Cruises to Solovetsky Island, Russia

The Solovetsky Islands , or Solovki, are an archipelago located in the Onega Bay of the White Sea, Russia. The islands are served by the Solovki Airport. Area:134 sq mi. As an administrative division, the islands are incorporated as Solovetsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Within the framework of municipal divisions, they are incorporated as Solovetskoye Rural Settlement within Primorsky Municipal District The administrative center of both divisions is the settlement of Solovetsky, located on Bolshoy Solovetsky Island. Almost all of the population of the islands lives in Solovetsky. The island is also well known for the fifteenth century Solovetsky Monastery complex. The Solovetsky Monastery is a famous tourist attraction in this area. It was the greatest citadel of Christianity in the Russian North before being turned into a special Soviet prison and labor camp . Today, the Solovetsky Monastery is a historical and architectural museum. It was one of the first Russian sites to have been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. A small brothership of monks appeared in the monastery again and now it has about ten monks. During the last several years the monastery was strongly repaired, but it is still under reconstruction. Other attractions include the Canal System, the Belgus Cape, the Botanical Gardens, the Negotiation Stone and the prehistoric labyrinths, a church, a cemetery and the wildlife of the Zayatsky Islands. Whale watching from land and by boat is another popular activity on the islands.