The Solovet­sky arch­i­pel­ago com­pris­es six islands in the west­ern part of the White Sea, cov­er­ing about 300 km² . They have been inhab­it­ed since the 5th cen­tu­ry B.C. and impor­tant traces of a human pres­ence from as far back as the 5th mil­len­ni­um B.C. can be found there. The arch­i­pel­ago has been the site of fer­vent monas­tic activ­i­ty since the 15th cen­tu­ry, and there are sev­er­al church­es dat­ing from the 16th to the 19th cen­tu­ry.