Brief information about the social program

ISLAND VALAAM. Valaam Monastery.

The island of Valaam within an archipelago of islands in the Ladoga Lake does deserve its world fame. The island hosts a functioning friary with its chronicle dating back to the X century, Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, the St.Peter and Paul Church and several skits that preserve spiritual values and are magnificent monuments of Russian architecture. Besides all this are combined with the island’s unique nature.

The monastery is under immediate jurisdiction of Alexy II, the Patriarch of All Russia, who visit the island every year.

ISLAND KIZHI. Reserve of Kizhi.

This small island is a unique quarter of the Russian land in the Onega Lake where the famous ensemble of Kizhi temples is located, including over 80 monuments of wooden architecture, created by old masters several centuries ago.

The Church of the Transfiguration (1714) is a world masterpiece of wooden architecture. Five tiers of 22 domes, wonderfully changing color during the day, look magnificent from any point of the island.

The iconostasis in the Church of the Pritecting Veil was selected from the richest collection of old icons from churches throughout the Onega region.

There is also one of the oldest monuments of Russian wooden architecture, the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus from Murom Monastery (2nd half of the XIV century).

Since 1993 the museum of Kizhi has been under the auspices of UNESCO.

SVIRSTROY. Alexander Svirsky Monastery of Saint Trinity

Russia has a good many holy places but Alexander Svirsky Monastery of Saint Trinity is a unique one. It was here that a vision of the trinity came to the reverend Alexander Svirsky. In 1484 he founded a monastery which is deservedly considered a pearl of Russia’s North. In 1997 the monastery began servicing anew. The reverend Alexander Svirsky’s incorruptible relics are a thing sacred for the monastery.

Today the monastery has opened its gates to tourists. Visitors examine the monastery buildings, the Cathedral of Trinity (1695) and its ancient frescoes, the Church of the Protecting Veil (1536) and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration (1644).

A pine forest, proximity to the Svir river, and two large lakes impact a picturesque air to the cloistral landscape.