Valaam & Sortavala А

Introducing Valaam & Sortavala А

The Valaam Archipelago, consisting of Valaam Island and about 50 smaller islands, sits in northern Lake Ladoga. The main attractions here are the 14th-century Valaam Transfiguration Monastery(Valaamsky Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastyr; 38182, 38233; www.valaam.ru) and the beautiful tree-covered island on which it stands, with its many bays and headlands. The island can be reached by boat or hydrofoil, mid-May to mid-October.

Most agree that the monastery was founded in the late 14th century in part as a fortress against Swedish invaders, who managed to destroy it completely in 1611. Rebuilt in the 18th century with money from Peter the Great, the monastery burned down in 1754 and was rebuilt again in the 19th century. When the Soviet Union took northern Lake Ladoga from Finland in WWII many of the monks and much of the monastery's treasure were moved to Finland. The Soviet authorities turned the monastery into a home for war invalids.

Monks started returning to Valaam in 1989 and today it has a community of about 200 monks. Restoration work at the main monastery complex and the outlying minor monasteries known as skity is ongoing.

The usual jumping-off point for Valaam is the sleepy town of Sortavala, on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga. Just off Sortavala's central pl Kirova, Sberbank (ul Komsomolskaya 8) has a 24-hour ATM.

On the island, the centrepiece is the monastery's Transfiguration Cathedral with its five blue domes. The island has a unique microclimate which in the past even allowed monks to grow large watermelons. From the small pier near the monastery where you arrive from Sortavala, it's a blissful walk of about 5km through forests and meadows to the bigger harbour where boats from St Petersburg tie up.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009