Solovetsky islands
Solovetsky archipelago (abbrev. Solovki) consists of six islands: Bolshoy
Solovetsky (246 km2), Anzersky(Anzer)(47 km2), Bolshaya (17 km2) and Malaya
Muksalma (0,57 km2), Bolshoy (1,25 km2) and Maly Zayatsky (1,02 km2) islands.
Due to long winters, islands are accessible by boat from the White Sea port Kem
only from end May till October.
This beautiful archipelago played on important role throughout the Russian
history. Monastery at the main island was founded in the second quarter of the
15th century by two monks from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. By the end of
the 16th century due to trade with salt the abbey had emerged as one of the
wealthiest landowners and most influential religious centres in Russia. After
the October Revolution, the islands became the site of the first Soviet prison
camp described in the book Archipelago Gulag from Alexander Solzenitsyn.
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