Labyrinths of Zayatsky Island

The labyrinths of Zayatsky Island are a group of ancient stone arrangements on Bolshoi Zayatsky Island in the Solovetsky archipelago, in the White Sea, Primorsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast. About 35 labyrinths are known on the Solovetsky Islands, and 13 or 14 of them are concentrated on this small island, which makes it the main place to see the Solovetsky labyrinths.

Layout

The stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island are low spiral arrangements, round or oval, usually 3 to 20 metres across; the largest is described as about 25 metres wide and counts among the biggest in the Russian North. They are built of local boulders set in rows, with the lines coiled into a spiral, sometimes a double one. The entrance and exit are usually in the same place, most often on the south side, though other layouts occur. Many of the labyrinths are now overgrown with shrubs.

History of research

The earliest mention dates from the early 19th century, when Archimandrite Dositheus wrote of a labyrinth on Zayatsky Island supposedly laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. Scholarly study began in the early 20th century. In the 1920s the researcher N. Vinogradov linked the labyrinths to a cult of the dead. The priest Pavel Florensky dated them to deep antiquity, as far back as the Neolithic. In 1948 the archaeologist N. Gurina suggested they were used for rites connected with fishing and hunting. There is still no agreement on their origin or age.

The mystery and the hypotheses

Most often the labyrinths are tied to funerary beliefs: the spiral may have marked the border between the world of the living and the world of spirits, and the rites performed on it may have helped the soul of the dead on its way, or kept it from returning. Another theory sees them as models of complex fish traps used to learn how to set nets. Some also suggest they served as astronomical calendars. None of these ideas is proven, and the riddle of the labyrinths keeps drawing visitors.

Getting there

The Solovetsky Islands can be reached by plane from Arkhangelsk (about 50 minutes) or by train to Kem or Belomorsk followed by a 2 to 2.5 hour boat trip. Excursion boats run to Bolshoi Zayatsky Island from Bolshoi Solovetsky Island: the nearest shores are about 1.5 km apart, the piers about 10 km, and the crossing takes around half an hour. Besides the labyrinths, the island has St Andrew's Skete, and its landscape is noticeably different from that of the main island.