You Won't Recognize Russia's Old Gulags

Solovki, Vorkuta, Kolyma — the names are still tinged with the tragic events of the 1930s and 40s. But few know what these place are like nowadays.

The Bolsheviks turned the heavenly Solovetsky Monastery into a living hell. Wooden bunks for internees were built inside the churches; the altars and iconostases were smashed, precious wares were confiscated. And the former monastic cells and remote sketes for hermit monks were converted into barracks and insolators.