Solovetsky Islands

The Solovetsky Archipelago in the White Sea is home to a 15th-century Orthodox monastery that became one of the earliest and largest sites of Soviet-era forced labour camps, a dual history that gives the islands a profound historical weight. The monastery walls, built from enormous granite boulders, surround a complex of churches, towers, and hermitages that were restored after the Soviet period and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island's bogs and lakes also support an unusually rich concentration of Bronze Age labyrinth patterns of unknown function.