Translated material
Inexplicable craving - “Valaamka”
Kira and Ira met at a volunteer program at the Valaam Monastery. They quickly found a common language and began to spend a lot of time together, talking about their lives and religious issues. For several years now, they have been coming to the island together as volunteers. This place became a meeting place for them. Here they can meet like-minded people and devote more time to prayers
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The island is covered with coniferous forests and exhibits a variety of landscapes: hills and valleys, cliffs and swamps, lakes and streams. Valaam is home to 10 species of mammals and more than 120 species of birds. This place is also known for its unique climate. The seasons change here 2-3 weeks later than on the mainland
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Arriving on the island, volunteer Ivan first worked as a janitor, and then became a full-time photographer at the monastery. His mother is an icon painter, and he has been traveling to Valaam with his family since childhood. According to him, it is very difficult for him to live in a big city, so he decided to live on an island for some time. The island has become a second home for him, where he can always return. Despite this, he says that Valaam is a hothouse environment; you cannot stay here for a long time, because this place breaks your will and kills your ambitions. After living on Valaam for several years, he returned back to St. Petersburg, but every summer he continues to come to Valaam
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Church service in the main cathedral of the Valaam Monastery. In Orthodox churches, the space inside is always conventionally divided into two parts: men pray on the right side of the temple, women pray on the left
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Roma and Nastya, volunteers. They have been together for 3 years, and it has become a tradition for them to come to Valaam every year to help the monastery. Roma has been a church member since childhood, and Nastya began to become a church member after a trip to Valaam. Now she works on Orthodox radio
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Guides of the Valaam Monastery in their room. Despite its remoteness, Valaam attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. For this purpose, the monastery hires guides seasonally. This is a community of very different people: they are all of different ages, have different professions, live in different regions of Russia and the world. Every year, if possible, they come to work on Valaam for several months during the tourist season - from May to October
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Bible on the bed. Reading is one of the main activities of volunteers. Since many of them have jobs and families, there is not enough time to read books at home. During their stay on Valaam, volunteers prefer to read spiritual literature. Every week there is a meeting with the priest where people can ask any questions
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Alena came to Valaam for the first time as a volunteer. She was impressed by the atmosphere of the place and the people who live here. She says it was here that she felt a deep connection with God. One of the monks gave her her first cross. When leaving, she promised that she would definitely come back here again.
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The island can only be reached by ship. The nearest settlement is 40 km from the island on the mainland
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Volunteer Zhenya on a walk with a local dog. In the background, Sasha is playing the violin, who lived half his life in Valaam, but was forced to leave after the liquidation of the village. Every year in the summer during the season he comes to Valaam and plays his mother’s violin for tourists
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Ira poses on her bed with a book. Ira worked as a volunteer for the first time on the island of Valaam. Like many volunteers, she had spiritual questions. By reading literature and communicating with priests, people find answers to their questions
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Artem has been living on Valaam Island for more than four years. Before coming here, he worked as an organizer of music raves. After going through some life difficulties, he decided to enter a monastery. Now the only things that remind him of his past life are his green tattooed eyes, some other tattoos and scars on his body. When asked how he sees his life in the future, he calmly replies: “As God wills.” An interesting phenomenon on the island is that people come here for a week or two but stay for months or even years. Some would like to join a fraternity in the future, but most simply like the monastic lifestyle and the distance from the mainland
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A group of volunteers near a wooden cross on the island of Lembos, part of the Valaam archipelago. On this island there is a monastery - a small church in which only a few monks live. This lifestyle allows the monks to retire and live a more strict ascetic life
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Volunteer Ira on the shore of Lake Ladoga. Ira came to the island of Valaam as a volunteer for the first time. Like many volunteers, she had spiritual questions. By reading literature and communicating with priests, people find answers to their questions
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Volunteers Yulia and Katya drink tea while walking around the island
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Boat on the shore. Valaam Island is located in Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe. The boat is the main means of transportation between the mainland and numerous islands
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Katya, a volunteer, sits on a bed in the common room where she lives with other volunteers. This is her second time on the island. Katya is a sensitive person and loves to draw and embroider. According to her, it is difficult for her to understand her purpose in life, which makes her feel confused. Katya loves this place because she feels peace and quiet here
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Forests on the remote island of Lembos, part of the Valaam archipelago. On this island there is a monastery - a small church in which only a few monks live. This lifestyle allows the monks to retire and live a more strict ascetic life
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Monk Igor stands on a rock. This place is called Rocky Shore and is located in a remote part of the island. From here you can enjoy a breathtaking view of Lake Ladoga and the surrounding rocks
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Entrance to the upper temple of the main cathedral of the monastery
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Konstantin has been a novice in the monastery for more than five years. He lives and works on a farm, caring for goats, cows and raccoons. When he has free time, he likes to sing and play the pipe.
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Image of an icon in the volunteer room. Some people who have visited the monastery many times as volunteers bring their icons to create a corner where they can pray during the day
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One of the chapels on the island of Valaam
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Novice Andrey. At the beginning of 2025 he became monk Tikhon
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Novice Nikolai came to the monastery more than 10 years ago. All this time he works in the monastery as a stoker.
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The island is covered with coniferous forests and exhibits a variety of landscapes: hills and valleys, cliffs and swamps, lakes and streams. Valaam is home to 10 species of mammals and more than 120 species of birds. This place is also known for its unique climate. The seasons change here 2-3 weeks later than on the mainland
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Evgeniy's hands. He lived on Valaam for several years, working in a refectory. He previously studied at a theological seminary, but did not graduate from it. The tattoos on his fingers read: “Rejoice, Love, Believe, Pray, Repent, Be.” In his hands is the Valaam cross, which he always wears and which is very dear to him, because his grandmother gave it to him. Similar crosses with atypical patterns were common in Christian Scandinavia and the Russian North. On the Valaam crosses there is no image of the crucifixion, which dates back to the ancient pagan tradition. Instead, the decoration of the cross consists of seven circles
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Julia with her son Luke, whom she named after one of the apostles
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Arch at the entrance to the monastery farm
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Elena with her mother Tatyana Vladimirovna, who is now 87 years old. In the summer season, Tatyana lives on Valaam, and in the winter she leaves for the mainland. She likes it here because it is important to her that the place is filled with spirituality. She goes to services, this is the most important thing for her now
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A photo of Victor and his classmates (below) and a collective portrait of students with their parents (above), taken in 1974, when Victor was finishing 8th grade at a school that used to be on the island of Valaam
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Victor is sitting in the kitchen in his apartment on the island of Valaam. He was born on Valaam in 1959 and is one of the few local residents who still live on the island. In 1989, after many years of decline during Soviet times, monastic activity resumed on Valaam. At that time, about 700 people lived on the island and the entire social infrastructure was created. In 2016, the village was abolished and local residents were forced to leave the island and their homes
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Valaam Island is located in Karelia. This region is known for its beautiful, untouched nature. Coniferous forests and rocky terrain are common here. Despite the fact that the island has infrastructure, there are many impenetrable forests. There were cases when people got lost and could not be found for several days. Volunteers and tourists are always advised not to walk through the forest alone, so as not to get lost and accidentally encounter wild animals.
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Handmade cross made in Valaam
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Carving of a cross on a rock, dated 1820
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Konstantin has been a novice in the monastery for more than five years. He lives and works on a farm, caring for goats, cows and raccoons. When he has free time, he likes to sing and play the pipe.
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