A glimpse into history

According to tradition, the Valamo Monastery was founded in the 12th century, or at the latest in the 13th century. Two saints who competed on the island of Valamo, Sergei and Herman of Valamo, are revered as its founders.

The monastery's long history includes periods of both strong growth and difficult trials. The first real flourishing period dates back to the late 16th century. At the beginning of the 17th century, the monastery was destroyed so thoroughly that there was no monastic activity in Valamo for over a hundred years.
The monastery's new rise began with the order given by Peter the Great in 1716 to rebuild Valamo. From the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the monastery experienced a real golden age, both spiritually and materially: Abbot Nasari, who initiated the construction work, and Abbot Damaskin, who continued his work, created a true great monastery in Valamo, with the main monastery surrounded by twelve skete or subsidiary monasteries. The monastery, which relied on agriculture, also had many craft workshops, and the spiritual life of the brotherhood, who diligently carried out obedience duties, flourished, supported by the traditional system of elder guides. The brotherhood was at its largest in 1913, when it included no less than 359 monks and 562 novices.

However, the First and Second World Wars had a dramatic impact on the monastery's history. The monastery, which operated under the Finnish Orthodox Church, was evacuated in February 1940 and the brotherhood of about 200 people found a new home in Papinniemi, Heinävesi.

In the following decades, the continuity of the monastery was threatened as the brotherhood aged and became inexorably fewer. However, the 1970s proved to be the prelude to new growth for the monastery. A new stone church was built on Luostarinmäki and new competitors began to arrive in the brotherhood. The monastery's main source of income also changed with the increase in tourism. Today, the monastery is a place of competition for just under twenty members of the brotherhood, the most significant center of Orthodox culture in Finland and a popular tourist destination.

Monastic tradition

The Orthodox monastic tradition extends from Constantinople and Mount Athos in Greece to the Middle East and the deserts of Egypt. The first Greek monks from the monasteries of Athos arrived in Novgorod and Karelia as early as the 9th century. One of these was Saint Sergius, who traveled via Kiev and Novgorod to Lake Ladoga and was the first to compete on the island of Valaam.

The lives of all Orthodox competitors are united by the same centuries-old rules, whether they compete as hermits, in skits established as places of competition for a few people, or in communal monasteries. The rules of hermit life were created by Saint Anthony the Great (251-356), known as the founder of the monastic system. The rules of communal life were drawn up by Saint Pachomius the Great (286-346). The actual cornerstone of the Orthodox monastic system is considered to be the statutes of Saint Basil the Great (330-379).

Sergei and Herman of Valamo

The monastery chronicle tells that the Greek-born monk Sergei arrived in Valamo on Lake Ladoga as early as the 9th century. According to tradition, he was later succeeded by the Karelian-born monk Herman. The holy fathers Sergei and Herman also showed the brotherhood the way to Heinävesi. The decisive factor in choosing the new location for the monastery was an icon depicting the holy consecrations found in the main building of the Papinniemi manor owned by Minister Yrjö Herman Saastamoinen, whose presence in Papinniemi was considered by the brothers to be a sign of God.

From Lake Ladoga to Heinävesi

The 1917 revolution severed the monastery's ties with Russia. Soon after, Valamo and other Orthodox monasteries within Finland's borders, Konevitsa and Petsamo, were incorporated into the Finnish Orthodox Church. The robe-bearer monks and novices had been called up for the First World War even before the revolution. After these events, the number of those aspiring to become monks fell dramatically and the ranks of the brotherhood began to thin out. By the Second World War, the brotherhood had shrunk to a quarter of its pre-World War I size. The new World War forced the monastery's inhabitants to evacuate. Valamo's valuables were evacuated in February 1940 by Finnish army trucks along the ice road built across Lake Ladoga. The monastery's brotherhood settled in Papinniemi, Heinävesi, that same autumn, where monks from the monasteries of Petsamo and Konevitsa also moved later.

A new rise

By the 1970s, almost the entire brotherhood from Valamo, Ladoga, was resting at the Papinniemi cemetery. Daily services were for a while only led by one elderly priest monk, Father Simforian.

However, the 1970s proved to be the prelude to a new growth in Valamo. At the beginning of the decade, the monastery began translating church service texts into Finnish. This made the monastery's daily services even richer for pilgrims. This revival, which originated from within the monastery, was supported by the idea of building a new church. The stone main church, built with the help of the monastery's many supporters, was consecrated in 1977. At the same time, the monastery switched to the Gregorian calendar and the Church Slavonic language of worship was changed to Finnish. During these years, new competitors also began to settle in the monastery.

From agriculture to tourism

In the early 1970s, the Trapesa café-restaurant, built in an old barn, was opened. The former cart shed was renovated to serve as the Red Guesthouse, and the monastery hotel was completed in 1983. Later, a cultural centre with a library, monastery museum and conference rooms (1984), a service centre with a reception, wine shop, souvenir shop and office space (1986), and a folk high school with accommodation buildings (1989) were built on the monastery hill. The extension of the cultural centre's museum and exhibition spaces was completed in autumn 2006. The monastery still receives a small part of its income from the produce of the land. The harvest from the abundant grapevine plantations is processed into berry wines and liqueurs in the winery that has been operating in the monastery's courtyard since 1998. Herbs grown in the monastery have also been used as raw materials in drinks. In recent years, agricultural activity has grown again with increased horticulture, beekeeping and sheep farming. Craftsmanship traditions are also alive: the monastery has a candle factory, which annually produces about 1,500 kilograms of traditional beeswax wicks for the monastery's needs, as well as other candles and objects made of beeswax. In addition, the brotherhood produces, among other things, prayer beads, icons made using various techniques and souvenirs.

Abbots of Valaam Monastery 1758-

Abbot Jefrem 1758-1781
Abbot Nazari 1781-1801
Abbot Innokenti 1801-1823
Abbot Jonafan 1823-1830
Abbot Varlaam 1830-1833
Abbot Venjamin 1833-1839
Abbot of Damascus 1839-1881
Abbot Jonafan 1881-1891
Abbot Gabriel 1891-1903
Abbot Vitali 1903-1905
Abbot Pafnuti 1905-1907
Abbot Mavriki 1907-1918
Abbot Pavlin 1918-1933
Abbot Hariton 1933-1947
Abbot Jeronim 1948-1952
Abbot Nestor 1952-1967
Archimandrite Simforian 1969-1979
Archimandrite Panteleimon 1979-1997
Archimandrite Sergei 1997-2021
Archimandrite Mikael 2022-

See. Bishop Arseni of Joensuu served as the acting director of the monastery in 2011-2012