Solovetsky Islands, Belomore
After entering the White Sea (Belomore) and our tundra island yesterday, we continued and crossed the Arctic Circle as we headed south. This morning the Captain with his crew was able to get us all the way into the pier at Bolshoj Solovetsky Island! The early morning risers on the island did not believe their eyes, never before had a ship of this size been able to go alongside! Throughout the day locals came down to the dock to watch the event! Maybe this will be remembered, as the day Lindblad Expeditions came to the island.
As soon as the ship was docked we all headed for a full day of adventures at Solovetsky. The morning was dedicated for one of the icons in Russia, the Kremlin (fortress) with its monastery. Throughout the morning we explored with help from good local guides, the secrets to this sacred place. The monastery was established in the mid-1500s by two monks escaping the north. Here on the isolated island in Belomore they found peace and tranquility. Very soon the monastery became an important center for trade, as well as the religious center around the White Sea. The people living here, the Pomors were dedicated to the Russian Orthodox Church and many belonged to the group called “old believers.”
Until 1921 the monastery was a major religious center for all of Russia and pilgrims came from all over. In 1921 this was to change as a new government had taken power in the country, with the aim of eradicating religion. This was of course impossible, and as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Soon the church was able to regain Solovetsky as one of the holy sites for Russian Christianity. We saw boatloads of pilgrims arrive and depart throughout the day.
From 1921 to 1939 was a dark age at Solovetsky. Lenin and his companions found Solovetsky to be an ideal place to isolate the Russian intelligence, but he had hard times convincing his believers. Solovetsky was soon turned into a major prison camp, and it was here the idea of Gulag originated later under Stalin. The very first Gulag project was to build the canal to connect the White Sea with the Baltic, Belmor Canal. The inaugural was to become a gift from the “Soviet people” to Stalin on his 50th birthday. Stalin was here for one day, to sail along the canal built by maybe 100,000 “slaves,” but very soon it totally lost its commercial importance. The cost in life to build the canal was horrendous and very little was gained in its completion!
Soon after the inauguration of the canal, Stalin extended his Gulag program to include developing many major projects all throughout Soviet Russia. Exactly how many went through Gulag, we will never know. As Stalin passed away in 1953, very soon Gulags were passed into the history books. Slave labor was NOT a very efficient way to develop and maintain the country!
After lunch our diversity of options was almost endless here at Solovetsky. Some went for a bird hike to record some interesting easterly birds (Little Bunting, Spotted Redshank, Smew, Common Rosefinch, Siberian Jay and Tit…), others went on a nature hike to explore the taiga forest, some went back to explore more of the monastery and the village with our photo team. A few used the opportunity to kayak in the harbor area between all islands. A larger group used the local buses to get further into the island to explore the inland through the extensive canal system built by the monks to secure a freshwater supply. With row boats we were able to row a few miles to end at the local botanical garden. Surely some of us will wake up with long arms tomorrow morning!
For dinner our galley team had provided us with a special Russian dinner and of course to the blini and borscht soup a shot of finer Russian vodka was added, for those who brave enough to taste. Na zdorovye!
Lindblad Expeditions has now added a new location to a long list of islands worldwide and at least we onboard are very proud to have been the very first. Now new adventures are ahead of us in the unknown northwestern Russia. Keep your eyes open and follow this epic voyage.
