What is remarkable about the island of Konevets on Ladoga. Konevets - an island worth visiting

Everyone knows the island of Valaam, where the famous Valaam Monastery is located. However, this is not the only spiritual center on Lake Ladoga. near him west coast, not far from Priozersk, is the island of Konevets. It is known for its Konevsky Monastery.

inhabited island

Administratively, Konevets belongs to the territory of the Priozersky district. It is located just 6.5 km from the coast. The ship covers this distance in about 45 minutes. The nearest point on the mainland is Vladimirovka Bay, which used to be called Chertovaya. By water from Konevets to Priozersk about 40 km, to St. Petersburg - 170 km. The island is 8 km long and 4 km wide.

The island is very low - on average, it rises above the water by only 3 m! The relief is mostly flat, and only the Holy Mountain has a height of 34 m. It was in this place that the legendary appearance of the Mother of God to Elder Joachim took place. There used to be a spring at the foot of the mountain. Now you can see only the remains of the monastery garden and park.

Photo: Bird's eye view of the island

Mount Zmeinaya rises in the center of Konevets. Its height is 29 m. The island has an alluvial origin - the waters of Ladoga created it from sand. On the southwest coast there is sand beach. From this side, for a whole kilometer, it goes into the lake sand bar Arrow. It is studded with multi-colored stones. On the territory you can find many granite boulders - large and small. This is the work of a glacier that brought rocks from the north.

Ladoga is a harsh, cold lake. It largely determines the features of the local climate. The weather is unstable, often overcast. In summer, the temperature can rise to +30 degrees, and in winter it can be severe frosts. Spring comes to Konevets in April, but it is still a cold period. Even in June frosts can happen. At the beginning of summer average temperature air fluctuates around the mark of +12 degrees.

It is warmest in July, when the air warms up to +17 degrees. August is a little cooler. You can swim only in late July - early August. In September, "Indian summer" comes, and frosts are possible at the end of the month. The coldest months are January and February. An icy wind on the island can suddenly blow at any time of the year.

There are many migratory birds on the island. Often you can see graceful swans. The fauna is represented by small rodents, hares, foxes. In winter, wolves sometimes come across the ice from the mainland. There are many wild boars. Luckily, there are no snakes here at all. If you're lucky, you'll see the Ladoga seal. Typical garden plants can surprise you - gooseberries, plums, cherries, currants, apple trees. All this is planted by the hands of the monks in different time. Mushrooms and blueberries grow in abundance.

Legacy of Arseny Konevsky

In the 16th century, Konevets repeatedly passed from the Russians to the Swedes. Finally, he went to Russia only after Northern war, which ended in 1721 with the victory of the Russian army. The importance of the island is evidenced by the visit of Alexander II with his family in 1858. A commemorative stele reminds of this. After the secession of Finland, Konevets came under its jurisdiction. It was only after the end of the Second World War that it finally managed to be returned to the USSR. A naval base was created on it, where missiles and torpedoes were tested. The polygon is still active today.

However, the Nativity of the Mother of God Monastery, founded by Arseny Konevsky from Veliky Novgorod, brought fame to this place. Even in his youth, he made a pilgrimage to Athos, where he was predicted to found a monastery in the North. This happened in 1393. The monastery really appeared on the northern lands in Lake Ladoga. Its main shrine was the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was specially delivered from Athos. Not so long ago, the monastery turned 600 years old!

In ancient times, when the island repeatedly passed to Sweden, the monks left the monastery, and then returned again. The monastery flourished in the 19th century. Influential and famous people. In addition to the emperor, the poet Fyodor Tyutchev, as well as the writers Alexander Dumas and Nikolai Leskov, visited here. It was during this period that a new church of the Nativity of the Virgin with a bell tower was erected. It was built closer to the pier, and the Konevsky and Kazan sketes appeared in the old place.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a whole monastery town was formed on the island. At the pier, the pilgrims were met by the chapel of St. Nicholas. Since the connection with the “mainland” was unreliable, a granary was arranged in one of the towers of the wall, and a food store and a kvass factory in the other. The local library had about 8 thousand volumes! There was a monastery museum. In those days, Konevets was no less visited by pilgrims than Valaam.

The second most important attraction after the Konevsky Monastery is the huge Horse-Stone. A granite boulder 4 meters high has dimensions of 6x9 meters and weighs about 750 tons! The contours resemble a horse's head - hence its name. According to legend, it served as a sanctuary for the Karelians, who in ancient times inhabited the island and regularly sacrificed a horse to this place.

The pagan attribute ceased to be such when Arseny Konevsky prayed near him all night, and then sprinkled the stone with holy water. They say that since then all the snakes have disappeared from here. Given that the island is surrounded by water, this can be classified as a miracle.

Right on the stone then arranged a tiny wooden chapel. The original building has not been preserved. The existing chapel named after the miracle worker Arseniy Konevsky was erected in 1895. At the very top of the boulder, it looks extremely unusual! By the way, it was the Horse-stone that served as the basis for the name of the island.

In addition to man-made, the island has natural attractions. Very picturesque sandy spit, going far into the water. From a bird's eye view, it resembles the long tail of some unknown creature. The scythe is strewn with colored pebbles. If you wet the stones with water, they begin to shimmer like gems. Picturesque sandy shores islands trimmed with even rows of pines. Ladoga carefully “ventilates” Konevets, so there is crystal clear air here.

All over coastline trails have been laid. There is a path leading to Serpent Mountain, one of the most high points islands. East Coast overgrown with reeds. Located in the north military unit, access is denied. In the evenings on Konevets you can admire the picturesque crimson sunsets. Visiting the island gives a powerful boost of energy.

How to get there

All information about the monastery and the island can be found on the official website of the monastery - www.konewets.spb.ru

How to get on your own:
1. Train from Finland Station: the train should be to Kuznechny and you need to go on it to the Gromovo platform. From the Gromovo platform further by bus, which allegedly goes from Gromovo to Vladimirskaya Bay at about 10:00. In the evening the bus leaves for reverse direction from the bay around 18:00. However, on personal experience bus info not verified.
2. By car: follow the Priozerskoe highway to the right turn to the village of Plodovoye and turn into this turn. In the village of Plodovoye the main road will go to the left - you have to go along it. Then we pass through the Urals, Solnechnoye to Zaostrovye. In Zaostrovye - turn right onto the dirt road. And the last leg of the journey - about 5 kilometers along a vile ribbed primer to Vladimirovka, where the pier with boats is located. From the pier regularly (at least throughout the summer on Saturdays and Sundays) boats run to Konevets. Travel time by boat is approximately 35 minutes. There is a large boat (probably used by those who book excursions), another rusty barge, a couple of locals on private small boats. The barge is slower than boats, but costs less. It is optimal to be at the pier no later than 10:00 (but lazy and sleepy people can drive up to 12:00, anyway, most likely, they will sail away).

lighthouse at the exit Vladimir bay

Konevsky Nativity-Bogorodichny Monastery

Cathedral of the Nativity Holy Mother of God

he is

Monastery square

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Upper Church, restoration

Tower of the monastery square

In the lower temple

monastery buildings

Assumption Chapel on the way to the Holy Mountain

Konevsky Skete

Konevsky skit. Details

On the island - almost crystal clear beaches and forests, which is very rare in our time. So, fellow tourists and those who sympathize with them - we don’t pollute the island and take all household waste with us!

Horse-stone

Kazan Skete

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Mount Holy

Vladychnaya bay

Coast of the western part of the island

A. Demkin
Russian pilgrim.
Description of the holy places of the North-West of Russia.

© 2011, Andrey Demkin, St. Petersburg.
Reprinting or other full or partial reproduction of the material is permitted only with the written permission of the author.

Konevets Island and Christmas Bogorodichny monastery

1. Konevets Island lies in Lake Ladoga at a distance of five kilometers from the shore, opposite the Vladimirovka Bay, which was previously called the Devil's Bay. It was to this bay that a flock of black ravens flew away, into which the spirits expelled by Arseny Konevsky from under the Horse-stone turned. In 1396, Arseny, who received a prophecy on Athos about the foundation of a monastery in the north of Rus', descended to an island in Nevo Lake. His ship was twice washed ashore by a wave when he passed the island. Arseny realized that it was on Konevets that he should settle. Arseny settled on a hill (later called the Holy Mountain after the appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos on it). At the foot of the ledge, where his cell was, there is the Horse-Stone, which was revered from ancient times by the pagan Korels. The Korels kept their herds on the island in the summer and in the autumn they left as a gift to the spirits the place of one horse as a sacrifice. The Monk Arseniy cleansed the horse-stone from local spirits by prayer and built a chapel on the stone. The version of the chapel that we see today was built in the early 19th century. In 1398, the Monk Arseny built a church in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin, which Arseny transferred from Athos. (After all the demonic-Soviet repercussions, now the icon is in the cathedral church of the New Valaam Monastery in Finland). The relics of St. Arseniy Konevsky were also desecrated by the communists in 1961-62, as a result of which fragments of his relics found later are found in cancer, which in no way affects the beneficial healing and cleansing power emanating from them.

In the Middle Ages, the monastery played a more important role in the spiritual life of the north of Russia than valam monastery. In the 19th century, the monastery was one of the main shakers of eldership in Rus'. Elder Zosima (Verkhovsky), basilisk (Gavrilov), hieromonk Sylvester (Petrov) labored here.

After the demonic revolution, the island of Konevets remained on the territory of Finland, which saved it from ruin. In 1944, the monks left the island along with the shrines, and many of them died under Soviet bombs. In Soviet times, there was a secret testing ground for chemical warfare agents (sarin, soman, tabun, adamsite, mustard gas, lewisite) and liquid radioactive materials ("dirty" bombs) on the island. These chemical warfare and radioactive substances were tested on various "biomass" (animals). The corpses of the affected animals, the remains of radioactive and toxic substances were buried right there on the island or in the water near the island. ( Data from the official website of the Environmental Human Rights Center "Bellona", indicating the primary sources: former servicemen from the island of Konevets Leonid Petrov and Konstantin Lebedev). Based on this information, the author, as a military doctor, does not recommend pilgrims to stay on the island long time, eat local food, fish, drink local water, as well as sit on the ground, take stones or earth with you, and swim off the coast of the island. It is not recommended to visit the island by pregnant women and persons with young children. However, for adult pilgrims, a few hours on the island, observing the above precautions, will be very valuable. The author found the island one of the strongest holy places in the whole Leningrad region.

In 1990 the monastery was returned to the St. Petersburg diocese. In 1991, under the floor of the temple, the relics of the Monk Arseny were found.

The monastery has a courtyard at 7 Zagorodny Prospekt and a church in Priozersk (Nativity of the Theotokos Cathedral).

Monastic pier in Vladimirovka bay. Take warm clothes with you - the transition along Ladoga is pretty cool.		The berth where the boat of the skipper Seryozha stands.
Skipper Sergei himself on his delivery vehicle to the monastery. Do not wear shoes with heels - it will be uncomfortable.		Those arriving on the island by boat are met by the chapel of St. Nicholas built in 1815. Judging by the smell, in Soviet times it was a fuel depot or a pumping station.
This beautiful building once it was a hospitable home for poor Russian pilgrims. The military turned it into a diesel power plant, and then into ruins. The building was erected in 1866.		memorial sign from the Putilov stone about a visit to the monastery by Emperor Alexander II (the future "liberator" of the peasantry in Russia from serfdom) in 1858.
View of the Cathedral Church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The construction of the cathedral began in 1800 and was completed in 1809. Emperor Alexander I donated money for the temple.		View from the Red Hotel in 1843. The building should be very carefully guarded - it is a rare example of public buildings common in the 19th century in Russia.
Find Larisa Alexandrovna to hear detailed story about the frescoes of the Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.		Frescoes of the Trinity Cathedral with Paradise.
Painting of the upper temple of the Cathedral Church. The fresco depicts Stefan Yavorsky, Metropolitan of Rostov. His own fresco is in the Alexander Svir Monastery. Above it is depicted St. Peter - with a hint at the special relationship between Peter I and Stefan Yavorsky, which ended in the latter's disgrace.		Belfry and Holy Doors leading to the monastery.
View of the monastery, the cathedral and the gate tower from the side of the Assumption Chapel.		Assumption chapel near the secular cemetery. On reverse sides chapel is a very unusual icon. The chapel was built in 1899 on the site of the cross. denoting the place where St. Arseny liked to rest.
Commemorative bricks on which the names of donors are applied with a marker.		Cell boxes.
White stone hotel built in 1874 (room for workers).		Skete in the name of the Kazan Icon Mother of God.
Chapel next to the skete.		Horse-stone and stone chapel. On the side of the stone facing the Holy Mountain, you will see potholes in which coins lie - this is an ancient pagan custom to pay off evil spirits in such places of worship. Fresh coins say that this custom has been alive for a millennium. By the way, the Trinity Cathedral of the Ipatiev Monastery, founded in 1330, was also built on top of a horse-stone - preserved in the monastery below. And they still put coins in it, those who are given to get there.

Near the monastery there is a refectory and a church shop. The best choice and more pleasant service in the church shop in the Cathedral. In the refectory they can offer only tea and sandwiches at an exorbitant price. Therefore, it makes sense to take food with you to Konevets Island and bring tea in thermoses. The refectory sells very beautiful and delicious monastic gingerbread in the form of a cross for 55 rubles each. You can also have a bite to eat on a bench on the pier in Vladimirovka Bay next to the stall of skipper Serezha.

2. Geographical position O. Konevets:

How to get to the island of Konevets: Priozerskoe highway A-129 - before turning to Plodovoe (about 100 km from the ring road) - right turn - then 17 km along the road H196 (asphalt suitable for driving with small pits in places) to Zaostrovye - right turn onto the dirt road and 4 km to Vladimirovka - there is the first possible turn to the left with a sign "Pet Shop" (???) - on the pier there is a gallant skipper and the owner of a stall with a table and benches Sergey. Delivery on a 6-8 seat modern and very high-speed Silver boat to the island and back costs 750 rub from one pilgrim. Serezha is not traded - he has no competitors. The monastery ship costs the same, but does not run every day and most often on schedule (10 am there - 4 pm back). Now the monastery does not restrict the arrival on the island - it is not required to ask for blessings and buy a tour in the pilgrimage service.

14.01.2017

Everyone who is interested in Russian history knows the island of Valaam - iconic place for pilgrims and one of the centers of spiritual culture of our country. But few people know that only fifty kilometers from Valaam, in the west of Lake Ladoga, is the island of Konevets, the cradle of an ancient shrine - the monastery of the miracle worker Arseny Konevsky.

Island on Ladoga

Konevets Square 3.5 times less area Valaam Islands, and its landscape is mainly hills and steep cliffs. East End The coast is replete with small bays that lie between numerous capes protruding into the lake surface. In the depths of the island there is a 750-ton granite boulder - the Horse-Stone, the former cult place of the pagans, used by them for sacrifices. The name of the island came from the name of this stone.

The picturesque natural composition of Konevets is complemented by the bay, which in the old days was called Chertovaya, and in our time it has been renamed Vladimirskaya. The trip from the bay to Konevets by boat will take about an hour. And here are the ones closest to the island settlements separates from the island a much greater distance: 40 km by water to Priozersk - the regional center in the Leningrad region, and 170 km to St. Petersburg.

Foundation and development of the monastery

The Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin was founded on the island by the monk Arseniy Konevsky at the end of the 14th century. At the same time, the monks began to build a temple on Konevets. But in the early years of the 15th century, due to regular floods, the monastery buildings were moved from the coast to the island hills.

The monastery is located there to this day, being the main attraction of the island.

Konevets was twice attacked by Swedish troops, who in the 17th century completely destroyed the monastery. The monastic brethren had to urgently move to the Novgorod lands and seek asylum in the Resurrection Monastery.

Only in the 50s of the XIX century, when the island was part of Finland, the buildings on Konevets were recreated almost in their original form. A fertile time began for the monastery - it was visited by Alexander II, writers Nikolai Leskov and Alexander Dumas, poet Fyodor Tyutchev and many other prominent figures of Russian and foreign culture.

Konevets in the 20th century: from decline to revival

The revolution of 1917 did not affect the way of life on the island, since Konevets was still under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Finland at that time. However, the number of monastic brethren decreased, because none of the Russian priests wanted to enter the service in the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery.

Shortly before the war between the USSR and Finland in 1939, the monks left the island and removed several bells and iconostases from it, however, most of the utensils remained on Konevets, occupied by Finnish troops.

After the end of the Soviet-Finnish war, the monastery brethren returned to the island and began to restore the ruined and devastated monastery.

But in 1944, when Konevets passed to the USSR, the monks had to leave the island and move to Finland.

And only at the end of the 20th century the monastic life on Konevets was revived - about 20 monks settled on the island, built a bakery, started producing cheese and started livestock. Today, the brothers live not only on the income from the bakery, cheese factory and farm, but also on the help provided by the convents Orthodox Church and the Finnish society "Konevets".

temple complex

The main attraction of Konevets is the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, which houses a shrine with the relics of the miracle worker Arseny, as well as the icon of the Mother of God of Konev.

Despite the fact that over the course of several centuries the temple was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, its architecture has preserved the traditions of ancient Russian architecture. However, in the appearance of the temple, the features inherent in baroque and classicism are guessed. But in general, the structure is distinguished by a surprisingly harmonious composition.

Close to temple complex outbuildings are located: barns for animals and stables, as well as huts for cattlemen. Near the temple you can also see a couple of solid buildings - pilgrimage hotel and a house for workers (seasonal workers).

chapels

The chapel, built on Konevets in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of sea travelers, is visible from afar - its height exceeds 7 meters. Due to the fact that the Nikolskaya chapel is located near the pier, it is the first island shrine that pilgrims see when they set foot on the shore of Konevets. The stone chapel with ascetic decoration was founded in the 19th century by hegumen Hilarion, the author of the monastic charter.

In place of the cross erected by the monk Arseniy with his own hand in last years XIV century, five centuries later, a chapel was built in the name of the Assumption of the Mother of God. Nowadays, the Assumption Chapel is beautiful building Konevets. The walls of the building are made of carved wood in the old Russian style with the addition of oriental flavor. Crossing the threshold of the chapel, you can see the icons depicting Arseny the Wonderworker and St. Euthymius.

Sketes

On the site of the construction of the first monastery complex, in the bay, there is the Konevsky Skete. It was founded at the end of the 19th century and was a beautiful five-domed church from white stone and a two-storey high cell building. The carved iconostasis, the decoration of which resembled malachite stone, was considered the pride of the church.

But during the Great Patriotic War the skete was destroyed. Only in 2003 the buildings of the church and cell building were restored.

To the north of the Assumption Chapel, on a hilly hill surrounded by a pine forest, is the Kazan Skete. Part of the buildings that make up the skete were erected during the life of Arseny the Wonderworker and happy accident have come down to our days in their original form.

In the central part of the skete there is a temple built in the late 18th - early 19th centuries in the style of ancient Russian architecture. The temple is surrounded by cold summer and warm winter cells of the monastic brethren, a refectory room and pantries. The territory of the Kazan Skete is surrounded by a fence, along the edges of which there are two more small outbuildings - a summer vestibule and another cell.

Holy Mountain and Horse Stone

If you go around the Kazan Skete on the left side, you can go to the path leading to the Holy Mountain. Walking along a winding path through numerous hills and forest thickets, you will find yourself at the northern foot of the Holy Mountain, near which the Horse-Stone is located. This giant boulder gets its name from its resemblance to a horse's skull. There are many legends associated with the Horse-stone and mystical stories. Before the arrival of the monk Arseny on the island, the pagans held rituals near the boulder, in which horses were sacrificed. The place sprinkled with blood served as a refuge for evil spirits, who were expelled from the island by the monk Arseny. According to legend, the black spirits flew away towards the bay, which later became known as Devil's. After the expulsion of the "demonic force", the founder of the Konevsky Monastery built a small cell on the Holy Mountain, where he lived alone for three years.

Later, during the erection of the first monastic buildings, a small wooden chapel was installed on the top of the Horse-stone. Like many buildings, this chapel was destroyed several times. The chapel, which can be seen on a boulder today, was built in the last years of the 19th century. Her hallmark architectural appearance are decorative carved window frames. You can get inside the chapel by climbing a simple wooden staircase. The interior decoration is modest and simple: the walls and ceiling are painted white, in the center of the hall there is a lectern for reading prayers and several icons.

Memo to the pilgrim

You can get to the island in the following way. From the Finnish railway station in St. Petersburg by train you need to get to the village of Gromovo, which is located in the Priozersky district of the Leningrad region. In Gromovo, you need to take a bus to Vladimirskaya Bay. So you will find yourself on the shore of Lake Ladoga. A monastery boat will take you to Konevets Island during the navigation period. This trip will take about an hour. However, when setting off on a journey, you must take into account the following features: the boats do not run according to the schedule, and the captain of the boat will not let you on board without the permission of the Pilgrimage Service of the monastery.

IN winter time from the bay to the island you can walk on the ice of Lake Ladoga. But it should be remembered that access to the ice must also be agreed with the Pilgrimage Service or the abbot of the monastery.

Konevets Island, on which the Konevsky Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery is located, which made it famous, is located in the western part of Lake Ladoga, 5 kilometers from the coast.
In this place, far into Ladoga, a cape juts out, limiting the convenient bay of Vladimirovskaya (the monks sometimes call it Devil's). The entire cape is occupied by the village of Vladimirovka and the naval base. The military is also present on the island of Konevets, at its northern tip. In summer, they move to the island by boats, and in winter, when the ice becomes strong enough, they use caterpillar all-terrain vehicles. Today the military unit is half empty, the ships that once plied the expanses of Ladoga, for the most part flooded in Vladimirovskaya Bay and near north coast islands.

The greatest length of Konevets does not exceed 5 km, and the average width is 2 km. West Bank The islands steeply break off to the lake for almost the entire length and have a narrow strip of beach under the ledge. On the eastern side, the island is distinguished by its indented coastline - elongated narrow peninsulas and wide bays between them. Stony shoals here stretch for hundreds of meters from the coast; some of them are densely overgrown with reeds. As if wanting to connect Konevets with the shore, a sand spit goes far into the lake from the southwestern tip of the island, serving at the same time as a natural breakwater for Vladychnaya Bay, where monastery boats come. Most of the island is covered with pine forest. There is snow on the island for about five months of the year. Summer is cool, with temperatures of +18...+20.

The name of the island comes from a boulder weighing more than 750 tons - the Horse-stone, which until the end of the 14th century served as a place of pagan sacrifices. The inhabitants of the coast (korels), who used the island as a pasture, annually sacrificed a horse on this stone.

How to get there

To get to the island, you need to St. Petersburg take an electric train from Finlyandsky railway station to Priozersk or Kuznechnoye stations (up to 6 departures a day in summer) and get off at Gromovo station. There take the bus Sosnovo - Vladimirovka (4 times a day). In an hour you will find yourself on the coast of Ladoga. It is better to take the first train from St. Petersburg (~ 7h20min), as buses run infrequently, and it is better to have a reserve of time. From the village to the island in the summer you can get on a boat that runs without any schedule. This creates some inconvenience, since people on the boat are not required to take you with them and take you back from the island. However, a small fee makes them more accommodating. In winter, there are much fewer problems - a distance of 5 kilometers can be walked on ice in an hour and a half (numerous paths leading to the island have been trodden in this place).

The bus stops in front of the gates of the military unit. After passing through them (for this you need to ask permission from the gatekeeper, which today is a pure formality), you will see a high water tower, from which the paths go towards the island. The island is clearly visible from the shore, so it is impossible to get lost. You should not come to the island in late October - early December and late March - early April. You can get to a moment when there is no navigation, and the ice is still not strong enough. Another not the best time for visits is June. This month is loved by mosquitoes. As you can see, getting to the island is a bit of an adventure in itself!

You can spend the night on the island, putting up a tent in the forest, or asking to visit the monastery. In the latter case, it is recommended to be Orthodox. In the village, located on the coast, on the territory of the military unit there is also small hotel, belonging to the monastery and designed for pilgrims. There are practically no amenities in it, but you can spend the night. Given the small size of the monastery and the island, it can be seen in one day.

History pages

The monastery was founded at the end of the 14th century by the Monk Arseny Konevsky from Novgorod the Great. In 1398, a church was founded in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin, located on the banks of Ladoga. However, already in 1421, due to a flood, Arseny transferred the monastery to more high place where he remains to this day.

Twice, in 1577 and 1610, the Swedes captured the island. The Konevsky monks were forced to leave the monastery and settle in the Derevyanitsky Resurrection Monastery near Novgorod. After the devastation in 1610, the island of Konevets was under Swedish rule until the end of the Northern War, victorious for Russia, the cathedral was practically destroyed.

The buildings that have survived today were built mainly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. At this time, and account for the heyday of the monastery. Emperor Alexander II with his family and retinue, writers Leskov, A. Dumas, F. Tyutchev and Nemirovich-Danchenko came here.
During the coup of 1917, the monastery was not damaged, as it ended up on the territory of Finland that gained independence. However, the number of monks was noticeably reduced, as there was no influx of novices from Russia. Before the Soviet-Finnish war, the headquarters (in a stone hotel) and two coastal artillery batteries of the Finnish army were located on the island. With the beginning of the war, some of the utensils were taken out, but most of them remained - the iconostases and bells of all churches, except for the bells of the Kazan Skete. In 1941, when the island again became part of Finland, some of the monks again arrived on the island, trying to revive the monastic life. All the churches, except Nikolsky, were completely ruined by that time. On August 19, 1944, the last of the brethren left the island forever, which had gone to Soviet Union. After a period of wandering, 32 Konev monks settled in the Hnekka estate in the Keitele commune, where the monastery existed until 1956. On August 31, 1956, the nine surviving monks moved to the New Valaam Monastery in Papinniemi, taking with them the miraculous Konev Icon.
Beginning in 1990 modern stage the history of the monastery. Today, there are more than 20 monks on the island, and active restoration work is underway.

The monks are for the most part subsistence farming, although, of course, they receive significant outside help. The monastery has its own bakery and cheese factory, its own garden and farm. Furnaces are heated in the old way - with firewood. In winter, sleds are used for business trips.

Attractions

The main attraction and shrine of the monastery is a magnificent building Cathedral Church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a cathedral in which the relics of the Monk Arseny Konevsky are buried. The place for construction was chosen by him back in 1421, after the flood, and since then more than one temple has been built here, but each time on the foundation of the first one.
In terms of volume and layout, the building follows the traditions of ancient Russian architecture, representing an eight-pillar temple with a protruding altar in the form of three semicircles of apses, a central cubic volume and a vestibule in the western part. The central volume is crowned with five domes on octagonal drums. The silhouette of domes with cupolas, the shape of the windows, the arched cornices above them, the pilasters are inspired by architectural style baroque, which until recently dominated the architecture of St. Petersburg. In general, the cathedral building absorbed the traditions ancient Russian architecture, the motifs of the Baroque era and the influence of the classicism that has gained strength, harmoniously combining all this. In the late 60s of the 19th century, the cathedral building received an addition from the western side in the form of an extension with a turret, which made it possible to arrange a closed entrance to the second floor, in addition, an additional area for the sacristy appeared.
If you go east from the temple to the Kazan Skete, then you can not help but pay attention to the outbuildings. On the right we see a stone two-story building with mezzanines building for workers, built in 1874 by architect I.B. Slupsky. On the left side - stone two-storey hotel Built in 1861, behind it you can see the stone barnyard, erected in 1826. A little further to the east there is a wooden stable with a courtyard in the middle, with two huts for grooms and workers - a rather rare example of an outbuilding in our time, which has been preserved almost in its entirety. It should be noted that the fact that the monastery was located on an island, access to which was restricted by the military, saved the monastery from final destruction. local residents, which is the lot of many churches in continental Russia.

Further, the road deepens in a wide clearing into Pinery, against the background of which on the right side you can see the silhouette of an amazingly beautiful wooden chapels in the name of the Assumption of the Mother of God. The chapel was built in 1899 to replace the cross that stood on the spot where St. Arseniy liked to rest. The architecture of this elegant building is designed in the Russian style.
Leaving the forest, the road climbs to the picturesquely located on the top of the hill. skete in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. We see the very first of the stone buildings preserved on the island.

The construction of the skete began in 1794 with the laying of a stone church. The temple was erected in the center of a rectangular courtyard formed by a fence and one-story cell houses. The architectural image of the temple bears the features of ancient Russian architecture.
Rectangular yard with north side encloses a solid one-story building, in which warm cells and a common meal with pantries were arranged. The southeastern and southwestern corners of the stone fence were occupied by one-story houses for one cell with cold vestibules.

The skit road ends here, but a path goes to the left, winding up the hill and disappearing into the thickets of the forest. Along this path, we come to the northern slope of the Holy Mountain, where at the foot lies a huge boulder measuring 9 x 6 and 5 meters high, shaped like a horse's skull. We go down the stone steps and find ourselves next to this miracle of nature, on top of which there is a small wooden chapel. This is the very pearl of the island - chapel on Horse-stone. The chapel was erected after the Reverend Arseny drove out the evil spirits that lived, according to legend, under the Horse-stone. The last version of it, later updated more than once, apparently can be attributed to 1815.

There is no doubt that a trip to this island, remote from noisy tourist trails, is covered with beautiful pine forest, towering over the boundless expanse of Lake Ladoga, can leave vivid impressions!

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