The ferst prisoner of the serious prison Solovetsky fortress

The author considers the problem of the State and Church prison of the monastery of Solovky (150 km from the Arctic Circle, at the White Sea), which was established in the early 16th century. Later on the strong fortress of great boulders was erected (1582-1595) there, including the prison. One of the most severe departments of the prison got the name of Golovlenkov. But the earliest location of the prison as well as its design and the fate of its first prisoner stayed unknown. The task of the research was to identify the exact location of the prison as well as to trace the life of its first prisoner, a certain Golovlenkov. To fulfill the task the new sources were attracted such as: the financial documents of the monastery, the decrees of the State, the descriptions, measurements and drawings of the 18th century (especially the sketch of the layout of the prisons of Solovky of 1743), as well as the results of the excavations and the architectural examiner of the fortress. It was known, that Ivan Vasilevich Golovlenkov was the nobleman from the city of Torzhok. By the decree of the 1586/1587, issued by the Tsar, he was imprisoned and chained to the wall. Till the 1605-1607 he was pardoned and took the vows. The new texts were found at the records of the monastery books. They clarified the situation. Golovlenkov took the woes as the brother Joseph (around 16051607), he got the pardon and visited Moscow to see the Tzar. Later on, he died (27.09.1619) and was buried at Solovky. The research discovered a lot of mistakes in the mapping of the Golovlenkovs' prison in of the late 19th - late 20th centuries. They located it weather in the Tower of Archangel or at the Mill's Yard, in the house for drying. The authors of the descriptions considered that the prison was the underground one and Golovlenkov was thrown to the pit. The comparison of the available new data bring us to conclusion that the Golovlenkovs' prison was incorporated to the fortress' wall to the North from the Tower of Archangel, in the chamber of the third lower embrasure. According to the description of the monas tery prison of 1743, the Golovlenkovs' prison had two side-rooms ("chambers"). Also, the new map of that prison of the early 18th century was found in the archive as the confirmation for all the details. There were two passages from the embrasure to the north and south chambers. The bands of iron to fasten the prisoners' chains were discovered in both of them, attached to the western wall. Their remnants were discovered by the excavations. As the result of the analysis the authenticity of the early maps and descriptions was proved and the location and design of the Golovlenkovs' prison we re clarified. The floor in the chambers was made of sand, and under the sand there were layers of boulders - to avoid an undermining. Golovlenkov was chained to a wall at the Autumn of 1586 or at the Summer of 1587. The analysis of the wall led us to the conclusion of a certain changes involved by the necessity to incorporate the prison into the original plan of the construction. They were made directly in the course of work.

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