View source for Solovetsky Islands

{{Short description|Archipelago in the Onega Bay}}
{{Use mdy dates|date= December 2011}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = Solovetsky Islands
| image_name       = Бухта Кислая.jpg
| image_caption    = Kislaya Bay of [[Bolshoy Solovetsky Island]]
| image_size       = 250px
| map_image        = White Sea map.png
| map_size         = 250px
| map_caption      = Map of the White Sea showing the Solovetsky Islands
| native_name      = 
| native_name_link = 
| location         = [[Onega Bay]], [[White Sea]]
| coordinates      = {{Coord|65|05|N|35|53|E|type:isle|display=title,inline}}
| archipelago      = 
| total_islands    = 
| major_islands    = 
| area_km2         = 347
| length_km        = 
| width_km         = 
| coastline_km     = 
| highest_mount    = 
| elevation_m      = 
| country          = Russia
| country_admin_divisions_title     = [[Federal subjects of Russia|Oblast]]
| country_admin_divisions           = [[Arkhangelsk Oblast]]
| country_capital_and_largest_city  = [[Solovetsky, Arkhangelsk Oblast|Solovetsky]]
| population        = 861
| population_as_of  = 2010
| density_km2       = 
| ethnic_groups     = 
| website           =
| module            = {{designation list | embed=yes
   | designation1 = WHS
   | designation1_offname = Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands
   | designation1_date = [[List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription#1992 (16th session)|1992]] <small>(16th [[World Heritage Committee |session]])</small>
   | designation1_type = Cultural
   | designation1_criteria = iv
   | designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/632 632]
   | designation1_free1name = Region
   | designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Europe|Europe and North America]]
   }}
}}

The '''Solovetsky Islands''' ({{lang-rus|Соловецкие острова|p=səlɐˈvʲetskʲɪj ɐstrɐˈva}}), or '''Solovki''' ({{lang-rus|Соловки|p=səlɐfˈkʲi}}), are an archipelago located in the [[Onega Bay]] of the [[White Sea]], [[Russia]]. As an [[subdivisions of Russia#Administrative divisions|administrative division]], the islands are incorporated as [[Solovetsky District]] of [[Arkhangelsk Oblast]], [[Russia]].<ref name="ArkhangelskO_adm">Law #65-5-OZ</ref> Within the [[subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions| framework of municipal divisions]], they are incorporated as Solovetskoye Rural Settlement within [[Primorsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast| Primorsky Municipal District]].<ref name="ArkhangelskO_mun">Law #258-vneoch.-OZ</ref> The [[administrative center]] of both divisions is the settlement of [[Solovetsky, Arkhangelsk Oblast| Solovetsky]], located on Bolshoy Solovetsky Island. Almost all of the population of the islands lives in Solovetsky. As of the [[Russian Census (2010) |2010 Census]], the district had a population of 861&nbsp;inhabitants.<ref name="2010Census">{{ru-pop-ref| 2010Census}}</ref>

The [[Solovetsky Monastery]] (founded in 1436), in 1923 became the site of the first [[Gulag]] establishment, the [[Solovki prison camp]].

==Geography==
The [[archipelago]] has a total area of {{convert|347|km2|sp=us}} and consists of six islands:
[[File:Barents old.jpg|thumb|left|A 1570 map by [[Abraham Ortelius]] shows the location of "Salofki".]]

* [[Bolshoy Solovetsky Island]], {{convert|246|km2|abbr=on}}
* [[Anzersky Island]] (Anzer), {{convert|47|km2|abbr=on}}
* [[Bolshaya Muksalma]], {{convert|17|km2|abbr=on}}
* Malaya Muksalma {{convert|0.57|km2|abbr=on}}
* [[Bolshoy Zayatsky Island]], {{convert|1.25|km2|abbr=on}}
* Maly Zayatsky, {{convert|1.02|km2|abbr=on}}

The islands separate the Onega Bay from the main volume of the [[White Sea]]. The closest mainland is the [[Onega Peninsula]].

The shores of the islands are very indented. They are formed of [[granite]]s and [[gneiss]]. The [[relief]] of the islands is hilly (the highest point is 107&nbsp;m). Most of the Solovetsky Islands are covered with [[Scots Pine]] and [[Norway Spruce]] forests, which are partially [[swamp]]y. There are numerous lakes, which were joined by monks so as to form a network of canals.

One interesting feature of these islands is stone labyrinths and other stone settings, especially the [[Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island]]. Such labyrinths were typical for [[Northern Europe]], but most have perished and now Solovetsky Islands have some of the best remaining examples.

==Monastery==
{{Main article|Solovetsky Monastery}}

Historically the islands have been the setting of the famous [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Russian Orthodox]] [[Solovetsky Monastery]] complex. It 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, the abbey had emerged as one of the wealthiest landowners and most influential religious centres in Russia.

[[File:Соловецкий монастырь.jpg|thumb|left|Ensemble of Solovetsky Monastery]]

The existing stronghold and its major churches were erected in stone during the early reign of [[Ivan the Terrible]] at the behest of St. [[Metropolitan Philip|Philip of Moscow]]. At the onset of the [[Raskol|Schism of the Russian Church]], the monks staunchly stuck to the faith of their fathers and expelled the tsar's representatives from the Solovki, precipitating the [[Solovetsky Monastery Uprising|eight-year-long siege of the islands]] by the forces of [[Alexis of Russia|Tsar Alexis]].

[[File:The British Attack of Solovetsky Monastery.jpg|thumb|right|"Bombardment of the [[Solovetsky Monastery]] by the [[Royal Navy]] during the [[Crimean War]]". A ''[[lubok]]'' (popular print) from 1868.]]

Throughout the imperial period of Russian history, the monastery was renowned as a strong fortress which repelled foreign attacks during the [[Livonian War]] (16th century), [[Time of Troubles]] (17th century), the [[Crimean War]] (19th century), and the [[Russian Civil War]] (20th century).

In 1974, the Solovetsky Islands were designated a historical and architectural [[museum]] and a [[natural reserve]] of the [[Soviet Union]]. In 1992, they were inscribed on the [[World Heritage List]] "as an outstanding example of a monastic settlement in the inhospitable environment of northern Europe which admirably illustrates the faith, tenacity, and enterprise of later medieval religious communities".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/632/|title=Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=10 August 2011}}</ref> Today, the Solovki are seen as one of the major tourist magnets in the orbit of the [[Northwest Russia|Russian North]].{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}

==Labor camp==
{{Main article|Solovki prison camp}}
[[File:GulagMemorial.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial to the victims of political repression in the USSR in Saint Petersburg, made of a boulder from the Solovetsky Islands]]

After the [[October Revolution]], the islands attained notoriety as the site of the first Soviet prison camp ([[gulag]]).<ref>{{cite book| author=Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn| title=The Gulag Archipelago | publisher=Collins & Harvill Press| date=1975| page=Vol. 2, Part III, Chapter 2}}</ref> The camp was inaugurated in 1921, while [[Vladimir Lenin]] was still at the helm of Soviet Russia. It was closed in 1939, on the eve of [[World War II]]. By the beginning of the war, there was a naval cadet training camp for the [[Soviet Northern Fleet]].

==Transportation==
The islands are served by the [[Solovki Airport]]. There is regular air service to Arkhangelsk, as well as [[ferry]] lines (summertime only) to Arkhangelsk, [[Kem, Russia|Kem]], and [[Belomorsk]].

==See also==
* [[List of islands of Russia]]

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{RussiaAdmMunRef|ark|adm|law}}
* {{RussiaAdmMunRef|ark|mun|list}}

==Further reading==
* Brumfield, William. ''Solovki: Architectural Heritage in Photographs'' (Moscow: Tri Kvadrata, 2008). {{ISBN|978-5-94607-052-2}}. {{oclc|255613915}}. In English and in Russian.
* Robson, Roy. ''Solovki: The Story of Russia Told Through Its Most Remarkable Islands'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008). {{ISBN|9780300129601}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Solovki}}

{{World Heritage Sites in Russia|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Solovetsky Islands| ]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Arkhangelsk Oblast]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Arctic Ocean]]
[[Category:Geography of Gulag]]
[[Category:Islands of the White Sea]]
[[Category:Russian and Soviet Navy bases]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Russia]]