KEM REGIONsights

Lepostrov Island, the historic center of Kem

On this small island in the middle of the Kem river the monks of the Solovetsky Monastery built a fortress town in the XVIIth century on site of the delapidated old prison.

The Assumption Cathedral in Kem, 1717

Researchers call the Assumption Cathedral the “encyclopedia of Northern folk wooden architecture of the early XVIIIth century”. The contrast between height and volume was the main composition technique in building the Cathedral.

The Assumption Cathedral in Kem, 1717

The porch of the Cathedral

The Trinity Chapel near the Assumption Cathedral

Внутренняя архитектура памятника под стать наружной: строгость и суровость

The Assumption Cathedral in Kem, 1717

Fretted holy gates

In the refectory

The Assumption Cathedral in Kem, 1717

Carved icon, XVIIth centuryThe gallery window

Fretted pillar of the porch

Russky and Nemetsky Kuzov archipelago islands of the Kem skerries

View from the top of Nemetsky Kuzov island

Kuzov Islands

These islands boast archaeological monuments discovered in the 1960s. These cult constructions are called “seids” (sacred stones) and labyrinths.

More than 800 different stone constructions have been discovered on the islands. Among them are 8 ancient settlements, 2 labyrinths, 2 large (the only ones in the European North) and 2 smaller cult complexes.

Kuzov Islands

Scientists believe that seids are connected with the ancient Sámi people of this area. In the Sámi language a seid (or “seide”, “seite”, “saivo”) is a sacred stone.

Seids of Nemetsky Kuzov island are connected with the Pomor legend about the petrified “Germans” (as the Swedes were called here) who were punished by the God for trying to attack the Solovetsky Monastery.

Labyrinths of the White Sea islands Bolshoy Zayatsky island

Olyeshin island

Stone labyrinths date back to the II – I millennia B.C. In the North they were called the Babylons as any other fancy pattern. There are many hypotheses regarding their purpose from the models of fishing traps to the receptacles of the souls of the dead.

Kuzov Islands

You can come across 24 species of rare and vulnerable birds and mammals on the Kuzov Islands. 15 of them are on the Endangered Species Lists of Russia, Karelia and Scandinavia.

Gridino village

This is one of the oldest Pomor settlements where the Russians and Karelians lived together.

The village, which layout dates the late XIXth – early XXth centuries, stretches along the river from west to east. It is situated on rocky terraces which are linked by picturesque pedestrian wooden bridges.

Gridino village

The village boasts many architectural monuments of the late XIXth – early XXth centuries. Among them is St. Nicholas Church, a complex of grave constructions in the village cemetery, dwelling houses, barns and banyas (saunas).

There are very few modern houses built in Gridino which fortunately don’t distort the historic look of this Pomor village.

Gridino village

The Pomor cemetery

Kalgalaksha village

The name of the village comes from the Sámi word “kealg, kealgan” which means “a mossy place good for pasturing deer".

In the village cemetery you can find a group of grave constructions of the late XIXth – early XXth centuries. It includes 6 “houses” and 19 posts that are placed on top of the graves.

Panozero village

Panozero is situated 100 km east of Kem right between the Russian White Sea area (or Russian Pomorje) and the western Karelia. The village boasts 17 monuments of architecture including St. Ilya the Prophet Church, dwelling houses, banyas and barns.

St. Ilya the Prophet Church is situated in the cemetery’s fir-grove. It links two parts of the village – the one on the mainland and the one on the island.

Panozero village

Popov island Rabocheostrovsk village

Here from 1923 to 1936 there was a concentration camp of Kem, part of the GULAG camp on the Solovki islands. A building of the penal jail, a waterlogged barge which was used to transport the prisoners to Solovki and a destroyed camp pier have still remained.

Prisoners of war cemeteryNear Kem

This is a commemorative stone in memory of the prisoners of war from Hungary buried here.

A big metal cross with a former door to the concentration camp cell attached to its lower part was placed in memory of post-war events when German prisoners lived in the camp for political prisoners.

KEM REGIONsights