Solovetsky Monastery

Photo

by Алексей Задонский

/ CC BY-SA 4.0

Solovetsky Monastery, located on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea, Russia, is a historic Russian Orthodox monastery with a rich and complex history dating back to its founding in the 15th century. Renowned for its impressive architectural ensemble, the monastery complex includes fortified walls, churches, and other monastic buildings constructed primarily from local stone. It played a significant role in the spiritual, cultural, and political life of Russia, serving as a religious center, a fortress, and later, infamously, as a Soviet labor camp during the Gulag era.