to the USSR. This help will always be kept with remembrance and endless respect.

Unfortunately, the monastery is currently under repairs ladders (till 2017), and the pictures will not be so photogenic as in the books. 3-hour excursion to the monastery is worth 450 Roubles (6.5 Euro). There is quite an extensive excursion program around the islands in both …

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First published: 02/10/13.

Wojciech Fedoruk

Solovetsky Islands

Solovetsky Islands (Inscribed)

Solovetsky Islands by Wojciech Fedoruk

If you want to visit solovetsky Islands, you have at least two possibilities to do that. The simplest is taking a plane from Arkhangelsk (around 300 USD roundtrip, depending on the booking period). More difficult, but also more rewarding is by train from Sankt Petersburg (around 20 hours) or Murmansk (11 hours). Being in Murmansk I could not skip this place so I went there with my friend, taking a place in plackarta for around 40 USD one way. We left the train in Kem, a town in Karelia in the early morning, then taking a taxi to Rabotsheostrovsk (around 10 USD for 20-minutes trip, during the day there are shuttle buses for 3 USD). From Rabotsheostrovsk we tried to catch a ferry to Solovki, but the tickets were already sold. I recommend booking them in advance then. However, we took the ferry for pilgrims operated by the monastery, paying even slightly less (RUB 750 = USD 25) than for the civil ferry. After almost three hours we finally reached Solovki.

Solovki are the place with extremely complicated history. From XVth century the place served as monastery and hermitage for the most devoted Orthodox monks, becoming during the ages one of the most important centre of Russian Orthodox church. The Bolsheviks, after taking over power in 1920s, wanted to kill to birds with one stone by closing the monastery, expelling the monks and using this place as a first GULAG (called SLON – Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp) in the empire. …

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