Pilgrimage Route in Honor of Victims of Persecution to Open in Russian North

Pravoslavie ^ | 6/15/18

[marshmallow]

A new pilgrimage route, “Arkhangelsk North of Special Purpose,” in honor of the victims of Russia’s bloody 20th century, will soon open, reports the Arkhangelsk Diocese.

The project won $7,950 (500,000 rubles) in the international grant competition “Orthodox Initiative 2017-2018.” The pilgrimage route will cover Arkhangelsk, Solovki, Letnyaya Zolotitsa, Yarenga, Cape Hare, Petrominsk, and Luda.

The project is aimed at spreading knowledge about the feat of the Arkhangelsk New Martyrs of the 20th century and at preserving the memory of these tragic pages of the history of the Russian North.

The authors of the project explain the sad history behind it:

There is a period in the rich history of our country that many would like to forget. After the revolution, the Arkhangelsk North became a territory “of special purpose”—there were forced labor camps, concentration camps, and special settlements here. People who were objectionable to the new authorities were brought here from all over Russia to be destroyed. The revolution brought huge losses, blood, and political atheism to Russia. 100 years ago, our little homeland became a “northern Golgotha.”

The first to go on the “History of the Gulag on the Summer Coast of the White Sea” expedition will be researchers, priests, and public figures. They will study the places of stay and execution of the victims of repression and gather educational materials on the victims of those terrible times.

The priests will celebrate molebens at the former Gulag sites, where millions perished.