Solovki is one of the most remote and infrastructurally divorced tourist destinations of the Russian North. An archipoelago initially inhabited in the 15th century by a group of saints as a religious retreat, remains very much an isolated bubble of civilisation amidst the White Sea.
Due to the absence of a hovercraft, the islands can not be accessed by water throughout the harsh 6-month long winter (snow here melts in May). During these months the archipelago is best connected to the city of Arkhangelsk via 1 hour flight. During summer the heaps of tourists arriving by yachts, steamboats and even ocean liners flood the islands to experience the monastery and a series of retreats and churches dotted around the three of the largest islands. In 2020 the first group of outsiders to set foot on the Solovki ground was not until the 16th July. Most images below were taken on that day.
What drew me most, however, were the patterns of operation of the public services and infrastructure. The archipelago’s main and only town of Solovetsky with its population between 400 and 800 (depending on the season) relies on a shrinking handful of school teachers, doctors, firemen and policemen, with all buildings running off a single diesel generator and sewage going directly into the White Sea. Elements of infrastructure and industry ever present here throughout the centuries – a brick factory (16th cent), a sawmill and an hydroelectric power plan (both 20th cent) – either stand abandoned or have altogether disappeared.
Images below:
1. the map of the islands
2. the main town of Solovetsky with the only school, hospital and the former power plant in the bottom right corner
3. Local kids on the way to the island’s only ‘supermarket’ (blue building in the distance)
4. Monastery wall alongside most of the local special services staff (2 firemen & 2 policemen)
5. The school with a yellow school minibus
6. UAZ – a Soviet all-road minivan, the main form of transportation apart from several motor boats
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