Plants of the Solovetsky Islands. Solovetsky Island and its attractions

The Solovetsky Islands are a unique place. On a small archipelago, a unique natural, historical and cultural complex has developed, 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 formation Of the White Sea when, after the melting of a large glacier, there was a compensatory rise of the ground. 2/3 of the entire area of the archipelago is occupied by Bolshoy Solovetsky Island.

The archipelago is located in the taiga zone. The landscapes of the islands are unusually picturesque and varied: high hills give way to lakes, flowering meadows - to vast swamps. 70% of the area is covered with forests, mainly spruce and pine. Tundra complexes account for about 5% of the area. Dry crowned tundras are characteristic of the coastal zone, where they are followed by a strip of crooked birch forests (meandering 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 islands are bogs with a predominance of upstream and transitional species. Such a wide range of landscapes, presented on an area of only about 300 km², is one of the amazing natural features Solovetsky archipelago.

There are more than 550 lakes on the islands. They vary in size, shape, origin, water color, but all 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 islands such as:

Solovetsky (Bolshoy Solovetsky) - 218.72 km²;
Anzersky - 47.11 km²;
Big Muksalma - 18.96 km²;
Malaya Muksalma - 1.2 km²;
Bolshoy Zayatsky - 1.25 km²;
Maly Zayatsky - 1.1 km².

Story

The history of the Solovetsky Islands begins with their development by man in the late Mesolithic era. In the III millennium BC. sea hunters and fishermen discovered the Solovetsky Islands and began their development, which continued until the Middle Ages. On Solovki, numerous traces of their economic, utilitarian and cult activities have been discovered: more than 20 settlements, sites and workshops, four sanctuaries in a complex 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 lacustrine-forest game, fishing, coastal gathering, and the manufacture of stone implements. Collections of arrows, darts, hunting anchors, ceramics, a unique iconic drilled ax and many other items were discovered at their sites. The ancient inhabitants of the archipelago were engaged in the construction of stone labyrinths, in which they built sanctuaries.

Founding of the stavropegic male Solovetsky monastery

Solovetsky Island became the place of foundation male monastery in the 30s of the 15th century by immigrants from Kirillo-Belozersky and monks Savvaty, German and Zosima as the abode of the "Savior and the Wonderworker Nicholas". During the XV-XVI centuries. the monastery gradually expanded, acquiring into its possession the large islands of the archipelago.

By the end of the 15th century, the monks had erected three wooden churches: the 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 Abbot Philip (Kolychev), reformer, architect, energetic and talented business executive. Roads were built here in the 1550s and 1560s, but a “dairy 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 with drinking canals. For defense in 1582-1594 a stone fortification wall with towers and gates was erected. The Annunciation (Gateway) Church was built in 1596-1600.

Throughout the 17th century, the Solovetsky Monastery continues 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 1917 revolution, began to form new Russia... 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 state farm "Solovki" was organized, which existed until 1923. The establishment of a state farm did not mean the elimination of monasticism. About 200 monks were freelance 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 the Kholmogorsk, Pertomin and Arkhangelsk, the Solovetsky camps were one of the largest in Russia. The composition of the prisoners in the ELEPHANT changed at different times. Among them were representatives of the Russian aristocracy, the church, the intelligentsia, all pre-revolutionary political parties, criminal elements convicted of domestic affairs, representatives of national parties and many others.

Among those exiled to the ELEPHANT were figures of science and culture, writers, poets, religious figures of Russia: professor, art critic 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, encyclopedic scientist D.A. Florensky and others.

Sights of the historical and cultural complex

The historical and cultural complex of the Solovetsky Islands is one of a kind, unique in the integrity and completeness of ensembles and complexes preserved in it, cult, 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 the whole of the Russian North.

The constituent parts of the historical and cultural complex of the Solovetsky archipelago are:

Monastery-fortress of the 15th-20th centuries, a former monastery settlement of the 16th-20th centuries, hermitages and deserts of the 16th-20th centuries;
Fishing huts, island hydraulic engineering and irrigation systems;
Complexes "sanctuary-parking" III-I millennia BC on B. Zayatsky and Anzersky Islands;
Groups of memorial buildings for the Solovetsky special-purpose camp of 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, vivid individual appearance of many buildings and, at the same time, by the integrity of all its parts.

Other sights

Archaeological and historical sites and almost all the Solovetsky Islands are famous for their amazing objects. Points of interest are located on the following islands:

Anzersky: Trinity Skete (XVII), Trinity Church (1880-1884), Golgotha-Crucifixion Skete (XIX).
Bolshoi Zayatsky: Zayatsky (Andreevsky) skete (XVI), boulder harbor, Stone harbor (XVI), St. Andrew's Church.
Bolshaya Muksalma: Sergiev Skete (XVI), a boulder dam connecting Muksalma with the Great Solovetsky Island (XIX).

Flora

The labyrinths of the Solovetsky Islands are home to 500 plant species. Among the natural-territorial island complexes there are habitats for endangered and rare plant species. Scientists are engaged in their study, preservation and augmentation. Arriving on the island, you need to take good care of the local flora, because an unusual plucked flower may turn out to be a rare species. The following representatives of the flora need special protection: common wolfberry, two-leaved lyubka, spotted orchis, male duckweed, broadleaf orchis, Siberian pine, northern girch, recumbent lauzeleuria, arctic marine 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 fauna, due to the insular position of the Solovki and the northern location of the archipelago, does not differ in a large variety of mammals. Two of them appeared here thanks to man. These are the reindeer, introduced to the islands in the 16th century, and the muskrat, which appeared here in the 1920s.

The avifauna of the islands is richer in the number of species. Almost 200 species of birds have been recorded on Solovki. Among them there are the "Red Book" ones: white-tailed eagle, osprey, shelby, puffin. One of the largest polar tern colonies in Europe and the largest black gull colony in Russia are of exceptional interest. The greatest variety of species, the Solovetsky Island stands out.

Among marine mammals, the ringed seal, beluga whale, sea hare and harp seal are widespread in coastal waters. On the coast of Anzer Island, massive pinnipeds lie down, and herds of beluga whales, up to several hundred individuals, approach the western part of Bolshoy Solovetsky Island.

Ecotourism

The archipelago is of great interest to people who love nature. Not only for the sake of visiting the famous monastery, tourists come to the Solovetsky Islands. The sights of nature are also worth seeing. Amazingly diverse landscapes will allow you to wander through the taiga in a compact territory, enjoy the green of meadows and the beauty of lakes, and observe the animal world.

The archipelago's bays are inimitable. The most beautiful, with many small islands, Dolgaya Guba is a unique reservoir inhabited by relict Arctic invertebrates, representing an almost closed ecosystem. The Trinity Bay is beautiful, cutting the Anzersky Island almost 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 keen on their native nature are strongly advised 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 the seasons. In winter, movement is very limited, an ordinary tourist can get to the islands only by air from Arkhangelsk:

From the airport "Talagi" on Tuesdays and Sundays a plane of the airline "Nord Avia" (AN-24) flies. Flight time is 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 are also opened at this time.

It is recommended to get from the regions to Arkhangelsk by plane or train. Local roads will be a real challenge for vehicles. As in winter, you can get to Solovki by air. Flights from Talagi airport (NordAvia) operate on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. From Vaskovo (2nd AOAO) - on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

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

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

Geography

1. Solovki are fairly young islands. They appeared after glaciation retreated 12 thousand years ago. The glaciers are gone, and the stones, sand and soil they brought back remain.

2. There are no rivers on the Solovki and almost no springs. 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 Solovki territory is occupied by a real swamp.

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

5. Out of 50 stone labyrinths found on the territory of 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, "Babylon" are associated with the cult of the dead. The soul trapped in the center of the labyrinth can no longer go outside.

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

Biology

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

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

3. There are kelp plantations on Solovki. Locals consume these algae for food, as well as dry them, make cosmetics and medicinal fees for sale.

4. Solovki are known for their "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, take on such bizarre shapes.

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

History and Monastery

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

2. The first monks settled on 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. At the same time, the thickness of the monastery walls 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 to 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. Large and small circles of the lake-channel system have survived to this day and are used for boat trips. It takes at least 10 hours to make the trip around the big 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 have lasted longer - the monastery was well defended and possessed large reserves of food. But in 1676, one of the defectors helped the streltsy 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 Bolshoy 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 supply the 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, from which heat came through pipes from a wax factory.

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

14. The Solovetsky Monastery had its own hydroelectric power plant. 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" (started sailing in 1862) and "Nadezhda" (launched in 1863) and could carry up to 500 passengers per flight. Later, the monastery acquired two more ships: the steamship "Solovetsky" and "Mikhail Archangel".

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

17. Bolshoi Solovetsky Island and Bolshaya Muksalma Island are connected by a dam. It was founded 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 structure collapsed and sank into the water.

Solovki as a prison

2. In the XVI - XIX 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 systematically exiled. On November 2, an ELEPHANT was established - the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp.

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

5. On Solovki there was Railway... It was built in 1923 for quick access to Filimonovskiy peat extraction sites. Despite the closure of the narrow-gauge railway in 1932, its individual sections have survived to this day.

Pilgrimage and Solovki

1. More than 20,000 tourists visit Solovki every year. Most of them are pilgrims.

2. In the Solovetsky Monastery, Orthodox relics are kept, which thousands of pilgrims come to worship every year. Among them: the white stone cross of Savvaty of Solovetsky, the Bogolyubskaya icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, with the forthcoming saints Zosima and Savvaty and the brethren of the monastery, the phelonion of the Monk Zosima, part of the wooden shrine of the Monk Savvaty and many other relics.

3. In pre-revolutionary times on Solovki, monks lived not only in the monastery. All over the island were scattered many hermits, where hermits settled. Such monks were called "Solovetsky hermits", among them were Elder Ephraim Cherny, Alexy Kaluzhanin, Tikhon Moskvitin, Joseph I, Joseph II Young, Feodul Ryazanets, Tryphon, Sevastian, monk Porfiry. Today these hermits are revered as the Solovetsky 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 known case when the Monk Irinarchus, the deceased abbot of the monastery, appeared to the laity in order to protect them from death in the ice.

5. On August 21, on Solovki, the transfer of the relics of the Monks Zosima, Savvaty and Herman, the Solovetsky miracle workers, is celebrated. Their tomb was damaged during a strong fire in 1694, but the bodies of the saints were not damaged. In the same year, the 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 controversy. In works on toponymy of the White Sea, the origin of the name "Solovki" from the Finnish word "suol" - "island" is indicated. English travelers of the 16th century T. Southam and J. Spark call the Solovetsky Island "Abdon". Historians believe that this is either a distortion of the word "aidoni" - a nightingale, or "abdon" - remote, hidden. There is another version, according to which the Solovetsky Islands are called so, because here they fished together, co-fished.

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 ride around Solovki by car. But not fast - the cobblestone pavement in the village and the absence of a normal road outside of it can break the suspension of almost any car. Therefore, the most popular means of transport in Solovki are SUVs, bicycles and all-terrain vehicles, from factory to self-made ones.

4. On Solovki there is a Maritime Museum, in the dock of which, since 2003, work has been carried out on the reconstruction of the famous sovereign yacht "St. 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 Bolshoy Solovetsky Island; it receives three flights a week from Arkhangelsk. There are regular sea connections with the islands, there are even flights from Moscow.

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

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

8. Strange as it may seem, beluga whales can be watched at Cape Beluzhi. Near Solovki, the smallest (only 3 meters long) species of beluga live - the White Sea. V summer season the animals come quite close to the shore, where they can be viewed and photographed without much difficulty. Another thing is that getting to the cape is not easy - the road is very swampy, part of it runs along a swampy beach that floods at high tide. But enterprising locals can take you to your destination in their all-terrain vehicle, not free of charge, of course, but brightening up the road with a story about the habits of beluga whales.

"Yesterday I walked a little along a snowy field. Under the setting sun, the snow was as if showered with rose petals ... The snowy surface was speckled with traces of living creatures - footprints of some birds, with furrows stretching from the tail, dimples of hares, foxes, and some other then beasts. The sky, as often on Solovki, burned with all colors. " (Florensky Pavel. Letters from Of the Far East and Solovkov. 1937.IV.4 No. 97. M .: Thought, 1998.)

Solovki's nature is threatened by chemical weapons

Lev Fedorov: "In the Baltic Sea in 1947 ... chemical weapons that ended up in the Soviet zone of occupation ... They were really sunk in the Baltic Sea, near the Danish shores ... There is, after all, 100 m depth, where it was flooded in the Baltic Sea And our, Russian chemical weapons, created by our own hands and sunk by our own hands near Solovki at a depth of 50 m, so no one asks, no one ever, because the Ministry of Defense is hiding it from us. ( Lev Fedorov, Professor. Radio "Echo of Moscow", 08.08.2001).

Sensation! Solovki!

Reporter Notes

"... the population of the islands did not always exist in harmony with environment, but natural factors were taken into account in their life. Nature not only organically entered the rhythm of monastic life, but also sheltered the hermits from the bustle of the world ... It was possible to survive here only by finding a fundamentally different ... way of managing. Even the traditional crafts of the White Sea needed a significant restructuring ... so, saving the forests, they stopped on the islands, The monks, who did not know such words, were well aware of the vulnerability of the island ecosystem. All Solovetsky was given special value. Even a purely selfish measure, the collection of a tenth share by the monastery from the crafts carried out in Solovki by the inhabitants of the mainland, can be considered as an environmental measure limiting the seizure of natural resources ... ( Asef Jafarli. Feature of the Solovetsky hunt. The magazine "Culture". Moscow. 04/16/1998)

Which for forty years made up the history of the Solovetsky camp.

Solovetsky chanterelle

Russian writer Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn in his novel "The Gulag Archipelago" gave a brief description of the nature of the Solovetsky archipelago. There is no doubt that the four inaccuracies contained in this short passage of text do not play any role in the reading of the great novel. We mention them only as an interesting episode from Solovetsky life.

"Natural" inaccuracies in the text of the great novel

Alexander Solzhenitsyn:“Without us, these islands rose from the sea, without us they filled up with two hundred fish lakes, without us they settled in wood grouses, hares, deer, and foxes, wolves and other predatory animals were never here.

Glaciers came and went, granite boulders pressed around the lakes; the lakes froze on a Solovetsky winter night, the sea roared from the wind and was covered with ice sludge, and where it seized; the polar lights blazed in half the sky; and it brightened again, and warmed again, and the spruce grew and thickened, birds cackled and cried, young deer trumpeted - the planet with the whole history of the world was spinning, kingdoms fell and arose, but here there were still no beasts of prey and there was no man. "

This text of the novel "The Gulag Archipelago" about the nature of the Solovki contains four inaccuracies:

(a) ... foxes ... and there has never been another predatory animal here ...

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was wrong - there is a predator on the islands, and this predator is a fox. This is how the great Russian poet Nikolai Klyuev describes the morning in Solovki: “And in Solovki I lived twice ... I lived for a long time in a hut by the lake, ate what God sent: blueberries, saffron milk caps; wild swans swam up to the very window, they took bread crusts from their hands; the fox got into the habit of running under the window, wakes up every dawn, there is no need to wait for the bell. "

"Behind the lake there is a road to Golgotha. A shady road, through every mile a lake, in the lake there is a blue sky or a bright sunrise-sunset. Sunrise-sunset. Exactly: sunrise-sunset. For the sun is flowing bloodily in the west and, look, is already feeling golden tentacles of the tops of the forest and the abdomen of flying birds. On the lakes, in the green thickets, a crumbly duck "Cree" rushes. Here a fox crossed the road, wagging an ore plume of a huge tail. surrendering themselves to blizzards and storms, - Golgotha monastery. And in the greenery near the white walls, people swarm like lice. " ( Zwibelfish. On an island in Anzer. The journal "Solovetsky Islands", No. 7, 07.1926. P.3-9).

“In 2002, being on the Big Hare Island, I dreamed of photographing a hare. There are many of them, and they are very large - noble beasts. However, although I saw them, I could not photograph a single one. Imagine my surprise when on the path leading to the Holy Spring, I ran into a fox head to head. The fox was also apparently surprised quite strongly, because for a long time we stood and stared at each other. and the fox darted to the side, but I managed to take another picture before she disappeared in the thickets. " (Guiding notes for the very leisurely. Report on the trip to Solovki in September 2006. Part 6. "In the world of animals", Chapter 5. "Foxes, horses". As a manuscript. LiveJournal. New York, USA. 2006)

(b) ... wolves and other predatory animals have never been here ...

There are records that until 1429 there were wolves on the Solovetsky Islands. Here's what happened next. An old legend tells that Saint Zosima of Solovetsky imposed an eternal fast on the Solovetsky land - all the forest creatures should not eat slaughter, and the wolves, which cannot live without hot blood, indicated the way from the island according to his Novgorod custom. The wolves obeyed the words of the saint, settled in the spring on floating ice floes and sailed to the distant Kemsky shore.

But the saint did not impose a spell on the wolves because for the most dangerous northern predator one word of the saint was enough. For 600 years, wolves have bypassed Solovki, and when they happen to be on the islands, not of their own free will, they flee. They say that once on the island of Anzer "... they tried to settle a she-wolf only here to restrict the herd of deer that had taken root since the time of St. Philip (Kolychev), in winter she left and was found on another island, cut by ice floes. The wolf left the island, On the island there is an abundance of mushrooms, northern berries (cloudberries, lingonberries, crowberries, blueberries, blueberries, etc.), excellent fishing grounds, curious seals and no less curious hares, .. "but the abundance of food did not stop the beast from escape - she could not contradict the word of St. Zosima.

(c) ... without us these islands rose from the sea, without us they filled up with two hundred fish lakes ...

Alexander Isaevich was mistaken in estimating the number of lakes - there are almost 2.5 times more of them on the islands, only about 500, and not 200, as the classic writes.

(d) ... without us these islands rose from the sea ... without us they settled in wood grouses, hares, deer ...

In this case, Alexander Solzhenitsyn made a mistake in listing the aboriginal animals. Deer did not populate the islands themselves, but were brought from the mainland and released by monks during the reign of St. Philip (Kolychev). Deer meat was used for food by workers and peasants, and skins were used for making winter clothes and shoes.

There is no data on the state of nature

The first interregional seminar on monitoring the nature of Solovki has come to an end in Solovki. The Monitoring Program for the Solovetsky Archipelago was adopted. This is the first program for the study of the nature of Solovki, developed by the Solovetsky Museum-Reserve and Center " Natural resources North "Pomor University (Arkhangelsk).

"The need to monitor the natural environment of Solovki is obvious: at present there is no complete data on the state of this unique natural complex... This means that it is almost impossible to predict the development of the ecological situation, to determine the limits of anthropogenic pressures on Solovki.

The purpose of monitoring is to create an adequate picture of the state natural heritage Solovkov. The first stage of the program is designed for 2003-2007 ... Scientists from the Pomor University, Arkhangelsk Technical University, Northern Medical University, Arkhangelsk Hydrometeorological Center, Northern Branch of the Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (SevPINRO) took part in the discussion of the program together with the Solovetsky Museum-Reserve. , The Arkhangelsk forestry expedition, the Solovetsky branch of the White Sea biological station of Moscow State University, as well as representatives of the Solovetsky district administration.

At the seminar, it was decided to exchange the results annually. Thus, each participant in the Program will have a complete picture of the monitoring progress and the environmental situation in Solovki. A coordinating council will be created within the framework of the program. The Solovetsky Museum-Reserve undertook to form a unified database of research results ... It is planned that students and young scientists will take part in the Monitoring Program within the framework of the Solovetsky Islands Educational Center. "( "MR-Prof"... The weekly magazine of the museum worker. Issue 41 (304), 23.10.2003)

Islands, villages, farms, hills, swamps, streams, lakes, bays, etc.
: Solovki in the texts of the novel "The Gulag Archipelago".

The old creaky vessel "Vasily Kosyakov", following the route Rabocheostrovsk - Bolshoi Solovetsky Island, is packed with pilgrims and tourists. They are going to rest, pray and watch what the neighborhood on a small patch of land of the ancient monastery and concentration camp special purpose. The weather is excellent. The sky, light and low, hugs its belly to the sea itself. In some places, thunderclouds and dark pillars of rain are above the water, but these bad weather is far away. Being in a cruise mood, the passengers of "Kosyakov" enthusiastically fed the seagulls with bread, filmed each other against the background of a blue-white landscape and brown distant bad weather. Suddenly, because of the morning haze, the domes of the Solovetsky Monastery will appear over the water. As in that fairy tale, a rusty boat, stumbling over small waves, creeps closer and closer to the shore of an outlandish kingdom. A little more, and you will find yourself in the Looking Glass.

The island really turns out to be a small kingdom. It has its own life and its own rules. The dilapidated huts built during the days of the first Soviet dictators are groaning with old age. Quiet people all around: fishermen, artists, pilgrims. Arkhangelsk teenagers, exiled here for their summer vacations, wander aimlessly through the back streets with music speakers and beer cans. A little girl in a headscarf and a chintz skirt with a small flower on her open palm holds out a green apple to a shy young goby. Silly street urns in the shape of pink tulips can be seen along the roads. Smells like fresh bread from the monastery bakery. Fermented Karelian kefir is sold in half-empty shops. Everything is calm and static. Only at the walls of the monastery there is a revival. Before the excursion, crowds of tourists are in a hurry to chew on sandwiches with sausage. The believers who arrived in the morning "Kosyakov" are fanatically baptized. Fathers and sisters are laughing about something, returning to the monastery from dinner.

Father, we are going to Sochi soon, what should we take with us to have a righteous rest? - raising a column of dust on the road, a flock of fussy pilgrims with faded eyes and dusty skirts surrounded the caught, a little frightened either by the crowd or by the questioned priest. It was a calm sunny evening in a short northern summer. On Cape Seldyany, cats dozed in the grass, cows lazily brushed off midges, sometimes tinkling with bells around their necks, like a teaspoon around the edges of a mug. Road dust, golden in the sun, smoothly settled on the ground, on the faces and hems of the pilgrims that had faded from time to time. The priest hesitated a little with an answer.

- It's not worth taking a Bible in Sochi. It's too heavy. Take sun protection cream. And swimwear - to swim in the sea - shrugging his shoulders, the man in a cassock answered and cautiously walked out of the circle of unblinking eyes.

For a long time, the pilgrims, left by the priest on the road, discussed whether it was worth going so far to get such an indistinct answer to the question of faith ...

Everything on this island is ambiguous. Holy lake behind the collar of the Solovetsky Monastery is a must-see place for both pilgrims and tourists. Having lifted up their long skirts, the pilgrims, groaning and sometimes using foul language, enter the lake knee-deep and do not move until the icy water brings their sore legs together. Not every bather knows that in the past state this very Holy Lake was called Red. But now it is Holy again. The Solovetsky Monastery itself was not always the abode of humility and light, periodically enclosing persons unwanted by the mainland within its walls and arranging naval skirmishes with lost ships.

On the shooting field of the Solovetsky special purpose camp, today the children are playing the ball. In the barracks, where lice were crushed at night several decades ago, they were dying of hunger, cold and dirt, now housewives watch crime news on TV, boiling pasta in old enamel pots. The destroyed labyrinths of the ancient northern tribes have been laid out again and are now wondering where these same labyrinths lead. The day before yesterday they erected churches here, yesterday they built prisons, today they are equipping hotels and tourist centers. And tomorrow there will be winter, and everyone will disperse. Nobody knows what will happen after winter.

There is no maternity hospital or a sensible hospital on the island: until now, every ailment is treated with holy water, and for help they go to the monastery to the mothers. But even holy water sometimes doesn't help. Last winter, an islander's heart began to thrash. A little over thirty, hard-working, single. I lay down at home and could not get up. The neighbors ran after my mother. There is no place to wait for more help on winter Solovki. The old woman refused to go to the patient in the dark. He needs it, let it go himself. Tea, not old. Was a short and clear answer.

There is nothing to do, the islander got ready with the last of his strength, put on his hat and left the hut. Only I could not get to my mother - he died on the way. When mother was told that her patient had died halfway to her, she only turned her face to the side. All the will of God! - hissed dry old woman lips, quickly crossed herself and slammed the door of her room. Only the holy water on the shelves shook from that cotton.

Solovki - Russian Alcatraz and Mar Saba on one small piece of land saturated with gunpowder, ash, blood and northern salts. An island where robes and robes were worn. This point in the White Sea lies on the way to the underworld and to heaven. Time here draws with a simple pencil and plays with people in unkind games: it forgets to go forward, then in seconds it turns the lives of the islanders upside down. Either he will take a broom in his hands and sweep the Solovetsky inhabitants to hell, and a moment later he drives vessels with new people across the uneven sea to wear robes and robes, to live out the lives of those who have already been worn out. Sometimes the hour hands on Solovki change direction abruptly, turn from the dial circle straight onto the ornate paths of the dancing forest, and then strange events begin to take place on the island: they change robes for robes, crosses for axes, cross with their right hand, and press the trigger with their left. Leapfrog good and evil, beautiful and ugly. Leapfrog brought to the point of absurdity.

Solovki is a mecca of either God or the devil. However, they always go hand in hand. Here, on this small cold island, like nowhere else, it becomes clear that life and death, good and evil, prayer and motherfucking are one. As there is one White Sea, which easily changes colors from milky to slate. As there is the Holy Lake. And there is Lake Red. And they have the same water. As there is time, which in the Looking Glass does not walk in straight lines and does not draw circles with arrows. It plays cat and mouse with the islanders, occasionally allowing them to play with it.

Solovki is a distorted reflection of the mainland. And there is no reflection if no one is looking in the mirror. The islands will live on what the wind will bring from big land... Time flows here with the speed of the wind. Intermittently. Impulsively. Therefore, in good weather and in the absence of news, there is no time on the island at all. A tired fisherman will freeze on the Seldyany Cape, the evening sun will flood him with the crown of his head with a thick honey light, and the hands of the clock will be forgotten again. Cats will doze in the grass. A little girl in a kerchief will wipe an apple on a chintz skirt and treat a young shy bull with it. On the shore near the silent labyrinths tourists will click the beaks of the seagulls and the shutters of the cameras.

Get off the island to mainland not so easy. Anthracite sky belly presses on the sea so that it is cramped in its cup. It sways and hisses. On it, a little old "Kosyakov" groans and groans. It is impossible to stand in the passenger compartment and it is difficult to sit - such a pitching there. Someone's suitcases and baby carriages roll from side to side. Someone cries out of fear, someone drags on Kalinka, and after a moment the others support him. Downstairs they sing songs, and on the upper deck they suffer from seasickness, clinging to the handrails to their blue bones and waddling over them. While they are sick, waves fall on them from above and heat them from below. They tremble, choking sea water, pray for time to go a little faster and try to make out the salutary Rabocheostrovsk in the pitch bad weather. Only a few seagulls chase Kosyakov out of habit in the hope of a generous, like that time, treat.

In order not to hear the songs below and not to see the tormented ones above, you will hide under the visor on the deck and start counting to a hundred. But you won't be able to cross over fifty. One, two, three, and what if the "Shoals" cracks to hell .. And again you start counting from one. All clothes are wet through, water squelches in boots, knees shake from the cold and teeth clatter. A young guy with a nose burnt in strange places will run under your visor and start a conversation in order to speed up the passage of time at least a little.

Will you go to Solovki someday?

I don’t know if I’d get to the mainland first ...

I'll go. In winter. I will definitely go. - a random companion will shout through the wind and, holding on to the cold handrails, will look at sea waves, quietly waiting for the continent to appear from behind the black waves of the White Sea.

My friend Tanya, with whom I have been friends since the first grade, offered me to go on vacation to the Solovetsky Islands. Where these islands are located, I knew only approximately - in the North. I also knew the expression “send to Solovki”. This means that "somewhere far away, and in a very unpleasant place."
And suddenly, there - on the Solovetsky Islands - on vacation ?!
Well, how can you miss such an adventure ?! Of course, let's go!

Study of the Solovetsky Islands in theory and practice

Before the trip, we read about the Solovetsky Islands. An archipelago of six large and hundreds of small islands in the White Sea. All of them belong to the Far North and are included in the State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve. The relief of the islands is formed by a glacier. Despite the northern latitudes, the climate there is quite mild due to the influence of the sea. Winters are not very cold; on the other hand, northeastern winds blow in summer, often cloudy and foggy. The vegetation is not rich, bordering between the northern taiga and the forest-tundra. In the coastal strip there are rich plantations of algae (kelp, fucus), which are used for the manufacture of cosmetics.

On the largest island of the archipelago, there is the Solovetsky Monastery, founded in 1436. It also served as a military fortress, a place of exile and a prison. Since 1923, one of the most terrible camps was located there - the SLON (Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp), in which tens of thousands of people died from hunger, cold and torture. But this is too heavy a topic, not for an article about amateur gardening, but rather about professional sadism.

We went to this gloomy place. It is necessary to sail to the Solovetsky Islands from the mainland on a motor ship for three hours. The motor ship, designed for 300 seats, accommodated about 800 tourists and pilgrims, who sat and stood everywhere: on decks, in aisles, on steps. I was thinking about Civil war and the evacuation of whites from the Crimea. I was trying to figure out how to survive in the White Sea, if this vessel starts to sink from overload ... But - nothing happened, we swam.

Walk along the coast

Immediately, on the very first evening, we went for a walk on the coast. The local vegetation turned out to be not that poor, but very strange. The plants in the forest were small and stunted, though familiar. Lot .

On the shore grew "dancing", all fancifully twisted. "Dancing" they are called by guidebooks, and irreverent tourists called them "drunk." Such curved trees are called crooked forests.
The cause of forests with twisted trees is unknown. There are such trees on the coast Baltic Sea... Everywhere, locals note the poor energy of these places and bypass the crooked forest ...

In the photo: "dancing" birches; kelp on stones at low tide

And rightly so, on the shore it was creepy for us. The sea was drowning in fog. Low tide bared glacial boulders covered with algae (kelp, or fucus).
From this phantasmagoric picture, we wanted to run away to the hotel as soon as possible, which we did, rightly judging that the morning of the evening, if not wiser, then certainly more fun.

And the next morning we were rewarded: the sun came out. Previously, we were scared that rain and fog were guaranteed for the entire trip, although it was July. But the weather was lucky.

Big Solovetsky Island

We began to explore Bolshoi Solovetsky Island. A glacier passed through the entire archipelago, leaving behind boulders of all shapes and sizes that make up a typical landscape of the forest-tundra zone (see title photo).

Stones are an indispensable element or that are now present in many gardens. Who among the gardeners did not strain to drag the found spectacular cobblestone to their beloved dacha? Orphaned boulders have become a rarity in the Moscow region.
That is why a walk around the Solovetsky Islands with an abundance is a meal for fanatical summer residents who have a rock garden (such as my friend and I). As the saying goes, “the eye sees, but the tooth doesn’t.” Not to take away from here at least some of the riches you have seen, not to decorate your alpine hill with them ...

Monastic walls, buildings, dams are made of huge boulders. But they were built in the 16th century! It is incomprehensible to the mind how the monks could move the giant boulders, and even raise them to the height of the monastery walls!

The forest on the Solovetsky Islands is full of picturesque glacial lakes and swamps with smooth round shores - just samples for a landscape architect.

On the picture: glacial lake; labyrinth on Zayatsky Island

Big Zayatsky Island

The next day we sailed by boat to Bolshoi Zayatsky Island. Hares have nothing to do with him. Some say that the White Sea seals were called "bearded seals" (although, in my opinion, there is not the slightest similarity between them). Others believe that the monks swam to this island for eider eggs ("for eggs").

Zayatsky Island, like the entire Solovetsky archipelago, is included in the list World heritage UNESCO. Nobody lives on it; no one should even step on its soil, as the relic vegetation of the island could be damaged. On the hiking trail around Zayatsky Island, wooden decks are laid, and it is strictly forbidden to go down from them to the ground.
There are no trees, only low bushes and crows of crows grow. Blackberry berries are non-toxic, but watery and tasteless.

But the main thing on Zayatsky Island is not vegetation, but labyrinths. These ancient cult structures made of stones date back to the 1-2 century. BC. They are associated with the cult of the dead and are spiral stone ridges leading to the center of the labyrinth. In the center there is a pile of stones, apparently symbolizing the mountain, in the depths of which the Kingdom of the dead was located.
Each labyrinth has one entrance (it is also an exit). Entering the labyrinth and following the hollow between the ridges, the person reaches the center of the labyrinth, goes further in a spiral and, without turning anywhere, comes to the exit. According to scientists, primitive people believed that the soul of the deceased could not get out of such a labyrinth back to the Kingdom of the living. It is interesting that the tops of the ridges of the labyrinths are overgrown with crowberry, but the hollows between them remain stony, untouched by vegetation. Although a human's foot has not stepped in them for many centuries; and, moreover, no one weeded them.
Not far from the labyrinths, there are heaps of stones, under which ancient burials with utensils, stone products and human bones were found.

A lot could be said about the history of Zayatsky Island. About Peter I, who built a small church of St. Andrew the First-Called on the island. About the monks who built the economic chambers here. But our theme is local plants.

Botanical Garden

When we were offered to go on an excursion to the Botanical Garden, we were very surprised. It is difficult to imagine the existence of a botanical garden much north of Arkhangelsk, not far from the Arctic Circle!
Of course, we went to the Botanical Garden. They went, and did not go. Public transport on the islands there are not, there are few household machines. Due to belonging to UNESCO Monuments, they plan to completely abandon diesel fuel and switch to environmentally friendly energy sources. So it was strange to see solar panels by the church at the top of Sekirnaya Gora, the center of the most terrible camp, the Solovki.
Even the roads on the Solovetsky Islands are not asphalted, but unpaved, sometimes sprinkled with gravel. We walked along such a road about four kilometers - from the center of the island to the so-called Khutor Gorka or Makaryevo desert, where the Botanical Garden is located.

The hermitage was founded by Archimandrite Macarius in 1822 so that the monks could retire for prayer. But then a wax plant was built here, hot water from which was used to heat greenhouses and greenhouses. The greenhouses were used to grow cucumbers, melons, and peaches.

TO late XIX century, a botanical garden was laid out here, in which the yellow acacia and other plants settled.
The central larch alley leads to the hill, to the dacha of Archimandrite Makarii. The country house was built in the 60s of the XIX century from larch, which almost does not rot.
Archimandrite's dacha is very modest, simple and light, in exceptionally good taste. It is one with the surrounding nature and compares favorably with the modern luxurious mansions of church hierarchs.

In the photo: larch alley; berry thickets; Archimandrite's dacha

The alley leading to the archimandrite's dacha was abundantly overgrown with badan planted in the 19th century. Since then, it has grown a lot. And the larch trees were planted later (in the 30s of the XX century) by the prisoners of the camp: after all, then the camp authorities lived on the territory of the Makaryevo desert, who wished to decorate their lives with these majestic trees.

Further in the Botanical Garden, we saw the usual ornamental plants and flowers that grow beautifully in our dachas in the Moscow region, but we never expected to see them in these harsh regions. And how they grow here! Cheerful flaunts against the backdrop of an ancient glacier cellar, built of huge boulders. Blooming, tiger ones - everything is so dear and familiar!

In the photo: a flower garden in a botanical garden; cedars planted by monks; fragrant raspberry

Our guide decided to test our group and at the same time fill in the gaps in our botanical knowledge. But he underestimated us! To his question: "Do you know what kind of plants they are?" And only once we doubted, not recognizing at once a spreading plant with huge leaves on very long petioles. It turned out to be ordinary.

And then we looked at the pharmaceutical garden with medicinal herbs: St. John's wort, tarragon,. Again, everything is so familiar and familiar ...

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