The main attractions of Solovki and all the ways to get to them. Where is Solovki located? From the history of the Solovetsky Monastery

Solovetsky Islands are a unique place. On a small archipelago in a unique natural, historical and cultural complex which has no analogues in the world. The largest and richest in sights is Solovetsky Island, on which the famous Solovetsky Monastery has been operating for more than one century.

Nature

The islands arose 9000 years ago at one of the stages of the formation of the White Sea, when, after the melting of a large glacier, a compensatory uplift of the soil occurred. 2/3 of the entire area of ​​the archipelago is occupied by Bolshoi Solovetsky Island.

The archipelago is located in the taiga zone. The landscapes of the islands are unusually picturesque and varied: high hills are replaced by lakes, flowering meadows - vast swamps. 70% of the area is covered with forests, mainly spruce and pine. About 5% of the area is occupied by tundra complexes. Dry crowberry tundras are characteristic of the coastal zone, where they are followed by a strip of crooked birch forests (wild birch). In the central part of the islands, birch and aspen forests appear at the site of clearings and fires. Meadows on the coast and in the center of the islands occupy 0.1-0.2% of the total area and are characterized by a rich species composition of meadow vegetation. About 15% of the territory of the islands are swamps with a predominance of riding and transitional varieties. Such a wide range of landscapes, presented on an area of ​​only about 300 km², is one of the amazing natural features of the Solovetsky archipelago.

There are over 550 lakes on the islands. They differ in size, shape, origin, color of water, but all of them are very picturesque.

Where are the Solovetsky Islands

The Solovetsky archipelago, consisting of six large islands and over a hundred small ones, is located in the western part of the White Sea, 290 kilometers northwest of the city of Arkhangelsk, the center of the Arkhangelsk region. The total area of ​​the islands is 300 km². They include such islands as:

• Solovetsky (Big Solovetsky) - 218.72 km²;
• Anzersky - 47.11 km²;
• Big Muksalma - 18.96 km²;
• Malaya Muksalma - 1.2 km²;
• Big 3ayatsky - 1.25 km²;
• Small Zayatsky - 1.1 km².

Story

The history of the Solovetsky Islands begins with their development by man in the Late Mesolithic. In the III millennium BC. sea ​​hunters and fishermen discovered the Solovetsky Islands and began their development, which continued until the Middle Ages. Numerous traces of their economic and utilitarian and religious activities were found on Solovki: more than 20 settlements, sites and workshops, four sanctuaries in combination with ancient sites, many single stone labyrinths, thousands of artifacts.

The primitive inhabitants of Solovki were engaged in specific hunting for sea animals and island lake-forest game, fishing, coastal gathering, and the manufacture of stone tools. Collections of arrows, darts, hunting anchors, ceramics, a unique cult drilled ax and many other items were found at their sites. The ancient inhabitants of the archipelago were engaged in the construction of stone labyrinths in which they built sanctuaries.

Foundation of the stauropegial male Solovetsky monastery

Solovetsky Island became the site of the founding of the monastery in the 30s of the XV century by immigrants from Kirillo-Belozersky and the monks Savvaty, Herman and Zosima as the monastery of the Savior and Wonderworker Nicholas. During the XV-XVI centuries. the monastery gradually grew, acquiring large islands of the archipelago in its possession.

By the end of the 15th century, the monks erected three wooden churches: Assumption, Nikolskaya and Preobrazhenskaya, numerous wooden cells and outbuildings, surrounded by a wooden fence.

Spiritual stronghold of the Russian North

In the middle of the 16th century, the monastery entered a period of serious economic transformations associated with the name of hegumen Philip (Kolychev), a reformer, architect, energetic and talented business executive. Roads were built here in the 1550s-1560s, but a “milk yard” with deer and cattle was founded on the island of B. Muksalma. To provide the population of the monastery with running water, 52 lakes of the Solovetsky Island were connected by drinking canals. For defense in 1582-1594. a stone fortress wall with towers and gates was erected. Annunciation (Gate) Church was built in 1596-1600.

Throughout the 17th century, the Solovetsky Monastery continued to form as an administrative, economic, spiritual, military-political and cultural center of the White Sea region. In the XVIII-XX centuries. it was one of the places of exile and imprisonment of state criminals.

After the revolution of 1917, a new Russia began to take shape. The Solovetsky Islands ceased to be a spiritual center, and the monastery was abolished. In April 1920, the Arkhangelsk provincial commission began the nationalization of the monastery property. The Administration of the Solovetsky Islands was organized and at the same time the Solovki state farm was organized, which existed until 1923. The establishment of the state farm did not mean the elimination of monasticism. About 200 monks were civilian workers, a religious community was organized, the activities of which were controlled by the Administration of the Solovetsky Islands.

Gulag Archipelago

From 1923 to 1939, the territory of the islands and all the buildings of the former Solovetsky Monastery were occupied by the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camps of the OGPU-NKVD (SLON). Organized on the basis of Kholmogorsk, Pertominsk and Arkhangelsk, the Solovetsky camps were among the largest in Russia. Composition of prisoners in SLON different time changed. Among them were representatives of the Russian aristocracy, the church, the intelligentsia, all pre-revolutionary political parties, criminal elements convicted under household affairs, representatives of national parties and many others.

Among those exiled to the SLON were scientists and cultural figures, writers, poets, religious figures of Russia: professor, art historian A.E. Anisimov, historian I.D. Antsiferov, inventor B.A. Artemiev, Professor S.A. Askoldov, historian B.B. Bakhtin, artist I.E. Braz, a descendant of the Decembrists A.B. Bobrischev-Dushkin, poet M.N. Voronoi, ethnographer N.N. Vinogradov, writer 0.B. Bolkov, historian G.O. Gordon, poet A.K. Gorsky, academician priest, scientist-encyclopedist D.A. Florensky and others.

Sights of the historical and cultural complex

The historical and cultural complex of the Solovetsky Islands is the only one of its kind, unique in the integrity and completeness of the ensembles and complexes preserved in it, religious, residential, defensive, economic, hydraulic structures, a network of roads and irrigation systems of the Middle Ages, as well as archaeological complexes, monuments reflecting ancient and medieval pre-monastic island culture. They are concentrated in different parts of the large islands of the archipelago, but, geographically and historically interconnected, they form a single, inseparable whole. Its various components represent all periods of the history of the archipelago and of the Russian North as a whole.

The components of the historical and cultural complex of the Solovetsky archipelago are:

• Monastery-fortress of the 15th-20th centuries, a former monastic settlement of the 16th-20th centuries, hermitages and deserts of the 16th-20th centuries;
• Fishing huts, island hydrotechnical and irrigation systems;
• Complexes "sanctuary-parking" III-I millennia BC on Bolshaya Zayatsky and Anzersky Islands;
• Groups of memorial buildings of the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp 1923-1939. on the territory of the village and on the site of a brick factory;
• natural landscapes.

The center of the historical and cultural complex of the archipelago is the Solovetsky Monastery - an integral unique architectural ensemble. Its buildings are distinguished by their rare monumentality, the bright individual appearance of many structures and, at the same time, the integrity of all its parts.

Other attractions

archaeological and historical places and almost all the Solovetsky Islands are famous for their amazing objects. Sights worthy of special attention are located on the following islands:

• Anzersky: Trinity Skete (XVII), Trinity Church (1880-1884), Golgotha-Crucifixion Skete (XIX).
• Big Zayatsky: Zayatsky (Andreevsky) Skete (XVI), boulder harbor, Stone Harbor (XVI), Church of St. Andrew the First-Called.
• Bolshaya Muksalma: Sergiev Skete (XVI), a boulder dam that connected Muksalma with the large Solovetsky Island (XIX).

Flora

The labyrinths of the Solovetsky Islands have become home to 500 plant species. Among the natural-territorial island complexes there are habitats for endangered and rare plant species. Scientists study, preserve and increase them. Arriving on the island, you must carefully treat local flora, because a plucked unusual flower can be a rare species. The following representatives of the flora need special protection: common wolfberry, two-leaved lyubka, spotted orchis, male shield, broad-leaved orchid, Siberian pine, northern girtwort, recumbent lauseleuria, sea arctic mustard and others.

The coastal waters of the White Sea are one of the richest in algal flora and the most productive region of the basin (there are 160 species of bottom algae).

Fauna

The animal world, due to the insular position of Solovki and the northern location of the archipelago, is not distinguished by a large variety of mammals. Two of their species appeared here thanks to man. These are the reindeer, brought to the islands in the 16th century, and the muskrat, which appeared here in the 1920s.

The avifauna of the islands is richer in terms of the number of species. Nearly 200 species of birds have been recorded on Solovki. Among them are the "Red Book": white-tailed eagle, osprey, shelduck, puffin. Of exceptional interest is one of the largest colonies of Arctic tern in Europe and the largest colony of black-backed gulls in Russia. Greatest variety species stands out the island of Solovetsky.

From marine mammals ringed seal, white whale, bearded seal and harp seal are common in coastal waters. On the coast of Anzer Island there are mass haul-outs of pinnipeds, and herds of beluga whales numbering up to several hundred individuals approach the western part of the Big Solovetsky Island.

Ecotourism

The archipelago is of great interest to people who love nature. Tourists come to the Solovetsky Islands not only to visit the famous monastery. Sights of nature are also worthy of attention. Surprisingly diverse landscapes will allow you to wander through the taiga in a compact area, enjoy the greenery of meadows and the beauty of lakes, and watch the wildlife.

The bays of the archipelago are unique. The most beautiful, with many small islands, Long Bay is a unique reservoir inhabited by relic arctic forms of invertebrates, representing a practically closed ecosystem. The Trinity Bay is beautiful, almost cutting Anzersky Island in two.

The nature of the Solovetsky Archipelago is of outstanding value, as it reflects the main periods of the post-glacial geological history of the North, the history of interaction with humans, contains amazingly beautiful landscapes and is a habitat for rare bird species and large bird colonies. People who are passionate about their native nature are strongly recommended to visit the Solovetsky Islands.

How to get to Solovki in winter

The direction of the route depends on the vagaries of the weather and seasons. In winter, movement is severely limited, get ordinary tourist The islands can only be reached by air from Arkhangelsk:

• From the airport "Talagi" on Tuesdays and Sundays, the plane of the airline "Nord Avia" (AN-24) flies. Flight time - 45 minutes.
• From the airport "Vaskovo" on Fridays, the company "2nd AOAO" (L-410) operates flights.

How to get to the islands in summer

As the weather improves, the number of possible options for visiting the Solovetsky Islands increases significantly. Let's take a closer look at how to get to the archipelago in the spring-autumn period. In addition to flights from Arkhangelsk, routes from Karelia also open at this time.

It is recommended to get to Arkhangelsk from the regions by plane or train. For vehicles, local roads will be a real test. As in winter, Solovki can be reached by air. Flights from Talagi Airport (NordAvia) operate on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. From "Vaskovo" (2nd JSC) - on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The most romantic way is to travel by boat to the Solovetsky Islands from the Karelian cities of Kem and Belomorsk. In directions from Moscow and St. Petersburg, these cities can be reached by the Murmansk train. From the pier Rabocheostrovsk (Kem), the motor ships Metel and Vasily Kosyakov sail daily to Solovki. From Belomorsk the ship "Sapphire" goes. The islands also run "river minibuses" - small boats delivering pilgrims and unorganized tourists. Airplanes and ships deliver passengers to the main island - Solovetsky.

You definitely heard their name and held their image in your hands. We are talking about Solovki, islands with a colorful history and unique nature. They seem close and familiar to us, but we can’t even say for sure where the very word “Solovki” came from.

Geography

1. Solovki are fairly young islands. They appeared after the glaciation receded 12 thousand years ago. The glaciers are gone, but the stones, sand and soil they brought have remained.

2. There are no rivers and almost no springs on Solovki. All fresh water is contained in numerous relict lakes. There are more than 600 of them in the archipelago.

3. Approximately 1/8 of the territory of Solovki is occupied by a real swamp.

4. The Solovetsky Islands are the largest archipelago of the White Sea. Its area is 347 km², which is more than the territory of the Maldives.

5. Of the 50 stone labyrinths found in Russia, 35 are located on the territory of the Solovetsky Islands. Their age is over 2000 years. Academician N.N. Vinogradov suggested that the labyrinths or, as the locals call them, "Babylons" are associated with the cult of the dead. The soul locked in the center of the labyrinth can no longer get out.

6. Stone labyrinths on Bolshoi Solovetsky Island, not far from the monastery, were laid out already in the 20th century for tourists. The most ancient and well-preserved labyrinths are located on Zayatsky Island.

Biology

1. Solovetsky gulls - a symbol of the islands. These birds inhabit the territory of the entire archipelago and are considered spring messengers in the Solovetsky monastery.

2. More than 30 species of mosquitoes live on the Solovetsky Islands. They are quite sociable and love tourists, especially those who neglect long sleeves and repellents.

3. There are kelp plantations on Solovki. Local residents use these algae for food, as well as dry them, make cosmetics and medicinal preparations for sale.

4. Solovki is known for its "dancing" birches. If you look at such a tree at sunset, it may seem that these are the silhouettes of dancing people. In fact, thin northern birches, grown in a constant wind, acquire such bizarre shapes.

5. Despite the small territory, animal world Solovkov is diverse. A huge number of birds (more than 200 species) live here, and among the animals you can meet foxes, squirrels, hares and even reindeer.

History and Monastery

1. The first human traces on Solovki date back to the 3rd millennium BC.

2. The first monks settled in Solovki in 1429. These were the monks Herman and Savvaty, they erected a cross and a cell about 13 km from the future monastery. Gradually, after the death of Savvaty, other monks began to arrive on the island.

3. The Solovetsky Monastery was founded in 1436. It was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries, by the 17th century there were about 350 monks, 600-700 novices and peasants in the monastery.

4. The walls of the monastery are made of huge boulders, some of them are more than two meters in diameter. The thickness of the monastery walls in this case can reach 6 meters.

5. It is still not clear who actually built the Solovetsky Kremlin. The weight of some of the stones that make up the walls reaches 8 tons, and the lichen covering the boulders dates back 2-3 thousand years. There is a version expressed by V.A. Lekomtsev that the fortress existed on the island long before the arrival of the monks, who only completed and strengthened the centuries-old buildings.

6. In the 16th century, monks dug many canals, linking the Solovetsky Lakes into a single system. The large and small circles of the lake-canal system have survived to this day and are used for boat trips. It takes at least 10 hours to make a trip in a large circle.

7. Under the Solovetsky Monastery there is a system of underground passages 1.5 kilometers long. It was used to provide the monastery with water, but if desired, it could be used as a back door behind the walls of the fortress.

8. The Solovetsky Monastery was besieged several times. The longest siege began in 1669 and lasted for 8 years. It was caused by the refusal of the monks to conduct divine services according to the new model introduced by Patriarch Nikon. This siege went down in history as the Solovetsky seat.

9. The Solovetsky sitting could last longer - the monastery was well protected and had large food supplies. But in 1676, one of the defectors helped the archery army to penetrate the territory of the monastery and open the gates. Of the 500 defenders, only 14 survived.

10. There is a dry dock on Bolshoi Solovetsky Island, built back in 1801. He was one of the first in Russia.

11. There is a botanical garden on the territory of the Solovetsky Islands. It was founded in 1822. To provide plants with water, pipes made of baked clay were laid underground.

12. In the XIX - early XX century in Solovetsky botanical garden melons, watermelons and peaches grew. These southern plants were grown in greenhouses, the heat from which came through pipes from the waxworks.

13. In 1854, as part of the Crimean War, the English fleet entered the White Sea and headed for Solovki. Having received a refusal from the monks to surrender the fortress, the frigates Brisk and Miranda fired cannons at the monastery. 120 new English guns bombarded the monastery for 9 hours. Heavy fire pierced one of the icons, killed a seagull and scared the locals away. The monastery itself remained intact.

14. The Solovetsky Monastery had its own hydroelectric power station. It was installed on the canal between the Holy Lake and the Dry Dock in 1911 and provided the island with electricity for a long time until it was destroyed during the Brezhnev rule.

15. Before the revolution, the Solovetsky Monastery acquired several motor ships to deliver pilgrims to the island. The ships were called "Vera" (began to sail from 1862) and "Hope" (launched in 1863) and could carry up to 500 passengers per voyage. Later, the monastery acquired two more ships: the steamer "Solovki" and "Mikhail Archangel".

16. The roads on Solovki were paved by monks in the 16th century. Since then, the masonry has been updated only a couple of times, the last one during the Gulag. For comparison, the paved road in the village near the monastery lasted 2 years.

17. Big Solovetsky Island and the island of Bolshaya Muksalma are connected by a dam. It was laid in 1827, the length of the dam is 1200 meters. The second dam was only 300 meters long and connected the islands of Bolshaya and Malaya Muksalma. Unfortunately, over time, the building collapsed and went under water.

Solovki as a prison

2. In the 16th - 19th centuries, there was also a prison on the territory of the Solovetsky Monastery. She was considered especially reliable because of her location. Mostly political prisoners were exiled to Solovki.

3. In 1923, Solovki began to be exiled systematically. On November 2, SLON, the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp, was established.

4. Among the most famous prisoners of the SLON and the Gulag were Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev, ethnographer Nikolai Nikolaevich Vinogradov, Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky), Ivan Nikiforovich Lysenko (in the future - senior intelligence sergeant, hero of the Soviet Union).

5. There was a Railway. It was built in 1923 for quick access to Filimonovsky peat extraction. Despite the closure of the narrow gauge railway in 1932, some sections of it have survived to this day.

Pilgrimage and Solovki

1. More than 20,000 tourists visit Solovki every year. Of them most are pilgrims.

2. Orthodox relics are kept in the Solovetsky Monastery, which are annually visited by thousands of pilgrims. Among them: the white stone cross of Savvaty of Solovetsky, the Bogolyubskaya icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, with the upcoming saints Zosima and Savvaty and the brethren of the monastery, the phelonion of St. Zosima, part of the wooden shrine of St. Savvaty and many other relics.

3. In pre-revolutionary times, the monks on Solovki lived not only in the monastery. There were many hermitages scattered all over the island, where hermits settled. Such monks were called “hermits of Solovetsky”, among them were the elder Ephraim Cherny, Alexy Kaluzhanin, Tikhon Moskvitin, Joseph I, Joseph II the Younger, Theodulus Ryazanets, Tryphon, Sebastian, monk Porfiry. Today these hermits are revered as Solovki saints.

4. Pilgrims are attracted to Solovki not only by the walls of the ancient monastery and icons, but also by numerous legends about the miracles of the Solovetsky saints. For example, there is a case when the Monk Irinarkh, the deceased hegumen of the monastery, appeared to the laity to save them from death in the ice.

5. On August 21, the transfer of the relics of the Monk Zosima, Savvaty and Herman, the Solovetsky wonderworkers, is celebrated in Solovki. Their tomb was damaged during a great fire in 1694, but the bodies of the saints were not damaged. In the same year, Solovki was visited by Peter I, who made a generous contribution to the restoration of the tomb of the saints.

For tourists

1. The origin of the name "Solovki" still causes fierce debate. The works on the toponymy of the White Sea indicate the origin of the name "Solovki" from the Finnish word "suol" - "island". English travelers of the 16th century. T. Southem and J. Spark call the Solovetsky Island "Abdon". Historians believe that this is either a distortion of the word "aidoni" - nightingale, or "abdon" - remote, hidden. There is another version, according to which the Solovetsky Islands are called so, because they fished together here, co-caught.

2. Directors love Solovki for the color and beauty of northern nature. Films such as The Island by Pavel Lungin or The Split by Nikolai Dostal were filmed here.

3. You can drive around Solovki by car. But not quickly - the cobblestone pavement in the village and the lack of a normal road outside it can break the suspension of almost any car. Therefore, the most popular vehicles on Solovki are off-road vehicles, bicycles and all-terrain vehicles, from factory-made to self-made ones.

4. There is a Maritime Museum on Solovki, in the dock of which, since 2003, work has been carried out on the reconstruction of the famous sovereign yacht "Saint Peter". In the summer of 2015, the yacht was launched.

5. There are two ways to get to Solovki: by sea and by air. There is an airport on the territory of the Bolshoy Solovetsky Island; it receives three flights a week from Arkhangelsk. Maritime communication with the islands is regular, there are even flights from Moscow.

6. Of the thirty lighthouses located in Onega Bay, only four are functioning. One of them is Solovetsky, located on Sekirnaya Gora. This is not just a lighthouse, but a lighthouse-bell tower built on top of the Ascension Church. The temple was erected in 1862.

7. Solovki are depicted on the 500 ruble bill. Initially, until 2010, the banknotes depicted the monastery from the side of the Holy Lake and a small ship that sailed along it. In 2011, the banknote was changed, the ship was removed and the angle was slightly shifted, taking the modern view of the monastery as a basis.

8. At Cape Beluga, you can watch the games, oddly enough, belugas. Near Solovki lives the smallest (only 3 meters long) species of beluga whale - the White Sea. IN summer season the animals come quite close to the shore, where they can be seen and photographed without much difficulty. Another thing is that it is not easy to get to the cape - the road is very swampy, part of it runs along a marshy beach, which is flooded at high tide. But enterprising locals can take you to the place on their all-terrain vehicle, not for free, of course, but brightening the road with a story about the habits of belugas.

"Adaptation of Suol in Solo is a matter of time. Initially, the locals called the archipelago simply - "ISLANDS" ... "Suolovki", "Suoloveisky". This sound later transformed into "Solovki" and "Solovki" (Prof. Alexander Minkin. "Toponyms Murman")

"In 2003, we walked a long way to Anzer, rounding half of the Big Solovetsky Island and anchored in Troitskaya Bay, which juts out into the northern tip of the island." (Photo by Alexey Budovsky. USA.)

The meaning and origin of the words "Solovki" and "Solovki"

The Baltic peoples called the islands "Solovki".

“Unfortunately, we cannot say with certainty about the original origin of these names and trace their gradual change and adaptation to new conditions, to a new linguistic environment. No matter how tempting it is to associate the name “Solovki” with “salt” or “nightingales” by consonance , such an explanation cannot be interpreted otherwise than as a curiosity: salt was not boiled down on Solovki, and there were no nightingales here, all the more ...

Most likely, the toponymic layer of the Baltic peoples was imprinted in the Solovetsky names. The original names gradually changed, sometimes acquiring features of outward resemblance to Russian names. Indeed, among the names of undeniably Finno-Ugric origin SOLOSORA, there is also MUKSORA, the roots of which resemble "Solovki" and "Muksalma" (and the word "salma" in modern Finnish and Karelian languages ​​means a strait) ... ( Boguslavsky Gustav. From an old Novgorod document. Solovetsky Islands: Essays. 1966.)

The nightingale is a bird, a robber and an island.

"So, the island that previously belonged to Sloven, Nightingale, Volkh or Kolga, after the arrival of St. Savvaty and Zosima belongs to God - Christ, a robbery, unclean place becomes a house of prayer, and the old name is preserved - it is not destroyed, but "submits" to the new, " unrighteous" begins to serve the "righteous", the nightingale-serpentine whistle now serves to glorify the Lord" ( Konstantin Yudin. Solovki. Myths and toponymy. Network magazine "Solovki Encyclopedia. 2005).

Solovetskie...together-lovetskie...here they catch fish together.

The main conclusion of the consultants turned out to be ingeniously simple: in order to save Solovki, you need to be together... It is not for nothing that the islands are called "Solovki" - as a sign that they fished together here. (Osolovevye islands. New Newspaper. No. 81 dated October 30, 2003)

Did you understand anything?

"§ 1084. Manifestations of fluency of the root vowel in denominative word formation are also, firstly, the absence of a vowel in the motivated word, which is present in all forms of the motivating word (i.e., within the framework of the motivating word, this vowel does not show fluency); secondly, the presence in the motivated word a vowel that is absent in all forms of the motivating word... Ship - ship; service - service; Solovki - Solovetsky and some other formations from the bases of toponyms and ethnonyms ". ( Institute of the Russian Language of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Russian grammar. Vowel alternation in denominative word formation)

"Solovki" - islands of human souls.

We know of only two sources that directly mention the possible origin of the words "Solovki" and "Solovki". Meanwhile, a very unusual message about how and why our ancestors called the Solovetsky archipelago "Solovki" came from 1589. This year, the English traveler Cornelius Doots compiled one of the first maps of the White Sea, plotting the archipelago in the form of several islands and marking them with the word "SOULOFKI". Most likely asking local population about the name of the islands, the Englishman clearly used in the name of "Solovki" not the English root "solo", but the root "soul" - the soul ... Surprisingly accurate intuitive definition.

"Solovki" - islands covered with forest.

Matonin VN, Associate Professor of the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, in the article "Solovki as an image and symbol" gave the following interpretation of the word: The etymology of the word Solovki is of Finno-Ugric origin: islands covered with a dark forest. In the concept of Solovki, it flickers with the meaning of solo (one), which corresponds to the Greek mono - monahos - lonely. Fate destined the islands to become sacred center otherworldly world.

"Sun fanned" or "Sun".

Valery Demin. In the book: "Hyperborea - the foremother of world culture" (Valery Nikitich Demin (born 1942) - scientist, writer, Doctor of Philosophy. Author of books on Russian cosmism and Russian prehistory).

We are talking, of course, about the famous White Sea archipelago, famous for its cultural, historical and spiritual and symbolic traditions - the Solovetsky Islands. The name of Solovki is primordially Russian, it contains all the same root base "sol", rooted in the Hyperborean antiquity, when the boundaries between Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages ​​​​were more than blurred. If the toponym "Solovki Islands" is analyzed from the point of view of the archeology of meaning, then the etymology of the name of the islands themselves does not raise any special doubts: it is formed from the words "nightingale", "sun". Initially, perhaps, it sounded like that - the Soloveysky Islands and meant: "Sun fanned" or "Sunny", judging by analogy with the meaning formation of such words as "dry wind" or "blizzard". In ancient times, the solar meaning extended to the vast northern territories. In one of the manuscript Cosmographies of the 17th century, the second name of the Murmansk icy sea (Arctic Ocean) is given - the Solovetsky abyss. There is no doubt that the lands in the middle and along the banks of this Abyss were also called Solovetsky (Soloveysky).

One of the oldest common Indo-European names for the Sun is Kolo (hence the "ring", "wheel" and "bell"). In ancient times, it corresponded to the pagan solar Deity Kolo-Kolyada, in whose honor the caroling holiday (the day of the winter solar solstice) was celebrated and archaic ritual songs - carols were sung ... It was from the name of the ancient Sun God Kolo-Kolyada that the name of the Kola River and the entire Kola Peninsula arose . In other words, the Kola land is the same Sunny land, that is, the Soloveyskaya land.

Maybe just "Islands".

It is well known that Pomors in the description mountainous areas, the names of rivers, valleys, mountains, individual peaks, passes use double words. They consist of combinations of several Sami or Pomeranian words. "Usually the first word is a pure name, for example, by resemblance to some animal, fish, etc., and the second is the definition of the named object - the word "mountain" or "river", and most often it includes a characteristic object." (O. Slavinsky, V. Tsarenkov in the article "Tourist travels around Kola Peninsula"). For example, the words "-yok" - river or "-way" - stream are added to the name of rivers and streams. The word "-vum" - valley is added to the name of the valley, most often along the river flowing along it., to the name islands, the Sami "suol" - island is added.

In the book of prof. Alexandra Minkina"Toponyms of Murman" gives an interpretation of the Saami word "SUOL". "Sulle, suolly, suolle, sylly" are islands, and "Suol, siel, sielai" is an island. "Suolench, suolgish, suolnech" is a small island. Often geographical names with such a sound were changed, turning over time into the modern "SOLO". So, the Sami name of the mountain "Suolovarra" underwent a Russian alteration into Solovarak. A. Minkin writes: "In the phonetic adaptation of this Saami toponym, folk etymology played a significant role, born from the similarity of the Saami word suol - island with the Russian salt. Suolovarra is translated into Russian as Island-varaka, or Island-mountain. And indeed, this varaka stands lonely as an island. And the Russians adapted the first word in the toponym, and replaced the second with Pomeranian, equivalent in meaning to the Sami. "

And further: Lotsia was written in the 30s of the XX century, and then there was the original name - Suolovarak, and now only Solovaraka lives. "Suol's adaptation to Solo is a matter of time." Initially, the locals called the archipelago simply - "ISLANDS" ... "Suolovki", "Suoloveisky". This sound later transformed into "Solovki" and "Solovki".

"SOL-ovki" ... etymologists, however ...

"Today we will introduce you to the book by Mark Kurlansky "Salt. The substance that changed the world." It was published in German by the Munich publishing house Claassen. The author of this book is an American journalist who writes a regular historical column in the New York magazine Food & Wine" - "Food and Wine"...

Continuing on with the etymology...

There were even more “salty” names in Russia: Solikamsk, Usolye, Usolsk, Solvychegodsk, Sol-Galitskaya, and, of course, Solovki. Salt mining in the 15th-17th centuries was the main one in the economy of the Solovetsky Monastery. Yefim Shuman. Salty life. Deutsche Welle, Germany, 04/09/2003)

From the Editor:"We don't understand."

The convicts called Solovki simply "Island"...

"A special escort arrived from the Island - that's what Solovki was then called, just the Island, like the island of Sakhalin - and handed over a short elderly man on crutches in the obligatory Solovetsky pea coat of overcoat cloth, in the same hat with earflaps - a Solovka." (Varlam Shalamov. Kolyma stories. Echo in the mountains. Works in 2 volumes. Volume 1. Publishing house: U-Factoria, 2005)

Pavel Florensky heard another explanation from the convicts... salt!

"Do you know why this island is called Solovki - from salt. In the old days there were salt pans, salt was boiled and traded in it or exchanged for other goods. From this, as they say, the island of Solovetsky began to be called. "(Works. In 4 vols. Vol. 4 Letters from the Far East and Solovki / Comp. and general Ed. Abbot Andronicus (A.S. Trubacheva) P.V. Florensky, M.S. Trubacheva. - M.: Thought, 1998. - Philosophical heritage.)

Solovetsky book catalog:

Solovki and the rest of the world

General information about Solovki

Project "Know the word"

General Slav. SOLOVY- yellowish, grey. The word is derived from the same stem (sol-) as the Old High German "salo" - "dark, dirty", the Middle Irish "salach" - "dirty". (It remains unclear where the ancient Germans or Irish could come from in the Solovki area. Note ed.)

Glossary of the most common Saami physical and geographical terms

A. Minkin gives some of the most common words, possibly associated with Solovki. SULLE, SUOLLY, SUOLLE, SYLLY- islands.
SUOL, SYEL, SYELAY- island.
SUOLENCH, SUOLGISH, SUOLNECH- a small island.

Solovets - a word that is still in use

May 2, 2003 Boris Strugatsky held a press conference, where he was asked a question regarding the Solovetsky Islands: "Tell me, where did Solovets come from? Is this town connected with the city (or village?) of Solovetsky on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea?" The writer replied: "Solovets is, according to the authors' intention, of course, a kind of symbol of the fabulous, epic, Russian North. Its name contains the Solovetsky Islands, and the Nightingale the Robber too. So you are, in general, right."

Solovetsky Deep - Arctic Ocean

"In a number of archaic Russian epics, vague memories of the ancient northern ancestral home have been preserved. So, perhaps, the most mysterious character of the Russian epic Nightingale Budimirovich, whom one of the discoverers of the inexhaustible world of northern epics P.N. deaf sea, because of the Icy Sea, that is, from the side of the Arctic Ocean, called in some ancient Russian Cosmographies the Solovetsky abyss. island. ( Sergei Milin. Volga highway. Nizhny Novgorod. 07.04.2000)

Explanatory dictionary of the Solovetsky people -

The archipelago also includes more than 100 small islands.

The Solovetsky archipelago, as well as the five-kilometer water area of ​​the White Sea, are included in the specially protected area - the Federal State Institution "Solovki State Historical, Architectural and natural museum-reserve". On the Big Solovetsky Island there is a zone of strict conservation.

The average annual relative humidity is 82%, with an average of 37 foggy days annually. The most rainy statistically are August - October (an average of 5 days per month with heavy or prolonged rains), the least rainy - May - June (2-3 days).

Due to the slow warming and cooling of the sea, seasonal changes in the archipelago occur later than on the mainland. On average, the delay of the seasons is two to three weeks. In winter, the sea forms a four- or five-kilometer fast ice line. On March 30, 2002, with the help of a satellite, the presence of a continuous ice cover was once recorded, which connected the mainland with the islands.

The water temperature of the White Sea near the coast in summer can reach 18-20 °C. The summer water temperature in the southern part of the White Sea is higher than in its northern part; in mid-autumn, the water temperature in both parts of the sea is the same. In the second half of June the temperature sea ​​water at a depth of up to 8.4 m lies within + 3.4 and + 4.75 °, in mid-August - 8.4-8.9 °, and in the last ten days of August, the temperature of sea water on the sea surface (and near its coast ) is equal to 8°.

Nature

Flora

Most of the islands are covered with pine-spruce forests, partially swampy. In the coastal strip, rich plantations of algae are observed, among them kelp, fucus, ahnfeltia, which are of industrial importance.

Botanical Garden

More than 190 species of birds were observed on Solovki at different times, not all of them nest on the islands. On the Solovetsky Islands, ornithologists found nests of the following birds: gull, sandpiper, Atlantic guillemot, eider, merganser, tern, mallard, loon, turukhtan, ptarmigan, goldeneye, thrush, brambling, titmouse, woodpecker, oatmeal, capercaillie, crossbill, hazel grouse, hawk owl.

Beluga whales live off the coast of the Solovetsky Islands.

Near the Solovetsky archipelago, the White Sea beluga whale (D. l. maris-albi Ostroumov, 1935) lives - the smallest of all beluga whales living in Russia, its body length is 312 cm. In addition to the White Sea, this species of beluga whales is found only in the Barents Sea. The Solovetsky herd consists of about 80 individuals and lives mainly in western coasts Big Solovetsky Island - in the area of ​​Cape Beluga. In 2001, in order to protect this species, a "Decree on the introduction of a ban on navigation of vessels of any class in the area of ​​​​Cape Beluga and restriction of visits to its coastal zone" was issued.

Story

The first traces of man

The first settlements on the Solovetsky archipelago arose in the III millennium BC. e. These were the sites of ancient fishermen and hunters on about. Anzer, possibly belonging to representatives of the archaeological culture of Komsa.

16th century

17th century

In the 17th century The Solovetsky Monastery participated in hostilities, and was also used as a place of exile for prisoners, mainly for political reasons. In 1637, by order of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the governor was recalled from Solovki, and his functions were transferred to the abbot of the monastery. Thus, the abbot of the monastery led the defense of the Western White Sea. In 1668, detachments of archers were sent to Solovki, who were called upon to expel monks from the monastery who refused to recognize the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, supporters of "peaceful standing for the faith" were expelled from the monastery in 1669. In 1675, an unsuccessful assault was made by the archers, but on January 22, 1676, the Solovetsky Monastery was taken, and its leaders were executed. This event was called "Solovki uprising".

18th century

In the XVIII century. the monastery was repeatedly visited by Peter I, including with a squadron of newly built ships. A number of secularization measures were carried out in relation to the monastery. At the end of the XVIII century. The first printed work on the history of the Solovetsky Monastery, the Chronicler of Solovetsky, is published.

19th century

The bombardment of the Solovetsky Monastery by two British ships in 1854. In the background, the outlines of the Solovetsky Monastery and the Bay of Prosperity are visible.

On the site of the monastery, the Solovki state farm and a forced labor camp were organized. Since 1923, one of the first concentration camps for opponents of Soviet power, the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp, was located on Solovki. In 1937 it was reorganized into a prison. In 1939, the prison on Solovki was liquidated, the archipelago was transferred to the Northern Fleet, and a training detachment of the Northern Fleet was organized on the islands.

Solovetsky rural settlement

View of the cattle yards in the village of Solovetsky (photo taken on Sivko Street).

Message via local airlines depends on weather conditions. Strong winds, high cloud cover, low visibility and some other weather events can cut off the islands from the mainland (at least by air) for an indefinite period.

water communication

Postcard from the end of the 19th century. depicts a view of the Solovetsky Monastery from the Bay of Prosperity.

Regular water communication between the Solovetsky Islands and the mainland is carried out through the village of Rabocheostrovsk (actually the port of Kemi), as well as through Belomorsk.

Small boats run between Kemyu and Solovki, belonging to the Solovetsky Monastery, the Solovetsky Museum and private individuals (these are the ships Stvor, Tuman, Saint Nicholas, etc.). The Solovetsky Hotel regularly charters the motor ship "Vasily Kosyakov" with a capacity of up to 100 people, which makes regular flights to Solovki from Rabocheostrovsk. As a rule, navigation on the White Sea opens in early June. With sea waves exceeding 4 points, water communication with the Solovetsky Islands is impossible. Daily water communication with Belomorsk is carried out on a three-deck ship "Sapphire", with a capacity of up to 250 people.

Water vessels moor to the Solovetsky shores in the Bay of Prosperity, on the Heta pier, and also on the Tamarin pier. The shores of the islands are strongly indented, at the bottom there is a large number of stones protruding and not protruding above the surface of the water, this makes it difficult to navigate off the coast.

There are also cruise lines. Two river cruise ships can pass through the White Sea Canal and the White Sea directly to Solovki. These are the ships "Mamin-Sibiryak" and "Belinsky". Every year in June - August they make cruises twice a month along the route Moscow - Solovki - Moscow, staying on Solovki for a day. Other ships, passing through the White Sea Canal, moor in Sosnovets. Tourists of cruise flights are offered a transfer to Belomorsk with subsequent boarding of the ship "Sapphire", next to Solovki.

Roads

st. Sivko. A view of the Holy Lake and the Solovetsky Monastery opens.

Solovki. Dam on Muksalma

The man-made dam leading to the island of Muksalma, about 4 km long, speaks of the titanic work done by the monks in the old days.

There are no paved roads on Solovki, average speed vehicle movement does not exceed 10 km/h. The main transport is PAZ and KAVZ buses, museum-owned, monastery, private and municipal trucks (GAZ-66, GAZ-63, ZIL-130, ZIL-131, ZIL-157, KAMAZ-4310, KAMAZ-5511, Ural-4320), as well as private all-wheel drive minibuses or UAZ SUVs ; private individuals own cars cross-country ability "Niva", LuAZ, "Zaporozhets", Chevrolet-Niva, Toyota. Many locals, especially younger ones, have motorbikes. By local residents and tourists actively use the bike. On Anzer it is the most common type of transport, there are also horse-drawn carts and 1 tractor.

There are several streets in the village of Solovetsky. Among them, the most significant are the following: Sivko street, Severnaya, Zaozyornaya, Primorskaya streets and Pavel Florensky street.

healthcare

In the village of Solovetsky there is a hospital, which is located in a dilapidated stone building near the monastery. There was a project that proposed to build a two-story hospital with 100 beds, but the project was never realized. There is a pharmacy in the hospital building.

Electricity

Currently, all electricity in Solovki is generated by a diesel power plant, which negatively affects the safety of natural and cultural sites. The development of the project "Environmentally friendly energy supply in Solovki" is underway. This project is carried out by the Norwegian company "Troms Craft" (according to the "Cooperation Agreement between the administration of the Arkhangelsk region and the province of Troms"). The project implies that the main source of energy in Solovki should be a powerful wind farm (with a capacity of 5 MW), but today it is not possible to completely abandon diesel fuel. Russian experts believe that such an idea cannot be implemented due to insufficient wind speed on the Solovetsky Islands.

Education

In the village of Solovetsky there is a secondary school. Also on the territory of the Solovetsky archipelago, the Solovetsky Islands educational center was organized, which consists of a summer university, a summer cultural and environmental school, a summer craft school, a volunteer agency, and an open-air center.

The Summer University manages students' summer internships, organizes scientific research on the Solovki theme, corporate educational programs for advanced training, professional trainings, conferences, seminars, symposiums, business meetings. The Summer School of Crafts carries out scientific, methodological and coordination activities to organize a system of master classes and demonstrations of craft technologies. On the basis of the summer cultural and ecological school, popular science lectures by the workers of the Solovetsky Museum-Reserve and guests of the island, thematic conversations, meetings with interesting people, creative associations of interest are held.

Hotels

All hotels and rooms in the private sector are located in the village of Solovetsky. Tents on the territory of the archipelago can only be set up after agreement with local authorities in a specially equipped tent city. Apart from tent city, there are several hotels: "Shelter", "Solovki-Hotel", "Solo", tourist complex "Solovki", "Green Village", "Prichal", "Petersburgskaya".

UNESCO heritage

Solovetsky labyrinths

Most great importance(as an archaeological monument) have Solovetsky labyrinths. In general, about 40 labyrinths were found on the shores of the White Sea, of which more than 30 are on the Solovetsky Islands of the Arkhangelsk region, on Novaya Zemlya, several monuments in Murmansk region at the mouth of the Ponoi River, near the city of Kandalaksha and the village of Umba. Three labyrinths were found on the territory of Karelia, one in the Chupinsky Bay and two on the Kuzov archipelago.

Labyrinths on the Big Zayatsky Island.

Church of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, 18th century. Brand, 2009

There is also evidence that stone labyrinths once existed at the mouths of the Kem and Keret rivers.

The beginning of the study of the labyrinths of the North was laid by the prisoner of the SLON N. N. Vinogradov back in the 1920s. The first description of the Solovetsky labyrinths is found in the description of the monastery, compiled by Archimandrite Dositheus:

On Zayatsky Island, near which the Russian fleet was stationed, the Sovereign ordered (Peter I) build wooden church in the name of the holy Apostle Andrew. Also, not far from this church, a Babylon, or labyrinth, was laid out on the ground in two rows of cobblestones, which is still visible.

Other sources claim that Peter I had nothing to do with the construction of labyrinths.

The exact purpose of stone labyrinths, which are found everywhere in the North (most in Scandinavia), is not known. However, most archaeologists associate labyrinths with the cult of the dead. This is confirmed by some facts, including the fact that on the Big Zayatsky Island, archaeologists found burnt human bones and stone tools under stone heaps. Mariusz Wilk, in The Wolf Notebook, claims that the Sami believed in the transmigration of souls after death to neighboring islands- islands of the Kuzov archipelago. According to Wilk, labyrinths are needed so that the soul cannot return from the heavenly afterlife to the world of the living - with such a return, the soul must get lost in the labyrinth and return back to Kuzov.

The exact time of the construction of labyrinths on the Solovetsky Islands is still unknown, but most scientists attribute them to the 1st-2nd centuries BC. BC e. Today, labyrinths like the ancient ones have been built. These labyrinths are located in the southern part of the Big Solovetsky Island on the coast of the White Sea.

Monastery

The wall of the Solovetsky Monastery is built of boulders, between which there are bricks.

The Solovetsky Monastery is located on the isthmus between the Holy Lake and the Bay of Prosperity on the Big Solovetsky Island. The date of foundation of the monastery is considered to be 1436 - the time of the appearance of the Monk Zosima on Solovki. Before the modern stone monastery was built, there were wooden buildings of the 15th - early 16th centuries. Architectural ensemble monastery includes: Solovetsky Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, Annunciation gate church, monastery fortress, buildings of the monastery settlement and sketes, unique system hydraulic structures and some other buildings.

The territory of the monastery is surrounded by massive walls (height - from 8 to 11 meters, thickness - from 4 to 6 meters) with 7 gates and 8 towers, built in -1594 under the guidance of the architect Tryphon. The walls are built of huge stones up to 5 meters in size. On the territory of the monastery there are religious buildings connected by covered passages, surrounded by residential and utility rooms.

The Solovetsky Monastery ceased to function as a religious building with the advent of Soviet power and a special purpose camp on Solovki (in 1920), but on October 25, 1990, it resumed its activities.

Conclusion on Solovki

Monastery as a prison

The first prisoner on Solovki (whose imprisonment was officially documented) was hegumen Artemy, who opposed the church nobility and church land ownership. The abbot was condemned by the Church gathering in