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Arkhangelskaya

Arkhangelskaya

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4y

2019 Nautical Explorations
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- Jul 15, 2019, 11:00am
- ⛅ 50 °F
- Altitude: 141 ft
- Russia Arkhangelskaya Solovetzki Light 65.104698, 35.58622165°6’17” N 35°35’10” E
Day 11
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
Traveler Skeeters = torture, for sure. Yes, beautiful, but also sad.
2/26/21Reply
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2019 Nautical Explorations
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- Jul 16, 2019, 1:00pm
- ☀️ 63 °F
- Altitude: 49 ft
- Russia Arkhangelskaya Malyye Korely 64.453735, 40.93966364°27’13” N 40°56’23” E
Day 12
Arkhangelsk: Malye Korely
July 16, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
Malye Korely, the state museum of wooden architecture and folk art of the northern regions of Russia, is said to be country’s largest museum of its kind. It consists of four sectors, with two more in the planning stages. Each sector is associated with one of the main rivers of the north.

We had barely enough time to visit one sector. It was a shame really as I could have easily spent the entire day at this fascinating place.

We were greeted at the museum entrance with the traditional welcome of bread and salt ... the former for health; the latter for prosperity. Olga, our guide, then took us around the Kargopol-Onega sector, which consists of a collection of structures from the southwestern part of Arkhangelsk Oblast [administrative region].Read more
Traveler I would like spending a day here.
3/1/21Reply
Traveler So much to learn
3/5/21Reply
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2019 Nautical Explorations
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- Jul 16, 2019, 9:30am
- ⛅ 57 °F
- Altitude: 26 ft
- Russia Arkhangelsk Ploshchad’ Profsoyuzov 64.527847, 40.54064964°31’40” N 40°32’26” E
Day 12
Welcome to Arkhangelsk (Russia)
July 16, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
Our eighth port of call ... new-to-us Arkhangelsk, Russia ... Archangel, in English. A short overnight cruise from Solovetsky Island and up the Northern Dvina River brought us to our destination.

A snafu with the paperwork submitted by the operator of our private tour delayed our disembarkation from Nautica briefly. Apparently, the officials were expecting us to fly into the city, not cruise in! Turns out the travel agency had, in fact, submitted updated paperwork, but the correction had not filtered down to the port authorities.

Once the bureaucratic red tape was resolved, we got off the ship and got in a van to explore the area. The rest of the day went smoothly!

[The “welcome” image I am including with this post was taken later in the day, but I thought it was appropriate here despite the issues with the paperwork. Welcoming visitors with bread and salt is an ancient Russian tradition ... bread for good health ... salt for prosperity.]Read more
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2019 Nautical Explorations
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- Jul 16, 2019, 10:30am
- ⛅ 59 °F
- Altitude: 23 ft
- Russia Arkhangelskaya Gnevashevo Gorodskoy Kanal 64.543735, 40.5112464°32’37” N 40°30’40” E
Day 12
Arkhangelsk: Monuments & Memorials
July 16, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F
On our way to the open-air museum we planned to visit, our guide stopped at a beach overlooking the Northern Dvina River. Huh! Sure, it was a warm, sunny day ... but not nearly warm enough for us to consider a swim.

Turns out that this spot is rich in monuments and memorials ... all dedicated to the WWII era.

Since photo-captions are character-limited, I’ll explain each monument here ...

Monument to the Participants of the Arctic Convoys ... memorializes the American, British and Icelandic navies that protected the merchant convoys that brought aid to the Soviet Union under the lend-lease program of WWII.

Monument to the Seal ... the hunting of which sustained the local people and helped them to survive through the war years.

Victory War Monument ... dedicated to the lives lost in defense of the USSR during WWII.

Monument to Peter the Great (a little further down the road from the beach) ... erected in 1914, it consists of a statue of the Czar on a pedestal. Ironic, as Mui later noted, since Peter the Great pretty much signed the economic death warrant for the city when he established Petrograd (now St Petersburg).Read more
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2019 Nautical Explorations
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- Jul 16, 2019, 2:30pm
- ☀️ 61 °F
- Altitude: 23 ft
- Russia Arkhangelsk Mys Pur-navolok 64.533353, 40.51639164°32’0” N 40°30’59” E
Day 12
Arkhangelsk: Lunch Time
July 16, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F
I very much would have preferred to spend a little extra time at Malye Korely in lieu of the late lunch we had at Paratov, a floating restaurant back in the city. The food was uninspired IMHO.

The three-course meal consisted of a green salad; a fish soup — broth, really; and a main course that we had pre-ordered ... either beef stroganoff or fish.

It was a short drive from the restaurant back to Nautica where we had time for tea and relaxation before Nautica left its berth around 7:00p.

Next Port: Honningsvåg, Norway ... 595 NM away. But first a day at sea tomorrow.Read more
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You might also know this place by the following names:

Arkhangel’skaya Oblast’, Arkhangel'skaya Oblast', Arkhangelskaya, Oblast d'Arkhangelsk, Arkhangelsk, Архангельская область, Archangelsk

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