Falling in love and getting cold feet: why tourists go to Solovki
The tourist flow to the Russian North and the Arctic is steadily growing. In 2024, the number of tourists visiting these regions increased by 7% compared to 2023, reaching 3 million people, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said earlier. In particular, compatriots and foreigners are increasingly traveling to the Solovetsky Islands. Izvestia got acquainted with the beauties of the North and the way of life of local residents.
What is Solovki?
The Solovetsky Islands — six large and more than 100 small — are located in the Onega Bay of the White Sea. The largest of them is Bolshoy Solovetsky Island.
View of the White Sea from one of the Solovetsky Islands, Arkhangelsk region
The archipelago is located about 160 km from the Arctic Circle. The average temperature in summer, according to the guides, is about +13 degrees in summer and -10 degrees in winter. But the climate is unpredictable. A strong wind or rain may blow at any moment.
— The weather is very changeable, — says Larisa Plechova, the guide of the Rosmolodezh program "More than a journey". — Now it's +20 and sunny, and in a few minutes it will rain and wind 20 m/s.
How do they live in Solovki
Despite the climate and remoteness from the mainland, people live in Solovki all year round. In the only settlement, the village of Solovetsky, there are about 800 inhabitants. You won't find high—rise buildings here, much less skyscrapers - even panel houses are only two floors high. But mostly people live in private buildings, including even wooden barracks that have been preserved since Soviet times. It is expensive to build a single—storey house.
— Transportation of materials alone will cost a pretty penny. Although we bought five plots in the village that year. The price of one is about 4-5 million rubles," Natalia, the guide, tells Izvestia.
There are no roads in the village, also due to expensive logistics. Concrete slabs were laid only a few meters near the Solovetsky Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, the main attraction of the islands. You have to drive over bumps, closing the windows, otherwise everything will be covered in dust.
There is a hospital, pharmacy, police, administration and morgue in Solovetsky, all located in one building. There are three doctors working at the hospital. With toothache, locals have to travel across the White Sea to Kem, a town in Karelia with a population of about 10,000 people. It takes about an hour by boat.
Solovians give birth in Arkhangelsk. However, a new hospital with a 24-hour hospital has already been built, and the authorities promise to open it soon. It will have an X-ray room, an operating unit, and modern rehabilitation facilities. According to Alexander Tsybulsky, Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region, digitalization will make it possible to transfer survey data directly to regional medical institutions.
"Modern and comfortable conditions are being created in the hospital to provide medical care to the residents of the village," Dmitry Chernyshenko said during a working visit.
There is a connection, but not all mobile operators have it. "The Internet in Solovki is a rare and still limited phenomenon, so it is unlikely that you will be able to find it with good speed," the tourist's card says. However, many hotels have Wi-Fi. And if the signal turns out to be bad, isn't that a reason to take a break from smartphones?
There is one bank branch in the village, which does not always have cash, while bank cards are accepted in a couple of places.
There are two grocery stores in Solovetsky, both private, but there are no chain stores. Food prices are about 1.5 times higher than in most regions of Russia. According to local residents, the average salary in the village is 40 thousand rubles. According to the legislation, a district coefficient of 1.2 is applied to the wages of employees in Solovki. Pensions, according to residents of Solovki, are low.
— I used to work on a tractor, now I'm retired. The pension is such that it is not posh. There is no money," Ivan, a local resident, tells Izvestia. In the summer, he works part-time at the Solovetsky Museum-Reserve, and is responsible for the marina on Bolshoy Zayatsky Island, where tourists are taken.
The Solovetsky State Historical, Architectural and Natural Museum is a city—forming enterprise, explains Larisa Plechova. People work both at the diesel station and at the small Solovki airport. They work as salesmen, cooks, electricians, and plumbers. Many handicraft and put up for sale in local souvenir shops key rings, toys and magnets made of birch bark, clay, wool. And during the tourist season, they earn money by renting out housing.
— For the summer, many locals move to live in a house with family and friends. And they rent their house to tourists. I am often asked, “What do the locals do in winter?” I reply that they are probably counting the money they earned in the summer," jokes Natalia, the guide.
According to Svetlana Zenovskaya, Director General of the Directorate of the Solovetsky Archipelago, residents of Solovki are engaged in tourism in the summer, and most of them work in budget organizations during the off-season and winter.
Clothes and other non-food items are brought to people from the mainland. There are no marketplace pick-up points in the village, but there is a post office from where you can pick up a parcel.
A waste sorting plant is due to be put into operation this year. Previously, waste accumulated for several years. The birds threatened the safety of aircraft flights by attacking landfills near the airport. Tourists were asked to take their trash with them.
There is a kindergarten and a school in Solovki. They also teach art on the islands. There is a music school and a craft school in the village.
— Not every city can even boast of a music school, but we have one! — Natalia, the tour guide, notes with pride.
In addition, many projects are taking place in Solovki, such as a regatta, a jung school rally, a school for young scientists, conferences, and festivals of bard songs, says Larisa Plechova. Some projects are conducted annually.
Who travels to Solovki
The Solovetsky Islands are popular with travelers. In March, the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT) reported that tours and cruises for June and July were almost sold out, even despite a noticeable increase in prices for accommodation and meals.
Last year, according to the directorate of the Solovetsky Archipelago, 52.7 thousand pilgrims, workers, tourists and tourists came to the islands, in 2023 — 50.2 thousand.
— The islands are most in demand among travelers from the Arkhangelsk region, Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, as well as from Karelia. There are slightly more women among the arrivals: 57.8% versus 42.2%. No more than 1.9% of foreigners come, Svetlana Zenovskaya explains in an interview with Izvestia.
Russians go to the "northern islands" for views, among other things. In September, 15 painters arrived in the village, among them Honored Artist of Russia Dmitry Trubin, as well as artist, musician and poet Mikhail Bashakov.
"I came to Solovki for 10 days, and I plan to paint seven paintings," Evgeny Tsybulin, an artist and member of the Creative Union of Artists, tells Izvestia while working on a painting.
He's from St. Petersburg. This is not the first time he has painted a picture of the Solovetsky Monastery in Solovki.
In winter, the tourist flow is small, this is due to the weather and transport problems. The only way to get to the Solovetsky Archipelago during the cold season is by plane from Arkhangelsk, Svetlana Zenovskaya confirms. According to her, L-410 flights with a capacity of up to 16 people operate to the islands. However, the regional government is "working on the issue of acquiring" a more spacious IL-114-300 aircraft, which can carry up to 60 passengers.
"After the purchase of the aircraft, a significant increase in the tourist flow to the Solovetsky Islands is expected during the off—season and winter, as there is a demand for such trips," the expert clarifies.
It's not just tourists who like to visit the islands. Nikita, a 30-year-old tour guide at the Solovetsky Nature Reserve, was born and lives in Moscow. He worked as a lawyer, then as a journalist. At first I came to the village as a tourist, then I decided to become a guide and conduct excursions.
— I earn a little money from excursions on the islands. It's for the soul," Nikita says.
Natalia, a Muscovite, is now 65 and has been conducting excursions in the archipelago for several years. It feels like the woman knows the entire history of the islands, almost every landmark, and everything about how the locals live.
— I live in Moscow, on Tula. Almost every summer I come to Solovki to conduct excursions. I like it. I'm already "dumbstruck," says Natalia.
What to see for tourists to fall in love with Solovki and almost "get cold feet"
One day on the islands is not enough, even three is not enough. It's better to go for four or five days.
An exciting journey begins on the road. Across the White Sea, Solovki can be reached with a breeze and extreme speed by boat or steadily by boat. When moving, tourists will see belugas — white whales that look like dolphins. In summer, whales breed in the White Sea, so there are quite a lot of them. Other sea animals can be viewed on Top Island. Seals are common here, and walruses are less common.
When you set foot on Solovetsky land, you feel like you were in childhood, as if you came to the village to visit your grandmother.
The guides recommend that you definitely visit the Solovetsky Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List at the end of the 20th century. It is interesting not only as a temple. There was a fortress, a prison, a refectory, with a room-sized oven on the floor below, and a grain dryer.
Much has been preserved to this day, and some has been restored. Exhibitions and Orthodox services are held on the territory of the monastery, and on big holidays the patriarch comes here. It is better for tourists to take a large sightseeing tour of the entire complex and find out why the temple is lined with huge stones, why the window slopes were made in the form of steps, what was cooked in a meter-high vat, what was the plumbing in the 13th century and in what conditions the prisoners were imprisoned.
On the bridge of the Holy Lake, which stretches in front of the monastery, you can admire the "picture" from the 500-ruble bill and compare the paper version with the original. You will find a bridge for this view next to the diesel station.
Another route is a trip to Bolshoy Zayatsky Island with an area of about 1.5 square meters, with a special nature. There is a forest-tundra here, which means that there are no trees above the belt. Even the birches look like bushes. Juniper and bushes of the local watermelon berry are spread all over the island.
— There are a lot of berries, but they are tasteless. Solovians eat them in the heat to refresh themselves," explains Natalia, the guide.
Swedish turf berries on the island of Zayatsky in the White Sea.
The taste of watermelon is not like other berries, it is something sweet and bitter at the same time.
Swedish turf, a low shrub with red fruits, also grows on Zayatsky Island. They did not dare to try the berries.
Another attraction is the labyrinths laid out by ancient people from the "stones" left over from the glacier. Scientists are still debating what these stone patterns were used for.
Stone labyrinths on Bolshoy Zayatsky Island, Arkhangelsk region
Walking among the berries and boulders, you can often see the local fox Stepka. He is not afraid of people and knows that if a tourist puts his hand in his pocket, it's time to get ready for dinner.
— Stepka is often fed by visitors. Sausages sometimes lie. We think he moved to the island in winter on thin ice. He won't starve in summer, but it will be hard in winter. But it will probably move back to Bolshoy Solovetsky," says Natalia.
Even on Zayatsky Island, you need to go to the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle, a small, simple and even ascetic temple. There is only one clergyman in it. In general, there are two people on the island besides tourists in the summer. The second is retired Ivan. He guards Bolshoy Zayatsky, catches fish at night, smokes fish in the morning, and sells it to tourists during the day.
Church of St. Andrew the Apostle on Zayatsky Island, Arkhangelsk region
There is a chance to see the northern Lights in the evening and at night on Solovki. It doesn't happen every day, but you can track the probability through special services and applications.
— At 23:00, a white stripe appeared, similar to clouds. Then everything turned green. To the eye, the northern lights lasted for two minutes, but the camera lens caught it for more than an hour," says an eyewitness.
There is a craft school on the islands for everyone, where workshops are held on birch bark weaving, weaving, textile printing, mosaic and hand-sculpting plates, cups, panels, candlesticks and lamps.
It is also worth going to the highest point of the Solovetsky archipelago — Sekirnaya Gora. It is a 73-meter-high hill on which stands one of the few lighthouse temples in Russia. At the foot of the mountain there is a staircase of martyrs, a cross of worship and mass graves of prisoners of the Solovetsky special purpose camp (ELEPHANT). During the Soviet era, the temple was a prison.
You can take a walk and breathe the forest air in the Botanical Garden. Previously, it was the Makaryevskaya hermitage of the Solovetsky Monastery, where medicinal plants were grown, today it is one of the northernmost botanical gardens in the world. Larch trees, cedars, rare flowers and other plants have been growing here for many decades. Tea, similar to a fruit drink, will be served from the badan harvested in the garden. Mushrooms and blueberries grow everywhere under the trees. They are asked not to pick them, but some tourists are full of berries. In addition to natural resources, the park has a glacier resembling a hobbit house, an ancient cellar for storing perishable food, and a 4—square—meter chapel nearby.
Alexander Nevsky Chapel in the Solovetsky Archipelago Botanical Garden, Arkhangelsk Region
One of the most difficult but important places to visit in the archipelago is the GULAG Museum, where they will tell you about the prisoners and their hard work in logging, and introduce you to the biographies of famous prisoners.
It will be interesting to visit the River Museum. Excursions are conducted here mainly by students and postgraduates of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Among other things, they will tell you about the technology of stitching boards for ships with threads, invented by the Pomors in ancient times, on which ships sailed in the White Sea in the XV–XVI centuries, with an iconostasis on each deck.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
