True, there was an incident with the banknote. The monastery domes were first printed without crosses. After outraged responses, the error was corrected and in 2011 the correct money was put into circulation.
1. FOLLOW THE Pioneers
For the first time, man set foot on the largest archipelago in the White Sea seven thousand years ago. Archaeologists have discovered more than sixty primitive sites on the islands. But the ancient people used to be here on short visits, mainly in the summer - they picked berries, mushrooms, fished, hunted. The first permanent residents were the monks Herman and Savvaty. Hermits-pilgrims moored to Solovki in 1429. They set up a cross and a cell. This is how the history of the famous monastery began. Already by the 17th century, about 350 monks, seven hundred novices and peasants lived there. One of the richest monasteries owned salt pans and smithies, monks caught and raised fish in cages, and hunted a fur animal. They even set up their own botanical garden. Melons, watermelons, peaches ripened in the greenhouses. Water and heat were supplied through clay tubes under the ground.
2. UNDERSTAND THE SECRET OF THE CITADEL
A grandiose fortress was erected around the monastery by order of Ivan the Terrible. The walls up to six meters thick were made of huge boulders weighing up to fourteen tons. Scientists are still lost in conjecture how the builders raised giant stones on the walls in such a cunning way. The towers of the fortress have a secret: from the outside they taper upwards, while inside, on the contrary, the higher the floor, the more spacious it is. The paradox can be easily explained - the thickest walls are on the first floors. Nobody managed to take the fortress. The last attempt was made by the British in 1854, during the Crimean War. For nine hours in a row, two 60-gun British frigates fired point-blank. But cast-iron cannonballs bounced off the walls like balls. None of the defenders died. Enraged by the failure, the British left, unhappy, and on the way out of their rage razed the fishing village to the ground.
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3. SCROLL TWO CHANNELS
In addition to the citadel, the monks created a grandiose hydraulic system on Solovki, which still amazes today. 52 internal lakes were connected by channels. There were no excavators then, they were digging with shovels. In total - more than two hundred channels. Thanks to them, the lakes are not swamped, the water in them is clear. The 17th century drinking water intake is still used here. In the old days, food products, hay for the monastery farm, and firewood for the winter were carried on boats along man-made channels. Today, tourist routes have been laid. Paddle boats can be rented. Motorboats on Solovki are prohibited - for the sake of preserving the environment. There are two hundred species of birds, foxes, squirrels, hares, and reindeer. In summer, White Sea belugas swim very close to the coast.
4. SEE NORTH STONEHENGE
The most mysterious place in Solovki is the ancient stone labyrinths. They are older than the famous Stonehenge in age and presumably appeared in the Iron Age. But for what? Science doesn't know for sure. Labyrinths are simple in design - they have one entrance and exit at the same place. In one of them, archaeologists found charred fragments of human bones. Perhaps the mysterious structures are associated with the funeral customs of ancient people, who considered the labyrinth the entrance to the afterlife.
5. LIFT THE SAIL ON THE AUGER
The life of the Solovki is inseparable from the sea. The monastery fleet was once the largest on the White Sea. In the local maritime museum there is a real masterpiece - a sailing and rowing auger. Pomors have been sailing the ocean on such universal ships for many centuries. Worked without a single nail, the shnyak could even break through the ice, and served for forty years. During the Great Patriotic War, the legendary school of sea boys was housed in the monastery (closed in Soviet times as a religious abode). Her students, at the age of fourteen or sixteen, fought in all the fleets of the country. Among them are the writer Valentin Pikul, who dedicated the story "Boys with bows" to the school, the famous opera bass Boris Shtokolov, academician Gennady Matyushin, film actor Vitaly Leonov. Every fourth out of four thousand graduates died.
In 1973, the author of the legendary film “ Officers ” Vladimir Rogovoy filmed the picture “ Jung of the Northern Fleet ” on Solovki. Part of the work went on within the walls of the monastery. Photo: Still from the film
Boris OREKHOV