Church of Ascension high on Sekirnaya Hill — Solovetsky Island, Russia.

The clearing where mass burial sites were found on Sekirnaya Hill — Solovetsky Island, Russia.

Simple crosses like this one mark each mass burial site found on Sekirnaya Hill — Solovetsky Island.

Church of Ascension on Sekirnaya Hill also serves as a lighthouse — Solovetsky Island, Russia.

Church of Ascension on Sekirnaya Hill — Solovetsky Island, Russia.

Ceiling fresco in Church of Ascension on Sekirnaya Hill — Solovetsky Island, Russia.

When the church housed forced laborers, the warden would spy on them through this peephole.

Scenery from the overlook on Sekirnaya Hill — Solovetsky Island, Russia.

294-steps to a mosquito-infested trail through the forest ... Sekirnaya Hill — Solovetsky Island.

Outhouses ... then and now ... on Sekirnaya Hill — Solovetsky Island, Russia.

Solovetsky: Sekirnaya Hill Monastery

July 15, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

An interminable, bumpy, back-killer, 30-minute drive on a heavily potholed road, took us to the first stop of the private tour Sonia had arranged for us ... the Minor Monastery on Gora Sekirnaya [Sekirnaya Hill] ... the highest spot on Solovetsky Island ... and home to the Church of Ascension, which was built in 1862 as a lighthouse. The church does double duty as a lighthouse today.

The road to the top of the hill was too steep for the vehicles to negotiate, so we had to hoof-it up to the top. That wasn’t the worst part of this visit. It was the mosquitoes and biting gnats that tried to make a meal of us whenever we stopped for any length of time. Our guide later told us that staking naked prisoners outdoors to be biten by mosquitoes was one means of torture here!

As was the case with the other monasteries and retreats, this one also served as a forced labor camp. It was here that, in addition to the church where the prisoners were housed, we visited what was later discovered to be mass burial sites. Crosses erected since have numbers on them to designate the number of bodies found in a particular site.

Beautiful scenery ... beautiful church ... very sad history!Read more