Solovki Monastery was founded in 1436 by monks Zosima.
Monks Herman and Sabbatius from St. Cyril of White Lake (Belozero) Monastery originally lived on the island from 1429 to 1436, and are also considered founders of the monastery. From 1926-1939 the Solovki Monastery and the islands were used by the Soviet regime as a cruel and notorious concentration camp—the first in the Gulag system.
The monastery in the later Soviet period was converted into a museum and national park, and then partially returned to the Church after the fall of Communism. Today it is once again a flourishing monastery.
