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UNESCO to look into Russia's Solovetsky Islands as World Heritage Site

On July 2-12, the 41st session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee took place in Poland, the historical and cultural complex of the Solovki Islands was among other landmarks viewed at the forum

The Solovetsky Monastery on the Solovetsky archipelago Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

The Solovetsky Monastery on the Solovetsky archipelago

© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/. Experts of the UNESCO, International Council on Monuments and Sights (ICOMOS) and International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) will visit the Solovetsky archipelago to look into its possible designation as a World Heritage Site, the Russian regional government of Arkhangelsk, where the islands are located, said on Thursday.

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"On July 2-12, the 41st session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee took place in Krakow (Poland). The historical and cultural complex of the Solovki Islands [also known as the Solovetsky Islands] was among other landmarks viewed at the forum. International experts prasied the work underway so that the Solovetsky Archipelago can be granted a World Heritage status," the Arkhangelsk regional government’s press service said.

"Also, the session approved the decision to send a joint mission of UNESCO, ICOMOS and ICCROM to the Solovetsky Archipelago in the foreseeable future," they said noting that a timeframe for the international experts’ visit to the Arkhangelsk Region would be made public in the near future.

Listing the Solovetsky Islands as a World Heritage Site will help regulate the processes of development and preserve the unique heritage of those islands individually and to implement plans for upgrading the archipelago’s infrastructure facilities.

The Solovetsky Islands, or Solovki, is an archipelago located in the White Sea’s Onega Bay. It covers an area of 347 square kilometers, being the largest archipelago in the White Sea. The islands and a five-kilometer area of the White Sea around them are incorporated into the Solovki State Historical, Architectural and Natural Museum-Reserve. The Solovetsky Monastery is the major landmark and spiritual center on the islands.

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Russia to spend $22 million to restore Solovetsky Islands World Heritage Site

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