Solovki: Architectural Heritage in Photographs

The Kennan Institute is pleased to announce the appearance of Solovki: Architectural Heritage in Photographs, volume nine in the "Discovering Russia" series, published in Moscow by "Tri Kvadrata" Publishers with the support of the Kennan Institute. This book is devoted to the architectural and historical heritage of Great Solovetskii Island. The text and photographs are by William Craft Brumfield, a leading western specialist on the history of Russian architecture, Professor of Slavic Studies at Tulane University (New Orleans), and honorary Fellow of two Russian national academies: the Academy of the Arts and the Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences.

The volume begins with the author's text, in Russian and in English, on the history and architecture of the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior, with prominent attention given to the formation of the main monastic ensemble in the 16th century. The text is accompanied by a selection of the author's color photographs of the monastery and its natural setting, including two aerial views, one of which shows the 19th-century granite causeway between Solovetskii and Great Muksalma Islands. The frontispiece displays an engraved "plan" of Solovetskii Island from 1800.

The main section of the book contains black-and-white photographs of the monastery buildings and walls (including unique interior views of the Transfiguration Cathedral shortly after its structural restoration in the 1990s), as well as photographs of chapels and other structures surrounding the monastery. Also included are nearby sites on the island such as Khutor Gorka and Sekirnaia Gora. The negatives for these photographs, taken during the author's trips in 1998 and 1999, are preserved in the William Brumfield Collection at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. The captions are in English and Russian, and include the date of each photograph. 104 pages.

This publication continues the "Discovering Russia" series of books dedicated to the historic regions of Russia and their architecture. The series, containing Brumfield's previous books on the areas of Tot'ma, Irkutsk, Tobol'sk, Solikamsk, Cherdyn', Kargopol', Chita and Buriatiia, is intended for those interested in architecture, history, photography and regional studies.

ISBN: 978-5-94607-102-5