SOLOVETSKY LIGHTHOUSE

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

Image removed from public review package. Local review only · not public no-info · image48.jpeg The name of the lighthouse was given by the largest of the group of islands located in the White Sea at the entrance to Onega Bay (see figure on p. 62).

The islands are famous for the ensemble of the Solovetsky Monastery - a historical and natural museum-reserve. Some historians believe that it was the appearance of a monastery in the 30-40s of the 15th century on these once wild and uninhabited islands that contributed to the settlement of the shores of the White Sea and the development of intensive navigation here.

The monastery was founded in 1429 by the monk Savvaty, who arrived here from the Valaam Monastery on Ladoga. By the middle of the 19th century, the Solovetsky Monastery had turned not only into one of the major religious and economic centers in the North of Russia, but also into a well-fortified fortress that protected Pomerania from attacks by the Germans, Finns and Swedes.

The monastery maintained close connections with all the White Sea ports. He exported large quantities of salt, timber, wax, fish, leather, furs to the mainland and imported bread, sugar, fabrics, glass, and industrial goods. In the summer, up to 50 thousand pilgrims visited the islands. Without developed shipping, such activities on the islands would be impossible.

By the middle of the 19th century, the monastery had not only small courts

a, but also two steamships “Vera” and “Nadezhda”. The monastery workshops could not only carry out almost all ship repair work, but also build new ships. The main building of the monastery itself had a convenient protected harbor of Blagopoluchiya with a pier.

To ensure the safety of navigation in the area of ​​the islands, milestones and cormorants were installed. But by the 1860s, when large steamships from Arkhangelsk and other White Sea ports began making regular trips to the island, a more advanced navigation fence was required, capable of ensuring safe navigation not only during the day, but also at night.

In 1859, ship owners turned to the Hydrographic Department of Arkhangelsk with a request to secure the approaches to the Solovetsky Islands. “In the area of ​​the Solovetsky Islands,” they wrote, “shipping is very developed, there are many dangers, but the sailor still has nothing to identify himself at night, and because of strong currents, many are in distress.”

In August 1860, the assistant to the head of the Hydrographic Department of Arkhangelsk, staff captain of the Corps of naval navigators Zarubin, reported to the Hydrographic Department: “During my detour around the White Sea to designate the locations of new lighthouses and inspect the existing monasteries in Solovetsky

The archimandrite (Father Porfiry) expressed that he was ready to build a lighthouse under the cross on the newly built church on Sekirnaya Hill. This location is very elevated and there are many ships sailing here, both to the monastery itself and past to the Pomeranian [ports], where navigation is most developed... A lighthouse here would be very useful for Russian navigation... Part of the costs... the monastery is ready to take on itself” [14].

Zarubin’s proposal was supported by the commander of the Arkhangelsk port, Rear Admiral K.I. Istomin, noting that the lighthouse on the Solovetsky Islands should be classified as “the most important,” especially considering that in the near future an increase in the number of foreign ships is expected to go to Kem for timber, as well as leaving the ports of the White Sea to fisheries, Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen.

The Hydrographic Department recommended that before installing the lighting apparatus, a thorough study of the area in order to select the most “useful lighting angle” was recommended.

In 1861, Zarubin, having visited the Solovetsky Islands, reported to the Hydrographic Department: “The terrain is steep, elevated, and very convenient for a lighthouse - the fire does not close.

Many ships sail here, especially in autumn, a dangerous time for navigation. Return

Coming from Norway or Arkhangelsk, [ships] were repeatedly broken on these shores, the cargo was lost, and there was no insurance company.

The fire will illuminate most of the sea all around: all the Kem skerries... the approach to the city of Kem, where it is planned to build a sawmill; approach to the large village of Shuya, which has many ships. Coastal navigation is quite developed here until late autumn. The lighthouse will support navigation. Military ships often come here too.

It is convenient to make lighting using the previous system (catoptric - Author) with reflectors and not all around, but without the coastal side - from N0 58° through NWS to SO 20°. It is necessary to make a special lantern so that it is convenient and does not spoil the appearance of the church. The lighting apparatus can be hung without touching the columns of the bell tower, lamps with reflectors can be placed in the current windows, two in each window... The abbot of the Solovetsky Monastery, Archimandrite Porfiry, agreed to maintain the lighting with government-issued materials. Only one specialist is needed for service at the expense of the treasury” [ibid].

In May 1862, the lighthouse lantern was installed and trial operation of the lighthouse began on August 1.

On August 4, 1862, the Hydrographic Department published the following notice in the St. Petersburg Gazette: “The Hydrographic Department has the honor to make known to the Maritime Department in Belo

m sea, at the entrance to Onega Bay, on Solovetsky Island... in the upper part of the church on Sekirnaya Mountain, to illuminate the NW part of the horizon, a lighthouse lantern with three argand lamps with reflectors was installed. The fire in this lantern in the navigation of the present year 1862 was assigned for the experiment to be lit from August 1/13 to November 16/28...

The mountain is located on the northwestern side of Bolshoi Solovetsky Island. The church is at the very top of the mountain, the fire is on top of the dome and the bell tower under the cross in an octagon, the pillar of which is wooden. The fire is constant, ordinary.

Now the fire is burning in three of the eight windows. Illuminates space from N0 12 '/° through W to SW 711 /°. In the future there will be six lamps in six windows.

The church is stone, unpainted, and has octagonal wooden pillars. The height of the fire from sea level is 410 feet, and from the base 90 feet.”

Initially, it was assumed that the lighthouse, as promised by the abbot of the monastery, would be maintained by monks under the supervision of a caretaker appointed by the Hydrographic Department of Arkhangelsk. However, Archimandrite Porfiry unexpectedly abandoned his promise to allocate people, saying that he did not see any benefit for himself from the lighthouse, except for unnecessary troubles and costs, and he did not have “capable

to such a matter of people.”

The real reason for this turn of affairs was different: the abbot feared that “the actions and lifestyle of the lighthouses, which do not correspond to the life of the hermits, would disturb the peace of the brethren.”

After much persuasion and persuasion, in which both the commander of the Arkhangelsk port and the head of the Hydrographic Department took part, they agreed that the Hydrographic Department would appoint a keeper and one ordinary sailor to the lighthouse, and the monastery would allocate two novices or one hired worker to help them with a salary of 10 rubles. per month.

In 1888, the lighthouse lantern was rebuilt: the wooden partitions were replaced with iron posts, new mirror glass was inserted, and a gallery was built around the lantern outside. At the same time, the number of lamps in the lighting apparatus was increased from three to eleven, placing them in two tiers.

In 1897, the monastery nevertheless accepted the lighthouse for full maintenance. For the work of a novice caretaker and two monastery workers, the White Sea Lighthouse Directorate paid the monastery 350 rubles. per year (at other lighthouses of the White Sea, maintaining a crew cost 600-800 rubles per year).

In 1904, the catoptric lighting apparatus was replaced by a dioptric 3rd category, which increased

lo the visibility range of the fire.

After the monastery was closed in the 1920s, the lighthouse was maintained by a keeper appointed by the White Sea Lighthouse Directorate (from 1922 Ubekosever) and several workers hired locally. With the formation of the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp (SLON), prisoners began to be widely involved in servicing the lighthouse. In 1923, the lighthouse was transferred to the Administration of the Northern Camps of the GPU.

In the 1940s, when the islands were the Solovetsky military port of the Northern Fleet, the lighthouse, according to unconfirmed reports, was served by military sailors. The hydrographic department of the fleet placed a manipulator post on it.

In the 1960s, the lighthouse was overhauled and switched to power. Currently together with Sekirna

church, it is part of the Solovetsky Monastery and is maintained by it under the supervision of the Solovetsky group of navigation equipment.

The beacon operates in automatic mode, illuminating a sector from 171 to 48° with a white flashing light, providing a visibility range of up to 10 miles. The height of the fire from the base is 27 m, and from sea level 98 m.