July 15 Solovetsky Islands

On the map we went up, around and down from Murmansk into the White Sea.  We're here to visit Solovetsky Island.  Founded as a monastery in the 15th century, it became a gulag in the 20th century when Lenin/Stalin needed a place to isolate his enemies.  During its tenure as a prison camp more than a million prisoners died.

This is the only tender port on this segment of our cruise.  Nice flat seas, but COLD.  Sitting in the open door (to get the fresh air and see the horizon) was a challenge.

 Very Russian, very Orthodox Church.

 This was also a fortress with very thick walls and defensive towers at the corners.

 About a thousand people live here year round, with many more in the summer. Wood houses

 A well insulated pet

 Ancient cemetery for the monks.  The political prisoners were buried in mass graves.

 We visited the gulag museum.  A Cyrillic typewriter!

 Typical shoes for the prisoner.  In the winter it gets to -40 (both F and C).

 Lots of trees for the prisoners to cut down

 picture for the family

 Back inside the fortress to visit the monastery

The monk's refectory, one of the few heated buildings in the monastery.

The funniest thing on the island, a sundial.  For 6 months of the year there is no sun, and in the height of summer we have low clouds and fog.  I imagine this would work about 2 days a year.

 There are several churches within the monastery.

 behind the golden doors is for men only

 This is a gun embrasure in the fortress

 Between towers there is a covered walkway.

 The inside of one of the towers, with cannon to defend the fort.

 The fortress was bombarded Curing the Crimean War.  Since the walls are 5 meters thick, no damage was done.  The black circles mark places where cannonballs hit.

 The monastery had a prison that preceded the gulag by centuries.  Not a nice place to stay either.

 A parting view of Solovetsky monastery as we return to the ship.