North to Solovki in the White Sea of Russia
The 5½ hour journey from St Petersburg east to Petrozavodsk on the shores of Lake Onega was definitely a mistake. I think our driver was bent on setting a new land speed record, but for whatever reason we spent most of the drive on the wrong side of the road. The train would have been a far better option.
After a night in a pe
rfectly respectable hotel, we took a rockette or hydrofoil across the smooth waters of the lake to the island of Kizhi which houses perhaps Russia’s most photographed church, the Church of the Transfiguration. Built entirely of wood and without the use of nails, it is every bit as interesting and romantic as the photographs. We spent 3 hours wandering around the island in blazing sunshine before returning to the city and embarking on the 7 hour train ride north to Kem on the White Sea 100 miles west of Archangel. The hotel here is not one for the guide books.
From Kem, another, rather slower, boat made the 2½ hour crossing to Solov
ki. First chronicled in the 15th century as a retreat and place of prayer and solitude, the original small church grew into what was to become one of the most important monasteries in Tsarist Russia, housing, at its peak, over 600 monks. Curiously, due to its strategic position, the monastery was fortified and even adopted the role of prison for dissolute monks and priests. In 1920, following the revolution, it was closed, and between 1923 and 1939 it served as the first, and probably most infamous, gulag in Russia. Today the monastery is in the early stages of restoration. Around 40 monks have established themselves and slowly, slowly it is coming to life, although the echoes of prison are not far away. Surrounding the massive structure is a small village of perhaps 1,000 residents, its place in Russian history emphasised by the fact that an early engraving is depicted on the 500 Rouble note.
Stayin
g a in a surprisingly comfortable hotel, we spent 3 days being guided around, wandering through the old churches and cathedrals, at all times conscious of the fact that for 16 years they had housed tens of thousands of prisoners in simply appalling conditions. The island is quite big, heavily forested and dotted with over 500 lakes of varying sizes which are inter-connected by a man made canal system. On the second morning we took a small boat and rowed a 2 mile route drenched by the end in typically changeable weather.
In winter you can go by helicopter, and visit other islands on skidoos across the frozen sea. Should you go? For anyone with an interest in Russian history it should be high up the list.
After a night in a pe
rfectly respectable hotel, we took a rockette or hydrofoil across the smooth waters of the lake to the island of Kizhi which houses perhaps Russia’s most photographed church, the Church of the Transfiguration. Built entirely of wood and without the use of nails, it is every bit as interesting and romantic as the photographs. We spent 3 hours wandering around the island in blazing sunshine before returning to the city and embarking on the 7 hour train ride north to Kem on the White Sea 100 miles west of Archangel. The hotel here is not one for the guide books.From Kem, another, rather slower, boat made the 2½ hour crossing to Solov
ki. First chronicled in the 15th century as a retreat and place of prayer and solitude, the original small church grew into what was to become one of the most important monasteries in Tsarist Russia, housing, at its peak, over 600 monks. Curiously, due to its strategic position, the monastery was fortified and even adopted the role of prison for dissolute monks and priests. In 1920, following the revolution, it was closed, and between 1923 and 1939 it served as the first, and probably most infamous, gulag in Russia. Today the monastery is in the early stages of restoration. Around 40 monks have established themselves and slowly, slowly it is coming to life, although the echoes of prison are not far away. Surrounding the massive structure is a small village of perhaps 1,000 residents, its place in Russian history emphasised by the fact that an early engraving is depicted on the 500 Rouble note.Stayin
g a in a surprisingly comfortable hotel, we spent 3 days being guided around, wandering through the old churches and cathedrals, at all times conscious of the fact that for 16 years they had housed tens of thousands of prisoners in simply appalling conditions. The island is quite big, heavily forested and dotted with over 500 lakes of varying sizes which are inter-connected by a man made canal system. On the second morning we took a small boat and rowed a 2 mile route drenched by the end in typically changeable weather.In winter you can go by helicopter, and visit other islands on skidoos across the frozen sea. Should you go? For anyone with an interest in Russian history it should be high up the list.
