New Valamo Monastery
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New Valamo or New Valaam (, or more informally, especially in the postal address: ''Uusi-Valamo'', , ) is an
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
in
Heinävesi Heinävesi (; ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Savonlinna, V ...
,
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. The monastery was established in its present location in 1940. However, the tradition of the Valamo monastery dates back to 1717. The monastery was then originally established on
Valaam Valaam (; ) is an archipelago in the northern portion of Lake Ladoga, lying within the Republic of Karelia, Russia. The total area of its more than 50 islands is 36 km2. The largest island is also called Valaam. Other named islands are: Ski ...
(also known historically by the Finnish name ''Valamo'') which is an archipelago in the northern portion of
Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...
, lying within the
Republic of Karelia The Republic of Karelia, or simply Karelia or Karjala (; ) is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the Northwest Russia, northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of ...
in the
Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. The New Valamo Monastery is now an active centre of the Orthodox religious life and culture in Finland and welcomes visitors throughout the year.


History

In 1939, during the
Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...
, some 190 monks from the Valamo Monastery in
Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...
Evacuation of Finnish Karelia, were evacuated from their old abode on a group of islands in
Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...
in the
Viipuri Province Viipuri Province was a Historical provinces of Finland, historical province of Finland from 1812 to 1945. History The predecessor of the province was Vyborg Governorate, which was established in 1744 from territories ceded by the Swedish Empi ...
to present Eastern Finland. The old Valamo Monastery was occupied by the armed forces of the Soviet Union quite soon after the outbreak of the
Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...
. After a temporary dwelling place the monks decided to settle down in Heinävesi in Eastern Finland. The choice fell on a mansion in Papinniemi, Heinävesi, after the monks had found there, quite surprisingly, an icon of St. Sergius and St. Herman of Valaam, the founders of the monastery in the 12th century. The monks considered this to be a sign from God. Having received evacuees from the Konevsky (Konevitsa) and Pechenga (Petsamo) monasteries, it is now the only monastery for men of the
Finnish Orthodox Church The Orthodox Church in Finland (; ) is an Autonomy (Eastern Orthodoxy), autonomous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The church has a legal position as a national church in th ...
. In 1977, in connection with the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Orthodoxy in Finland, the stone Transfiguration Cathedral was built in the monastery according to the design of the architect Ivan Kudrjavzev.


2012 Fire

In March 2012, there was a fire in the old main building of Papinniemi estate, which also served as the first main building of the monastery. The building had been built in 1840. The attic of the building was destroyed in the fire. It had been used as a storage space, and there were no valuables in it. All the valuable artifacts from the lower floors had been successfully removed during the fire, with the exception of the furniture. The furnaces of the building has been in poor condition, and their use had been prohibited for several years. However, one of the furnaces had been used for heating, and in a police investigation it was found that the fire had started from the cracks of the chimney. A couple of foreign extraction, who had been living in the building, were prosecuted in the Southern Savo Local Court. The court did not find sufficient evidence to back the claim that the furnace had been used for heating. The case was tried in December 2012. The damages of the monastery amounted up to 1,6 million Euros. The State of Finland was ordered to pay some of the expenses of the man who had been accused of causing the fire.


The miracle-working icons in Valamo

The best-known miracle-working icons at Valamo are those of the Mother of God of Konevitsa and the Mother of God of Valamo, both located in the main church.


Monastery activities and economy


Economy

The monks of the New Valamo Monastery live a communal life of spirituality founded in the Ascetic tradition of the Orthodox Church. According to the ancient tradition, the monastery should support itself fully. At present, the main source of livelihood for the New Valamo Monastery is tourism: over 160,000 people visit the monastery each year, and all of the revenue goes directly to wards the maintenance and development of the premises. As a result of the financial crises 2008 the monastery too has had to face some financial challenges. This has led to for example co-determination procedures. During 2003-2013 the financial reports of the monastery have shown a surplus in two years. 2012 the result was positive mainly because 2012 the monastery received insurance reimbursements due to the fire incident in its main building. 2013 the monastery had debts of one million euros, and annual turnover reaching approximately 2,5m euro. The distillery operations of Valamo have shown healthy results every year, for example 2014 a surplus of 89.000 euros.


Monastery's distillery

The Christian faith is linked by tradition to wine and other alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverage making skills have been preserved and passed down within monastery wall for centuries. This tradition continues at the New Valamo Monastery. The annual capacity of the Valamo distillery is 120,000 litres, and it is the biggest distillery in Finland. During 2014 and 2015 the operative distillery company Viiniherman Ltd has made additional investments of 1 million euros into the distillery. Viiniherman Ltd is owned by majority by the monastery and the distillery is located at the monastery's' premises. They built a modern 500 square metre warehouse to Ilomantsi, Finland. So they will ship all of the whisky distillates from Valamo to Ilomantsi warehouse for maturation. Some of their whisky will have a church wine cask maturation, while some will be matured in bourbon casks. Valamo will produce peated and unpeated malt whisky. The capacity of the new warehouse is 450,000 liters and their current pot for whisky making is 1,000 liters, which allows for an annual production of 40,000 liters.


2016–2017 art sales

In 2016–2017, an art sale exhibition was organized at the Valamo Monastery in Heinävesi, curated by the then Bishop of Joensuu, Arseni (Heikkinen). The owner of the works was stated to be an “Eastern Finnish family”, represented by a certain Jussi Savolainen. According to ''
Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...
'', Savolainen and his wife had acquired the key works in the exhibition in the 2000s. In the business records, the owner is Savolainen’s wife’s company. The monastery and the Philanthropy Association, which has been reported to be channeling the proceeds to the victims of the Syrian war, received a commission from the sales. The honorary chairman of the Philanthropy was Archbishop Leo (Makkonen). According to ''
Turun Sanomat is the leading regional newspaper of the region of Southwest Finland. It is published in the region's capital, Turku and the third most widely read morning newspaper in Finland after ''Helsingin Sanomat'' and ''Aamulehti''. History and profile ...
'', the “family story” behind the exhibition is fabricated. According to experts interviewed by ''Helsingin Sanomat'', the works on sale did not represent the best of the artists’ production and were overpriced. Talk of “museum-quality” works was misleading buyers. According to Savolainen, auction houses do not know how to price art correctly. According to investigations by ''Helsingin Sanomat'', the prices of the works were many times, even tens of times, those of the auction houses in previous sales. According to research by the
Finnish National Gallery Finnish National Gallery (, ) is the largest art museum institution of Finland. It consists of the Ateneum, an art museum; Kiasma, a contemporary art museum; and the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, a historic house and art museum. The organization's ...
, the graphic works by Picasso,
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
and
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
that were on sale as “test pieces” at the exhibition were counterfeit
inkjet Inkjet printing is a type of printer (computing), computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper or plastic substrates. Inkjet printers were the most commonly used type of printer in 2008, and range f ...
prints. According to Savolainen, 10–20 copies of the works were sold for around 80 000 euros. In 2020, Savolainen and his wife were given suspended jail sentences by the North Savo Magistrate’s Court.Pohjois-Savo Magistrate’s Court judgment 20/113385, Case number R 19/420, pp. 88–90, 88–90, issued on 3 April 2020. In 2021 the end result of Savolainen’s and his wife’s trial at the Eastern Finland
Hovrätt The courts of appeal in Sweden and in Finland, also known as in Swedish and in Finnish (literally 'Royal Court'), deal with appeals against decisions of the district courts. They also are responsible for supervising the operations of the dis ...
was the same.Eastern Finland Hovrätt Decision 21/126411, Case number R 20/703, pp 90, 99, issued on 15 June 2021. The wife tried to take the case to the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, but the court refused to hear it.


Hegumens of the monastery

The following persons have served as
hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen (, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, or an archpriest in the Coptic Orthodox Church, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of ...
s (father superiors) of the monastery: * Yefrem 1758–1781 * Nazary 1781–1801 * Innokenty 1801–1823 * Yonafan I 1823–1830 * Varlaam 1830–1833 * Veniamin 1833–1839 * Damaskin 1839–1881 * Yonafan II 1881–1891 * Gabriel 1891–1903 * Vitaly 1903–1905 * Pafnuty 1905–1907 * Mavriky 1907–1918 * Pavlin 1918–1933 * Chariton 1933–1947 * Yeronim 1948–1952 * Nestor 1952–1967 * Simforian 1969–1979 * Panteleimon 1979–1997 (later
Metropolitan of Oulu Metropolitan of Oulu is the title of the Orthodox bishop of the Oulu Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Finland. The position was created in 1980, when the diocese was created. History When Archimandrite Elia was ordained as the Metropolitan of Oul ...
, since 2013 retired) * Sergei 1997–2011, 2012–2022 (later Bishop of Hamina, vicar bishop of the Helsinki Orthodox Diocese) * Mikael 2022–


See also

* List of Christian religious houses in Finland *
Lintula Holy Trinity Convent Lintula Holy Trinity Convent or Lintula Convent ( or ; ) is a small Eastern Orthodox, Orthodox Christian convent located in Palokki, Heinävesi, Finland, close to the New Valamo Monastery. The current leader of the monastery is Abbess Ksenia. The ...
, Finnish Orthodox monastery for women, situated from New Valamo, in Palokki, Heinävesi."Lintulan Kroniikka" (The Chronicle of Lintula ) edited by Archmandrite Panteleimon (1992) p. 96


References


External links


Official site of the New Valamo Monastery in Finland
(in English)
Sounds of the Church Bells of Valamo
{{Authority control Heinävesi Valamo monastery (Heinävesi) Christian monasteries established in the 20th century Neoclassical architecture in Finland Buildings and structures in South Savo Museums in South Savo Religious museums in Finland Orthodox Church of Finland