After arrival to the bay of Bolshoy Solovetsky island most of ship passengers follow the long concrete road that leads to the excursion office of Solovetsky museum. The office is situated just in front of a tower of Solovetsky fortress.
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| View of the Solovetsky monastery and fortress from the excursion office |
Here the official guides of Solovetsky museum join their groups and the excursions inside the monastery actually begins.
Somewhere in the fortress centre you'll see the most essential building of the monastery - the cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, also commonly called just Transfiguration Cathedral (in russian "Preobrazhensky Sobor"). The cathedral looks very high and majestic and currently is being restored.
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| Solovetsky Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour |
The entrance to the cathedral is located right in front of the entrance to the fortress and monastery.
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| The Entrance of the Transfiguration Cathedral |
The building of the cathedral is fully joint with other parts of the monastery. Inside this one great building you'll find a lot of interesting architectural details.
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| Closer View to an Arch in the Base of the Cathedral (Behind this Big Bell) |
... But, at least when I visited Solovetsky monastery the excursion started not from the cathedral itself but from a small church located near these bells, on the photo below.
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| Bells Right in the Yard of the Monastery |
After visiting the church we started rather long "walk" through different halls, stairs and passages inside monastery. Frankly speaking, it's not easy to remember all the architectural elements I've seen there.
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| Refectory of the Monastery (monks usually had their meals here) |
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| A Window in the Refectory |
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| One of the Passages in the Monastery |
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| Somewhere Inside the Monastery |
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| Again Somewhere Inside the Monastery |
From the monastery itself we followed to the fortress walls and towers...
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| Inside One of the Fortress Towers |
