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Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands

The Solovetsky archipelago comprises six islands in the western part of the White Sea, covering 300 km2 . They have been inhabited since the 5th century B.C. and important traces of a human presence from as far back as the 5th millennium B.C. can be found there. The archipelago has been the site of fervent monastic activity since the 15th century, and there are several churches dating from the 16th to the 19th century.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/632

The Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands is a medieval Russian Orthodox monastic settlement in an inhospitable environment.

The Solovetsky Islands are an archipelago situated north of St. Petersburg. There are about 100 islands, inhabited by only 1400 people. Greater Solovetsky Island is the biggest, on which the famous medieval monastery and Kremlin is built. Its beginnings as a religious center date to the mid 15th century: in 1436 the monastery was founded.

The complex also includes a monastic village and a number of detached monasteries (on other islands too).

In 1920 Solovetsky Camp became the first Soviet concentration camp, on the grounds of a former monastery. People persecuted by the Soviet government were sent here, and it became a model for the gulag system that later spanned the country. Later it was turned into a naval base. Its monastery function was restored in 1990.

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/id/632