Breakfast at the hotel.
Meeting with the tour leader at the hotel reception.
A pedestrian crossing to the tour desk.
Excursion "Solovetsky skeets. History and legends" (duration — 4 hours).
Minibus tour of the northern part of the Bolshoy Solovetsky Island with a tour of well-known places and iconic, but rarely visited monuments of Solovki.
The first stop is the Holy Ascension Skete with its controversial history and the Axe Mountain – the "fortress of light and darkness", where the lighthouse church stands, which became a penal isolation ward during the time of the ELEPHANT.
From the Axe, the forest road leads to the Savvatievsky skete – the first settlement of the Solovetsky monks, which at the beginning of the 20th century became the ELEPHANT business trip and the site of the first execution of political prisoners on Solovki.
Further along the route, Jung Alley is the remains of the dugouts of the Solovetsky Jung School – this is where the elite of the USSR Navy was raised from 14–year-olds during the war years. From there, the route leads to the Red Lake, where the famous lake and canal systems of Solovki originate and there are material traces of the Solovetsky history.
The dam of the 16th century – the realized idea of "turning back the rivers" – centuries later still performs a whole range of functions that changed the practice of economic activity of the monastery and the Solovetsky landscapes.
Worthy objects of display are worship and commemorative crosses – examples of crucifixion. A trip full of meanings will also allow you to enjoy the scenery and experience the beauty of northern nature.
Lunch.
Free time.
Note! For those who wish, optional excursions are offered for an additional fee.
Additional excursions are booked and paid for when booking the tour, the number of seats is limited. As part of the tour, a tourist can book no more than 3 additional excursions out of 4 available:
1. "Solovetskaya dam" (duration — 2-2.5 hours).
The most grandiose construction of Solovki after the Solovetsky Kremlin is the famous man–made dam – a boulder road laid by sea to facilitate transportation between Bolshaya Muksalma Island and the monastery. From the very beginning of construction in the middle of the XIX century, the dam aroused great interest among visitors to Solovki. The new route allows you to approach the dam from the southern side of the archipelago, revealing completely unknown views of the famous monument to tourists. Take a look at the arch of the dam and pay attention to the transparency of the water and the amount of algae!
The cost is 2,500 rubles/person.
2. "Small Muksalma" (duration — 3-3.5 hours).
The island of Malaya Muksalma, a separate world behind the tourist facade of Solovki, has always been closed to the mass tourist. But we have opened this route!
We will take a speedboat along the coast of Bolshoy Solovetsky Island to the southern part of the Solovetsky Archipelago.
Maneuvering among the rocky shoals, we will pass the huge Muksalom reef, covering the approaches to the Small Muksalma.
This reef is one of the reasons why the island is inaccessible. Even among the local White Sea captains, only the most experienced and reliable know this route.
Finally, we will disembark at the pier of the village of algae harvesters — this is the purpose of our excursion — a unique place not only on the scale of the White Sea, but also, perhaps, the whole of Russia.
Here, from June to October, algae is extracted manually, as it was 100 years ago, on traditional White Sea carbine boats.
We will see how kelp is harvested and dried before being sent to Arkhangelsk, from where the algae will return to Solovki again in the form of cosmetics and dietary supplements.
And of course, we will learn a lot of details about the life and work of local fishermen, and about what and how they make algae.
The fishing village is a "non—tourist" place. No sleek "Potemkin" huts and animators imitating traditional crafts. Tourists are not expected here — there is a lot of work.
We will also have the opportunity to observe the harsh life of the White Sea fishermen and feel the peculiar brutal spirit of this place.
The cost is 3,500 rubles/person.
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