Bolshoy Zayatsky Island

In the mid-16th century monks of the Solovetsky monastery organized a transit port on this island that later grew into the St. Andrew hermitage.

There are 35 labyrinths on the Solovetsky archipelago and 13-14 of them are located on Bolshoy Zayatsky Island alongside more than 600 stone mounds[2] which suggests a particular significance of this place for a prehistoric population.

A widely spread version regarded Zayatsky island as a burial site, however, excavation of one of the labyrinths in early 1930s as well as the dismantling of several mounds in the 1980s did not provide any results to prove such a claim.

Another theory regarded the labyrinths as built to mark the entrance to the Saiva – the land of dead in Sámi mythology.

According to the latest hypothesis, only two labyrinths are estimated to be around 2000 years old while the other seven were constructed in the late medieval period preceding the foundation of the monastery.

In the mid-16th century abbot Philip (Kolychev) ordered to build a stone harbor to provide shelter for pilgrim and merchant boats.

In 1702 the Solovetsky monastery was visited by Peter the Great who at that time was leading a war against Sweden for control over the Baltic Sea.

In 1854 after an unsuccessful bombardment of the monastery English sailors landed on Bolshoy Zayatsky island to replenish supplies of water and food.

The island doesn’t have a permanent population but during the tourist season, two keepers (one from the museum and one from the monastery) take residence there.