!!!Solovetsky Island

Photos by Stas Sedov, Natalia Sudets,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

2 January 2019

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Solovetsky Islands, Russia

The Solovetsky Islands, or Solovki, are the largest archipelago of the
White Sea with six big islands and around a hundred smaller islands. The
first people inhabited these territories 6,000-7,000 years ago, back in
the Stone Age. Some remnants of these ancient times have remained here:
stone man sites, ancient sanctuaries and stone helical labyrinths up to
25 meters in length. But the Solovetsky Islands are primarily famous for
other landmarks.

[{Image src='01_Solovetsky Monastery.jpg' caption='Slovetsky Monastery, Russia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='516'}]

In the 12th century, the first Russian colonists started to arrive here.
In 1429, the first monk settlement was founded, and seven years later,
monks Savvaty, Zosima and German founded the Solovetsky Monastery on the
same named largest island of the archipelago.

[{Image src='02_Solovetsky Monastery in Winter.jpg' caption='Solovetsky Monastery in winter\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='516'}]

They were eventually venerated as saints and are believed to be the
patrons of these lands, while the monastery became famous all over
Russia. The tsar not only donated significant amounts of money and in
doing so he showed the example for his servants but also issued a permit
for a duty-free trade of salt. The monastery had consequently become a
large cultural, economic and industrial centre. New temples started to
be made of stone, and a canal network with mills was created to connect
numerous lakes. And the first arm and ironwork plant in the Karelian
district was founded here.

[{Image src='03_Solovetsky Monastery in Winter Night.jpg' caption='Solovetsky Monastery in winter night\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='516'}]

In addition, the monastery served as a political and religious prison.
And finally, it was also a significant border fortress with a garrison
and artillery. Its pentagonal area was surrounded by the walls of 8-11
meters high, 6 meters thick and having a total length of 1,000 meters.
These walls helped to protect the territory from the Swedes in the
16th-17th centuries. Later, in the middle of the 19th century, the
fortress managed to resist the British fleet attack.

[{Image src='04_Solovetsky Islands.jpg' caption='Solovetsky Monastery in winter\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='516'}]

Nowadays, the monastery buildings are located on 4 islands of the
archipelago, but the main architectural complex has found itself on the
shores of the Prosperity (Blagopoluchiya) Bay on Bolshoy Solovetsky
Island. It has preserved some important monastery constructions: the
three-domed Assumption (Uspensky) Cathedral, the five-domed Cathedral of
the Transfiguration (Preobrazhensky), dated the 16th century, and more
recent buildings, such as stone chambers, a water mill, a bell tower,
and several temples.

[{Image src='05_Solovetsky Monastery.jpg' caption='Solovetsky Islands, Russia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='544'}]

The 20th century was the period of decay for the Solovetsky Islands.
During the Soviet fight against religion, the monastery was closed, and
in 1920 the prison camp was founded instead. Till 1939, it had held the
prisoners mostly for political reasons: priests, White Army officers,
Socialists-Revolutionaries and members of the intelligentsia. During the
Second World War, a naval cadet school was functioning on the island.
With the arrival of peaceful times, the creation of a museum-reserve was
initiated. In addition, in 1990, Solovki started functioning again as
the monastery.

AirPano panoramas will reveal to you the wonderful monuments of the
Solovetsky Islands, reflecting all the stages of the turbulent history
of Russia.

[{Image src='06_Ascension Church.jpg' caption='Ascension Church, lighthouse\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='544'}]

AirPano team would like to express gratitude to employees of the
Solovetsky Museum-Reserve: Orel Maria Sergeevna, Lugovaya Marina
Anatol'evna, Yakovleva Natalia Stepanovna and Mazilova Ekaterina
Andreevna for help with organisation of shooting the Solovetsky Islands.

Solovetsky Islands, Russia

\\ \\
[27 panoramas of Solovetsky Island|Geography/Asia/Russia/Pictures/Solovetsky_Island]

[{SET customtitle='Solovetsky Island (AP)'}]












[{Metadata Suchbegriff=' ' Kontrolle='Nein'}]