the monastery was renowned as a strong fortress which repelled foreign attacks during the Livonian War (16th century), Time of Troubles (17th century), the Crimean War (19th century), and the Russian Civil War (20th century). In 1974, the Solovetsky Islands were designated a historical and architectural museum and a natural reserve of the Soviet Union. In 1992, they were inscribed on the World Heritage List "as an outstanding example of a monastic settlement in the inhospitable environment of northern Europe which admirably illustrates the faith, tenacity, and enterprise of later medieval religious communities". Today, the Solovki are seen as one of the major tourist magnets in the orbit of the Russian North. Labor camp After the October Revolution, the islands attained notoriety as the site of the first Soviet prison camp (gulag). The camp was inaugurated in 1921, while Vladimir Lenin was still at the helm of Soviet Russia. It was closed in 1939, on the eve of World War II. By the beginning of the war, there was a naval cadet training camp for the Soviet Northern Fleet. Transportation The islands are served by the Solovki Airport. There is regular air service to Arkhangelsk, as well as ferry lines (summertime only) to Arkhangelsk, Kem, and Belomorsk. See also List of islands of Russia References Notes Sources Further reading Brumfield, William. Solovki: Architectural Heritage in Photographs (Moscow: Tri Kvadrata, 2008). . . In English and in Russian. Robson, Roy. Solovki: The Story of Russia Told Through Its Most Remarkable Islands (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008). . External links Archipelagoes of Arkhangelsk Oblast Archipelagoes of the Arctic Ocean Geography of Gulag Landforms of the White Sea Russian and Soviet Navy bases World Heritage Sites in Russia