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Solovetsky Islands

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The Onega Bay ( Russian : Онежская губа, Онежский залив ) is located in the Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast in Northwestern Russia , west of the city of Arkhangelsk . It is the southernmost of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea , the others being the Dvina Bay , the Mezen Bay , and the Kandalaksha Gulf . The area of the bay is 6,630 square kilometres (2,560 sq mi). The Onega Bay is 185 kilometres (115 mi) long and 50 kilometres (31 mi)-100 kilometres (62 mi) wide. The average depth of the bay is 16 metres (52 ft), and the maximum depth is 36 metres (118 ft). The bay freezes in winter.

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31-763: The Solovetsky Islands (Russian: Соловецкие острова , IPA: [səlɐˈvʲetskʲɪj ɐstrɐˈva] ), or Solovki (Russian: Соловки , IPA: [səlɐfˈkʲi] ), are an archipelago located in the Onega Bay of the White Sea , Russia . 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

62-483: A network of canals. One interesting feature of these islands is stone labyrinths and other stone settings, especially the Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island . Such labyrinths were typical for Northern Europe , but most have perished and now Solovetsky Islands have some of the best remaining examples. Historically the islands have been the setting of the famous Russian Orthodox Solovetsky Monastery complex. It

93-602: Is the settlement of Solovetsky , located on Bolshoy Solovetsky Island. Almost all of the population of the islands lives in Solovetsky. As of the 2010 Census , the district had a population of 861 inhabitants. The Solovetsky Monastery (founded in 1436), in 1923 became the site of the first Gulag establishment, the Solovki prison camp . The archipelago has a total area of 347 square kilometers (134 sq mi) and consists of six islands: The islands separate

124-778: The Black Sea and a shorter one goes to the headwaters of the Volga. The east–west routes are the Volga, the Sukhona route across the center, a northerly route parallel to the Arctic coast and the Arctic. The Northern Dvina drains the center and flows northeast into the White Sea . In the east the Pechora River flows northwest-north to the Arctic and the Kama River flows southwest to the Volga bend at Kazan. Trade route from

155-728: The Crimean War (19th century), and the Russian Civil War (20th century). In 1974, the Solovetsky Islands were designated a historical and architectural museum and a natural reserve of the Soviet Union . In 1992, they were inscribed on the World Heritage List "as an outstanding example of a monastic settlement in the inhospitable environment of northern Europe which admirably illustrates

186-617: The Northwestern Federal District , which it is administered as part of. Historically, it was the area of the Novgorod and Pskov merchant republics. Although the Northwest was never a political unit there is some reason for treating it as a distinct region. The Volga marks the approximate northern limit of moderately dense settlement. The area to the north was valued mainly as a source of fur . The western side

217-665: The Sumsky Skerries . Between the Sumsky Skerries and Solovetsky Island, in the open sea, there is an archipelago consisting of Bolshoy Zhuzhmuy Island and Maly Zhuzhmuy Island. On the west coast of the bay there are the town of Belomorsk and the outlet of the White Sea–Baltic Canal . From the east, the bay is limited by the Onega Peninsula . In the south-east, the town of Onega is located close to

248-760: The Tsilma River to the west-flowing part of the Pechora. Pechora River and Ural passes: 1. From the northern east–west route up the west-flowing part of the Pechora River , up the Usa River , over the easy Kamen portage of the Urals and down the short Sob River to the lower Ob River . 2. From the middle Pechora, up the Shchugor River, over either of two Ural passes and down the Northern Sosva to

279-664: The Yug River comes in from the south. The river now gains the name of Northern Dvina and flows about 60 km northeast to the modern town of Kotlas where the Vychegda River comes in from the east. From Kotlas east at least 400 km up the Vychegda to its headwaters west of the Urals. From here portage north to the Pechora or south to the Kama, both of which lead to passes over the Urals. Northern East–West route: This

310-834: The Black Sea. From portages around the Lovat one could go west down the Western Dvina to Riga or east to the upper Volga River. Volga–Baltic Waterway : Gulf of Finland, Neva River to Lake Ladoga, then northeast up the Svir River to Lake Onega , southeast up the Vytegra River , portage, down the Kovzha River to Lake Beloye and southeast down the Sheksna River to Rybinsk at the northernmost point of

341-623: The LGM ice margin was highly lobate. Lobes originated as result of ice flow following shallow topographic depressions filled with soft sediment substrate. The whole of the basins of the Lake Ladoga , Lake Onega and the White Sea were glaciated at the time of the LGM. These basins possibly canalized the Weschelian ice into streams that feed the lobes found further east and south. Highlands made up of hard bedrock like Valdai and Tikhvin had

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372-580: The Ob. 3. From the upper Pechora, over the Urals and down the Pelym River . 4. From the headwaters of the Vychegda to branches of the upper Kama River , across the middle Urals and down branches of the Tavda River to Tobolsk on the Ob. North–South routes: 1. From Kazan northeast up the Kama River , portage to the Pechora or Vyshegda. 2. From Kazan up the Volga past Nizhny Novgorod to the point where

403-508: The Onega Bay from the main volume of the White Sea . The closest mainland is the Onega Peninsula . The shores of the islands are very indented. They are formed of granites and gneiss . The relief of the islands is hilly (the highest point is 107 m). Most of the Solovetsky Islands are covered with Scots Pine and Norway Spruce forests, which are partially swampy . There are numerous lakes, which were joined by monks so as to form

434-887: The Sukhona, east up the Vychegda, northwest down the Northern Dvina to the White Sea, or south up the Yug River and down the Unzha River to the Volga and Kazan. From the upper Sheksna south of Lake Beloye, portage to the ? river and downstream to Lake Kubenskoye . (This is now the Northern Dvina Canal . Vologda is just south of lake Kubenskoye.) From Lake Kubenskoye east northeast down the Sukhona River about 400 km to Veliky Ustyug where

465-794: The Varangians to the Greeks : (this was the main axis of Kievan Rus' ). From the site of Saint Petersburg (founded in 1703) east up the Neva River to Lake Ladoga , south up the Volkhov River past Staraya Ladoga to Novgorod (founded 860 or before), south across Lake Ilmen and south up the Lovat River . From the Lovat portage to the headwaters of the Western Dvina , portage to the upper Dnieper River and south to Kiev and

496-673: The Volga River. Today the entire route is canalized and the lower Sheksna is part of the Rybinsk Reservoir . The Northern Dvina Canal branches northeast to the Sukhona River (next section). The Sukhona route and Veliky Ustyug: This route crosses the center along the Sukhona and Vychegda Rivers which join near Veliky Ustyug and links Novgorod to the Kama River and Kazan. From Veliky Ustyug one can go west up

527-593: The Vychegda while the state of Great Perm was on the upper Kama. The Permians were later called Zyryans and later Komi . The Arabic term Wisu probably meant Great Perm, but it might have referred to the Ves'. The Voguls lived on the upper Kama and Pechora and the Ostyaks or Yugra on the lower Pechora. The Samoyeds lived in the far northeast. The Burtas were ancestors of the Mordvins . Zavolochye (meaning "beyond

558-625: The current Moscow Canal further east. Russians expanded slowly from the West. Those along the White Sea came to be called Pomors . The original population spoke Uralic languages . Various Baltic-Finnic tribes were known in the Russian chronicles as the Chudes . The Ves' lived east Lake Ladoga and were pushed toward the Dvina by the expansion of Novgorod after 1100. The Vychegda Permians lived on

589-581: The descendants) not later than in the 12th century. The selo of Soroki, currently Belomorsk, is known from that time. Most of the villages at the Onega Bay coast such as Purnema or Unezhma (now abandoned), are old Pomor villages, many of them still depend on fishery. Solovetsky Islands are on the World Heritage list, and there is intensive passenger sea traffic to the islands, mostly originating from Kem and Belomorsk. There are also regular but infrequent passenger connections between Arkhangelsk and

620-577: The eve of World War II . By the beginning of the war, there was a naval cadet training camp for the Soviet Northern Fleet . The islands are served by the Solovki Airport . There is regular air service to Arkhangelsk, as well as ferry lines (summertime only) to Arkhangelsk, Kem , and Belomorsk . Onega Bay Onega , Kem , and Vyg rivers flow into the bay. The bay has numerous islands. Solovetsky Islands , which are

651-606: The faith, tenacity, and enterprise of later medieval religious communities". Today, the Solovki are seen as one of the major tourist magnets in the orbit of the Russian North . After the October Revolution , the islands attained notoriety as the site of the first Soviet prison camp ( gulag ). The camp was inaugurated in 1921, while Vladimir Lenin was still at the helm of Soviet Russia. It was closed in 1939, on

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682-408: The largest and the most famous, are located on the entrance to the bay and separate it from the main body of the White Sea. Along the west coast, there are hundreds of small islands ( Russian : луда , luda's). The biggest of these are Shuyostrov Island, Russky Kuzov Island, Myagostrov Island, Kondostrov Island, and Sumostrov Island. The group of islands around Kondostrov Island are collectively known as

713-636: The onset of the Schism of the Russian Church , the monks staunchly stuck to the faith of their fathers and expelled the tsar's representatives from the Solovki, precipitating the eight-year-long siege of the islands by the forces of Tsar Alexis . Throughout the imperial period of Russian history, the monastery was renowned as a strong fortress which repelled foreign attacks during the Livonian War (16th century), Time of Troubles (17th century),

744-631: The opposite effect of diverting ice into basins. The three main lobes of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet in Russia during the LGM followed the basins of Rybinsk and the rivers of Dvina , Vologda . By 13 ka BP the ice margin had receded towards the west and northwestso that all of Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega were free of glacier ice as was almost all of the White Sea and the Kola Peninsula . As the ice margin continued to recede towards

775-757: The river turns from east to south, north up the Unzha River , portage, down the Yug River to Veliky Ustyug. 3. From the middle Vychegda, north up the Vym River , portage, east down the Ukhta River , north up the Izhma River to the Pechora. 4. From Moscow one route was northwest up the Moskva River to Volokolamsk and down the Lama River and Shosha River to the Volga. This was replaced by

806-467: The shore of the bay. Administratively , the coast and the islands are shared between Kemsky and Belomorsky Districts of the Republic of Karelia, and Onezhsky , Primorsky , and Solovetsky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Most of the minor islands, including all of Sumsky Skerries, belong to Belomorsky District. The Onega Bay coast was populated by Russians ( Novgorodians , of whom the pomors are

837-703: The villages of the Onega Peninsula. 64°20′N 36°30′E  /  64.333°N 36.500°E  / 64.333; 36.500 Northwest Russia Northwest Russia , or the Russian North is the northern part of western Russia . It is bounded by Norway, Finland, the Arctic Ocean, the Ural Mountains and the east-flowing part of the Volga . The area is roughly coterminous with

868-566: The west despite occasional re-advances by 10.6 years BP the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet had left Russia. North of the Kandalaksha Gulf , in Murmansk Oblast , the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet was mostly cold based while south of the gulf it was warm based. Before modern times most transport was by river. Therefore, much of its history and geography depends on the river system. From the site of Saint Petersburg one route runs south to

899-546: Was founded in the second quarter of the 15th century by two monks from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery . By the end of the 16th century, the abbey had emerged as one of the wealthiest landowners and most influential religious centres in Russia. The existing stronghold and its major churches were erected in stone during the early reign of Ivan the Terrible at the behest of St. Philip of Moscow . At

930-420: Was the main axis of Novgorod's expansion. It skirts the southeast side of the White Sea and then crosses to the Pechora. Lake Onega, east up the Vodla River , portage to the Onega River basin, east across this, portage, down the Northern Dvina to Kholmogory near the White Sea, east up the Pinega River , portage to the Kuloy and north to the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. East up the Pyoza River , portage, down

961-547: Was the main source of squirrel , for which there was a large demand during the Middle Ages. Luxury fur, especially sable , came mostly from the northeast. The Weichselian glaciation that came to cover much of northwestern originated most likely from small ice fields and ice caps in the Scandinavian Mountains before the ice spread eastward. In northwestern Russia the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet reached its Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) extent 17 ka BP, five thousand years later than in Denmark, Germany and Western Poland. In Russia

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