Wandering Camera

Album 199
(Translated by
Victoria Terarsenian)

 

The nature and the “backyard” of Valaam.

 

Monastery’s storage building. Most probably it dates back to the 19th century.

The mess and debris that you see are quite typical, but not for the whole island. The construction works are at its peak here: something is getting painted, built, restored. You feel the scale of work here. Most probably it has just started.

A construction with an unknown purpose. I hope they did not dump sinners’ bodies from it :)
Local power station

A diesel-powered one.

An entrance to the Old Brethren Cemetery.
Quite an expressive angel (?) on a high pole by the cemetery gates.
Monks and priests are buried at the cemetery, since the 19th century (I think).
One cat was chasing another, and when it jumped into an open window it hid in the tall grass, waiting for the “victim” to come out.
One of the monastery structures
Since it is virtually impossible to cover the whole archipelago in several hours, we have decided to look for the St. Nicolas Skete.
That was not easy, considering locals’ or just passersby’ poor knowledge of the island’s geography. Finally, we have managed to get to the right path.

Please remember that it’s almost impossible to walk along the shores as the paths soon end.

The poles are fixed this way in order not to cut into the rocks.
Another way of doing it.
As you can see from the pictures, the nature is very beautiful.

The island even boasts its own Air Force Base… A small one… Only around 15 people.

It is worth noting that the islands of Valaam were inhabited since the 10th century. In the 12th century Valaam belonged to the Novgorod principality.

As for fauna, Valaam is a habitat to more than 123 species of birds. It is also a home to elks, foxes, hares, squirrels, field mice, minks, moles, adders and grass snakes.
 

When the lake freezes and the ice becomes quite thick around mid-February, the auto connection is established with the city of Sortavala.
Here we are.

There is Nikolsky (St. Nicolas) Skete on the island of the same name.

Unfortunately, there is no passage to the island. Therefore we can only enjoy its view from afar.
St. Nicolas church (in the name of St. Nicolas the Miracle Worker of Myra)
It was built in 1833 by A. Gornostaev.
This concludes our tour of Valaam and we are sailing back to the mainland. No, not on this boat :)

Another album about Valaam - Winter Valaam

 

 

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