The Solovetsky Islands is an archipelago in the White Sea at the entrance to the Onega Bay. It consists of six large islands and covers an area of 347 km2.
Since ancient times, Solovki was considered a place with the strongest energy. There are ancient man-made labyrinths, which are spiral mounds of stones and earth. According to one version, these are traps for the souls of the dead, so that they do not disturb the world of the living and go to where they are destined to be.
Stone labyrinths on Bolshoy Solovetsky Island
The structures were built so long ago that no one knows who built them and for what purpose. The center of each labyrinth is considered to be an energetically active point. However, you only need to get inside it along one branch of the spiral, without going beyond its borders.
The shores of the islands are strewn with stones of various sizes. Back in the 19th century, the monks built a dam from them, which to this day connects the two islands.
In the 15th century, the Monk Savvaty and his disciple Herman chose the cold coast of the White Sea to offer their prayers. They erected a hermitage on the lifeless island, which later grew into a large monastery. From 1923 to 1939 there was one of the GULAG prisons on Solovki. Thousands of people found their death here.
However, in the entire history of the camp there were about 150 apparitions of the Mother of God. For example, candles were lit by themselves in a cave temple. Sometimes the face of the Savior appeared through the flickering of candles, and the air around was filled with a fragrance.
Promotional video:
Non-existent, phantom candles lit up both over the White Sea and over the swamps. Then the bodies of thousands of the dead, who had rested in the moat and on the seabed, became visible. And each of them had a candle burning instead of a heart.
The monks who served in those terrible times in Solovki seemed to have died and resurrected several times. Some of them disappeared to no one knows where, and then returned again: some in an hour, and some in a few years.
Stone labyrinths on about. Bolshoy Zayatsky
Ancient labyrinths are one of the main attractions of the Solovetsky Islands. According to scientists, they were of great religious and ritual significance. According to the beliefs of local residents, labyrinths were built on the border of two worlds - "lower" and "middle".
Here is what G. Boguslavsky writes in his book "The Solovetsky Islands":
“Most scientists are inclined to think that the labyrinths are associated with the religious beliefs of an ancient man (perhaps with an astral cult), others see them as a ritual, ceremonial purpose (for example, for testing a person) or grave signs over burials …
N. Turina proposed to consider the labyrinths as plans for complex fishing tools, which the ancient inhabitant of these regions first depicted on the ground, for clarity (simultaneously endowing these images with magical power), and then transferred them “to nature” - into the sea. The question of labyrinths has not yet received a final scientific solution.
However, the presence of these mysterious ancient structures on the Solovetsky Islands indicates a close connection even in antiquity of these islands with the surrounding coastal regions and the unity of their ancient historical destinies”.
Stone labyrinths: about. B. Zayatsky (1-2) and Fr. Anzer (3)
Stone labyrinths: about. B. Zayatsky (4-5) and Fr. Oleshin (6)
The philosopher P. A. Florensky also wrote about the mysterious structures:
“Here, on the islands of the Solovetsky archipelago, there are wonderful structures called labyrinths in archeology, and Babylonians in the popular language.
These are patterned paths made of stones, mainly boulders, the size of a head, sometimes smaller, up to a fist; in some cases, the gaps between the stone ribbons go directly to the center, in other cases they branch out and lead to a dead end. Once in the center, usually it is not immediately possible to get out of there, and after passing a certain path you come to the old place.
The shape of the labyrinths is different - round, elliptical, horseshoe-shaped. In the middle of the labyrinth there is a structure of stones, reminiscent of a small tomb … Among the various assumptions, it seems most likely that they belong, at least mainly, to the Neolithic and to the times of about the 5th-6th centuries BC; they were built, as they think, by the Germans, driven back by the Celts, and then by the Lapps, who borrowed these buildings from the Germans.
They think that the arrangement of the labyrinths is associated with the cult of the dead and is intended to prevent the soul of the deceased, buried in the center, from coming out - initially, at least. However, these assumptions, although more likely, are a dark matter.
Cromlechs, menhirs, Kirks and, finally, the ancient Cretan labyrinth are probably related to each other and to the labyrinths of Solovki and Murman, although they differ in size, starting with the huge palace-labyrinth of Knossos (on Crete) and ending with flower beds or buildings of several meters diameter, and then - patterns and embroidery on fabrics. Murmansk labyrinths are measured in tens of meters. Solovetsky - less."
Locals and tourists sometimes see ghosts in the Solovetsky labyrinths. Usually these are ethereal, whitish shadows, always moving in one direction - to the center of the labyrinth. They do not pose a danger to people, but meetings with them are sometimes accompanied by panic attacks.
The Solovetsky Islands still attract people to this day. They say that here you can find immortality. Sometimes a person who comes to Solovki for a day stays here for many years.