Bay Vladimirskaya Konevets timetable. Konevets - what sights to see. Foundation and development of the monastery

But the fact that there, at a distance of sixty kilometers from it, there is still the island of Konevets, until recently, almost no one knew. Konevets is located in the west of Ladoga. At this point, a cape seems to cut into the lake, creating a bay there, bearing the name Vladimirskaya, or, as the monks who lived on the island called it in former times, Devil's.

The distance between the bay and the island is about seven kilometers. The city of Priozersk, closest to Konevets, is located forty kilometers from the island, if we talk about the waterway. But the waterway to St. Petersburg is not at all close, about one hundred and seventy kilometers.

Konevets Island is much smaller than Valaam, it stretches for eight kilometers in length and four in width. In the western part of the island, its entire length of coast is a rather steep cliff. But on one of the ledges there is an opportunity to go down to the lake, a sandy steep path leads to it. The coast of the eastern part of the island seems to be completely indented. This impression is created because of the many peninsulas, between which there are bays.

A lot of pine trees grow on Konevets. The climate is harsh: winter lasts almost five months, and summer does not please with warmth. The air temperature rarely rises above twenty degrees.

The island of Konevets got its name thanks to a huge boulder - the Horse-stone, one of the attractions of the island, which until the fourteenth century was a place of sacrifice for pagans. In our time, the island has become famous thanks to its Konevsky Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery.

History of the island Konevets.

At the end of the fourteenth century, Arseny Konevsky founded on Konevets monastery. At the same time, construction began on the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, founded in those days on the shores of Lake Ladoga. And at the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Monk Arseny decides to move the monastery to a hill, as there was a constant threat of flooding. Today the monastery is located there.

Despite the fact that the island is small and unremarkable, it was captured by the Swedes twice: at the end of the 16th century and at the beginning of the 17th. During the Swedish rule, the Konevsky monks were in the Resurrection Monastery, located near Novgorod. The cathedral of the monastery on Konevets at that time was almost completely destroyed.

Those monastic buildings that we see today were erected at the end of the nineteenth and at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was the most fertile time for the monastery. Konevets was visited by the emperor, famous Russian and foreign writers and playwrights. In the seventeenth year, when the revolution took place in Russia, this did not affect the monastery, since the island at that time belonged to Finland. But there were fewer and fewer monks, since no one went to Konevets from Russia.

During the Soviet-Finnish war, the headquarters and some units of the Finnish troops were located on the island. Before the start of the war, the monks were able to partially take out the monastic utensils, however, most of it remained on the island, including: iconostases, bells of all churches. It was possible to save only the bells of the Kazan Skete.

Before the Second World War, the island of Konevets again went to Finland and the monks began to return to revive the monastery. The monastery was in a very deplorable state, everything was destroyed and ruined everywhere. Only St. Nicholas Church survived. And at the end of the summer of 1944, Konevets, which already belonged to Soviet Union, left all the monks. They went to Finland, where they lived in the commune of Keitele until the middle of the twentieth century.

In August 1956, ten of the thirty-two surviving monks returned to the New Valaam Monastery, founded in Finland. They had the miraculous Konevskaya icon with them. Since the end of the last century, twenty monks returned to Konevets and began to restore the monastery. In addition to the income from their subsistence farming, in our time they receive decent help from outside. The monks themselves bake bread, make cheese, they have a garden and some livestock. Heating on the island is still carried out by wood, and movement is by sleigh. Electricity is available only in the house left by the military, and even that is autonomous.

Sights of the island Konevets.

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This is the main attraction of the island. In the cathedral church are the relics of the founder of the monastery - Reverend Arseny Konevsky. The temple is located on the very spot that he chose for its construction. Throughout the history of the island, on the foundation laid by the Monk Arseny, a temple was erected more than once. The building of the temple in its architecture is more related to the ancient Russian traditions, but the influence of baroque and classicism is also noticeable. However, it all looks very harmonious. To the east of the temple, on the way to the Kazan Skete, you can see the outbuildings of the monastery. Two large buildings, built in the second half of the nineteenth century: a house for workers and a hotel, behind which there is a barnyard, built at the beginning of the 19th century. Even further to the east there is a wooden stable, almost completely preserved to this day, it is a courtyard and two huts for stable workers.

The fact that there was a secret secret on Konevets Island military base, possibly served to the benefit of the monastery and saved it from complete ruin, since access here was prohibited.

Nikolskaya chapel.

Everyone who travels by waterways is patronized by St. Nicholas. This is also remembered at Konevets. Almost on the pier is St. Nicholas Chapel, built in the early nineteenth century. This is the first thing people who arrive on the island see. At the time of its foundation, it was a building made of stone with a wooden cross; parting and grateful prayers were held in the chapel. Nikolskaya chapel, seven and a half meters high, was visible from afar. All the temples and chapels of the island are modestly decorated, and Nikolskaya is no exception. The founder of the chapel was hegumen Hilarion, he also wrote the charter of the Konevets monastery. On the territory of the monastery there was not only a chapel, but also a temple built in honor of St. Nicholas.

Konevsky skit.

The skete is named after the icon of the Mother of God, located in the Konevets Monastery. The Konevsky Skete is located where the first monastery was built - in Vladychnaya Bay. Before its foundation, there was only a modest chapel here, as a memory of the fact that a monastery was founded there. The construction of the monastery began at the end of the nineteenth century. A beautiful white-stone church with five domes was the decoration and center of the skete. It contained a magnificent iconostasis, all carved, with a finish reminiscent of malachite. In addition to the temple, the skete had a cell building - a two-story building. Everything was destroyed. And only at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the buildings were restored and services began in them.

Assumption Chapel.

This building is located in the place of the island of Konevets, where there used to be a cross, at which the Monk Arseniy prayed. The Assumption Chapel was erected at the end of the nineteenth century in honor of the Assumption Mother of God. At the entrance to it were the images of the Monk Arseny and St. Euthymius. Currently, the chapel has been restored and is one of the most beautiful wooden structures. Wood carvings harmoniously combine several styles: Russian traditional art, classics and even some oriental motifs.

Kazan skit.

Coming through Pine forest road, then rises to higher ground. There, on the hill, is the Kazan Skete, which was built in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. On its territory are miraculously surviving stone buildings, one of the first on the island of Konevets. In 1794, the first stone was laid for the construction of the temple, which was located in the very center of the monastery. In addition to the temple, on the territory of the skete there are one-story cell houses. The skete is surrounded by a fence. By architectural style the temple can be attributed to ancient Russian architecture. In the northern part of the skete, there is a long one-story building, which, as it were, encloses the courtyard. In this building there were warm cells of the monks and a refectory with pantries. There are two more houses located at the corners of the fence, in which there is only one cell and an unheated canopy.

Horse-stone.

At the Kazan Skete, the road breaks off. But if you go left along the path, which winds intricately through the hills and thickets of the forest, then it will eventually lead to the northern part of the Holy Mountain. At its foot is a huge stone (boulder), which is very similar in shape to a horse's head. To this stone you can go down the stone steps. A wooden chapel was built at the very top of the boulder. This is one of the significant sights of Konevets Island - the chapel on the Horse-stone. According to legend, this chapel was built after the expulsion of evil spirits from under the stone by Reverend Arseny. The chapel, like all other buildings on the island, had to be restored more than once. Last construction the chapel fell on 1815.

How to get to Konevets Island.

You can get to the island in various ways, depending on the time and degree of comfort. Electric trains run from St. Petersburg to Priozersk or Kuznechny, they depart from the Finnish Station. You need to take an electric train to Gromovo station. From there, a bus runs along the route Sosnovo-Vladimirovka, on which you will get to the shore of Lake Ladoga. Boats that go from the village to Konevets do not have a clear schedule. Yes, and in order to take you with you, you have to negotiate. It is in summer and in winter you can walk. Only five kilometers along the people of Ladoga.

Better not to come to Konevets late autumn or in late spring, as navigation has already ended, and the ice is not strong enough to be safely navigated on it. You can also stay on the island in different ways: in a tent you set up in the forest, in a monastery or in a small monastery hotel for pilgrims. Konevets Island is small in size, so you can see it and all the sights in one day.

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Good afternoon :) I already wrote to this community once, and I am very grateful to those who responded and really helped me cope with my problem. The fact is that time has passed, and more ...

Konevets is an island in Lake Ladoga(Leningrad region, Priozersky district, near the village of Vladimirovka). On the island is the Konevsky Nativity-Bogorodichny Monastery.

Konevets Island and Konevsky Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery on the map:

In general, there are many legends about Konevets. The fact that this island was first chosen by the Karelians. Being pagans, they sacrificed horses to the gods on a huge boulder (now it is called "horse-stone"). At the turn of the XIV- X The Monk Arseny came here in the 5th century. He decided to overcome the pagan ones with Christian rites. And let's pour all kinds of evil spirits with holy water. Witnesses say that all the pagan spirits suddenly turned into crows and flew away from the island. And the snakes also crawled away somewhere. They say that until now Konevets - the only island in Lake Ladoga, where there are no snakes. And we didn't see them there either.

Or maybe creeping reptiles are not there for another reason? After all, there are rumors that various radioactive substances were investigated on the island in Soviet times. And they did not just study their chemical formulas, but tested the effects of these substances on animals. And then all the results of such experiments were immediately buried. So, who knows what else is hidden in this island. Maybe it's better not to risk it, and not stay here for a long time.

When we were on the island of Konevets, we did not know all this, because. got there by accident. We were returning to St. Petersburg from Priozersk, we decided to turn into Vladimir bay and find out in the future how to get to Konevets. On the shore, three local women sold blueberries and smoked fish. The husband of one of them was engaged in the delivery of those wishing to the island. The women immediately organized a watercraft for us and kindly provided me with a scarf and a long skirt (the monastery is still male, and I am unprepared in a short sarafan with a hoo decollete). They also tried to reassure me that the skirt is sometimes washed. In the end, we didn’t go into the monastery itself, so we didn’t have to use the equipment :).

We walked along the long pier, where Captain Sergey was waiting for us on board his high-speed ship. Soon we set sail from the shore:

Fifteen minutes of crazy jumps on the waves and we are met by a majesticKonevsky Nativity-Bogorodichny Monastery:

And here it is in all its glory:

Berth of Konevets Island:

And here is the monastery boat:

The beaches on Konevets Island are amazing:

But swimming is not accepted here. Holy places anyway. Yes, and remembering the radioactive contamination in these parts, somehow you yourself will not want to climb into the water. But we did not know this, and on this hot day the lake beckoned us into its fresh cold embrace.

Soon the sun will set, it's time to call Captain Sergei.

Another 15 minutes, and we will return to the "mainland":

Later we learned that there are many other interesting things on the island of Konevets, and the “Stone Horse”, and other chapels and monasteries, and sunken ships. This is what the lack of the Internet means when you have not prepared in advance.

If you want to get to Konevets Island, then you may need this information:

Private cab driver Sergey: +7 921 633-33-16

Konevsky Monastery: +7 812 571-71-94

If one of the readers has been here and can add to the article, we will be very happy with your comments, because they may be useful to someone!

Sailed to the island of Konevets

Marina and Kostya Samorosenko

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The boat to Konevets set sail without us. We were literally two or three minutes late. The guy on the shore said that today there will be another flight to the island. Must wait. Well, I bought a bottle of Karelian vodka "Russian Garant" in the Vladimirovsky village store and settled down on the shore. Vodka was excellent - with garlic and pepper. It was written on the label that Comrade Stalin himself drank this vodka and recommended that his comrades-in-arms drink it. Well, since I did it myself... I dumped pile after pile, pile after pile into myself... The weather was rapidly deteriorating, the wave was getting steeper. By two o'clock in the afternoon the boat returned. There was no dry thread on the passengers. The captain said that he would not go anywhere in the next three days - a storm.

Well, isn't it a shame to screw it up like that? From drunken eyes, I clearly understood that the demons of Konevets did not want to let me on the island. Or - not demons? When in 1393 the Novgorodian monk Arseniy returned to Russia from Athos, he intended to settle on one of outlying islands Lake Ladoga. Not on Konevets. A storm washed up his boat on this island. Arseny tried to swim further, but the waves brought him back twice. He realized that this was not without reason, and remained. This is how the Konevets Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos arose, in which many wonderful monks labored over the course of six hundred years. Some of them are mentioned on the pages of "Places of Power". For example, a native of Adrian (who founded the Kazan Skete on Konevets) and his disciple Zosima, after whom Dostoevsky named his elder from The Brothers Karamazov. On Konevets, the elder Isaiah lived, who then went to restore. These were the people who raised the Russian desert spirit at the beginning of the 19th century.

But now it's not about them, about Arseny. In his time, Konevets was deserted. The natives were afraid to settle on the island, because spirits were found there. They lived in a huge stone more than four meters high and weighing about 750 tons. A horse was sacrificed at this stone every year. Hence the name of the stone - Horse-stone (I know and described it also with this name). Hence the name of the island - Konevets. In general, Arseny saw that the place was "more dense than a dense forest surrounded by demonic horror." Something like the island to which Prospero washed up from Shakespeare's "The Tempest". But only Prospero was a magician, and Arseny was an Orthodox monk. He did not subdue the demons, but took the image of the Mother of God, brought to him from Athos, and made a procession around the Horse-stone. Then he sprinkled the stone with holy water. Then the demons that lived in him turned into ravens and flew away with an ominous cawing.

They say that they went towards Sortan-lakhta, that is, Devil's ("sort" - just a spoiled Russian "devil") bay, where they rushed into the water. And therefore, sudden storms often occur on Lake Ladoga now. This is a meteorological fact. But where is that bay? The website of the Konevets Monastery says that now it is called Vladimirskaya Bay. That is, the very one on the shore of which, cursing the bad weather and my own sluggishness, I finished my vodka? But maybe this is some other place on Ladoga. For example, Sortavala, the center of the Finnish alcohol tourism in Karelia and a pier from where boats go to Valaam, another famous island of power on Lake Ladoga.

Having finished my vodka, I decided to go around the lake in a circle, to look for other places where power gushes. Do not wait for the weather by the sea for three days in this Devil's Bay. Valentina, my friend and driver, got behind the wheel and we set off. The mood was lousy, we drove slowly. It was pouring down a terrible rain, and the road behind it was almost invisible. But here's what's funny: already near Shlisselburg, the rain suddenly stopped. And the wind died down. And in the morning the sun came out, as if confirming that they simply did not want to see me at Konevets. Well, they don't want to and they don't have to. Having rounded Lake Ladoga from the south and east, having found many places that I will still talk about (see, and), on the third day of the journey I ended up at the pier in Sortaval (formerly Serdobol), where I was waiting for a ship to Valaam.

The excitement on the lake had not yet completely subsided, so it was not clear whether it would be possible to swim away. Painful waiting. Suddenly, my friend from Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Misha Karpov, called from Moscow and said that our mutual friend Zhenya Alexandrov had died under strange circumstances. Looks like he's been killed. I got really sick. Yes, some idiot came up with a newspaper and asked: "Have your dog bit you yet?" I explained that soon the sky will fall to the ground and the Neva will flow back, than my noble male will bite me. To which the man remarked that one could not be sure of anything. Here, he showed the newspaper, they write here that a completely domestic dog killed the owner for no reason. I hastened to move away from the madman.

Having visited Valaam, I nevertheless decided to try to get to Konevets. Arrived in Vladimirovka. The weather is fine, there is a ship at the pier, ready to sail in an hour. Everything was going great. Only there was a problem with the dog. They did not want to put her on the ship. I offered to pay for the animal as an adult tourist. "Yes, that's not the point," the girl said, letting us through, "there's just a dog there who fights visiting dogs. Look, it's your responsibility." I did not attach any importance to her warning, since my Osman (see his photo and), even though the Labrador, knows how to stand up for himself. But the first monk we met on the island told us to leave the dog on the ship. Why? "Because our Tyutya cannot stand strangers," was the answer. And who is Tyutya? "You'll see, but better leave the dog." I didn't listen.

When we saw Tyutya, he did not cause any fears in us: a normal mongrel, not even one of the largest. Next to him was Martha, his wife, as the pilgrims explained. Osman and Tyutya approached each other, took up fighting positions, growled and suddenly rushed at each other. Mine acted more clearly: he managed to grab Tyutya by the ear and get on top. The great experience of fights with the Moscow Staffordshires had an effect. To finish off the mongrel was now a matter of technique. But I decided that the guest should not do this, and began to drag my dog by the collar. This was the worst mistake. As soon as the grip loosened, Tyutya twisted around, grabbed Osman's neck and was already getting close to the carotid artery. What was it to watch? No, you need to separate them. There was no collar on Tyut, so I had to climb into his mouth with my bare hands, pushing his jaws apart. But as soon as I parted them, my combat Labrador jumped to his feet and - oh, fuck! He aimed at Tyutin's neck, but missed in the commotion. His teeth clattered around the wrist of my left hand, which was still trying to hold Tyutya.

So I got bitten by my own dog. A prophecy that came to me through a madman from Sortavala came true. Now, when I look at the scars left by my faithful dog, I think that things could have turned out much worse. The teeth stumbled on the bone without touching any important vessels. The monastery workers came to the rescue and helped separate the dogs. It’s good that Tyuti had in his soul strict ban to the bite of a man, otherwise it would be - what is left of my hands that have been in his mouth? Don't know. The monk who performed the obedience of a healer, having examined my wounds, said: "Nothing." And anointed them with some kind of potion. I was about to start a conversation that it would be necessary to wash the wounds and maybe give an injection. But he objected: “Your dog is healthy, isn’t it? And our Tyutya is healthy. Don’t worry. Now, if a person bit you, then it would be bad. will pass immediately." Indeed, the wounds healed rapidly. Reverend Arseny helped. The very next day my swollen hand turned yellow and began to recover.

Later, the workers who helped me pull the dogs away explained that Tyutin's grandmother was a she-wolf. When Tyutya matured, he killed all the males that lived on the island. Subsequently, he killed all his sons as soon as they grew up and became his competitors. Naturally, he is always ready to kill any males brought to Konevets. At some point, the monks, no matter how much they loved this nice dog, realized that Tyutya allows himself too much. And they decided to send him to the mainland, because - well, really, it’s not good to keep a born killer in a holy place. But in the village where he was brought, the frantic Tyutya killed either 11 or 13 dogs (I don’t remember exactly how many, but all of them), and he was returned to the island.

I admit that all these exploits of Tyuti are only a legend, but still - they did not arise from scratch. In general, the wolf is one of the most mysterious creatures in the world. He was created by the devil, but he could not revive. God breathed life into the wolf, and the wolf immediately grabbed the creator's leg with his teeth (hell). Hence the ambivalence of the legends about the wolf: he is both an enemy and a helper. He is the friend of both the saints and the unclean. The locals see in Tyut rather a tamed wolf: a wild beast that lives among people under the guise of a kind dog. After our desperate fight, I saw in him the embodiment of the spirit of this island, something like those demons that Arseny had once cast out of stone. Did they drown? Yes, fullness, spirits do not drown. They returned here in the form of a wolf's grandson. And if earlier horses were victims of the spirit of this place, now dogs are. And then someone else will. After all, it has been known since the time of Anthony the Great that demons are a by-product of the ascetic production of holiness. If there were ascetics, there would be demons.

Believe me, I do not hold a grudge against Tyutya. I understand him well. When we met an hour after the fight (my dog had already been taken in by warm-hearted people from a mental hospital located next to the monastery), he was clearly unhappy with me. Still - some alien did not allow him to fulfill his destiny. He brought the dog to the island, but did not give it as a sacrifice. Why did you bring it then? Tyutya grumbled. Then he looked up, saying: "Well, what to do with you profane ones." He sighed mournfully. He accepted a piece of cheese offered by me as a sign of reconciliation (and compensation: a lamb for the sought-for Isaac), and hobbled to his Martha. The fur on his neck was completely soaked with blood.

As for the mystical topography of Konevets, without a dog trained to search for places of power, my exploration of the island turned out to be incomplete. Nevertheless, from what happened to me on the island and on the way to it, it clearly follows: the spirit of the Stone Horse continues to fool the wanderers approaching it. So I was repeatedly warned that something should happen on Konevets, but I continued to maniacally strive to go there. It was as if a veil had eclipsed my eye, which was trained to grasp all kinds of signs and signs. As if I was plunged into a dream, the course of which I could not control. They made him an unconscious participant in a strange mystery. And in this way they showed something.

It seems to me that blaming is in the nature of the Horse stone (in this sense, similar to the Humpbacked Horse). Once he captured the Monk Arseny, did not allow him to sail away. Why? Maybe Arseny was supposed to play the role of Odysseus, who unleashed the Aeolian fur on Ladoga? Or maybe the stone had to be cleansed of the demons that lived in it? Who knows. People believe that it is they, and not a stone at all, that determine the course of life on the island. And as a sign of imaginary power over the stone, they leave traces on it. As a result of the deeds of Arseny, the Horse-Stone was saddled by the chapel. If you look closely, you can also see petroglyphs on it. Image of demons? It seems. Although someone could just spoil. As one of the great princes who visited sacred place and left a tablet in memory of this on a stone (now, however, removed). It looks like "Kolya was here." Stupid vandalism. Dogs are much more delicate.

MAP OF POINTS OF POWER OLEG DAVYDOV - ARCHIVE OF PLACES OF POWER -

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 the Nativity of the Theotokos 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 on it Holy Mother of God). 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 Cathedral temple 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 of the 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.

Konevsky Monastery is located on the island of Konevets, which is located 7 km from the coast. The island is small - length ~ 5 km, width ~ 3 km, area ~ 10 sq. km. In 1393, St. Arseny. He was originally from Novgorod, in his youth he was tonsured. He met Athos monks and went to Athos. Then he returned to his homeland. He brought with him the icon of the Mother of God, now known as the icon of the Konevskaya Mother of God (the icon now belongs to the Finnish Orthodox Church). From Novgorod, Arseny went north along the Volkhov to find a secluded place. His boat was nailed to Konevets. Here he lived alone for three years, then, together with like-minded people, he founded a monastery.

III Novgorod Chronicle: “In the summer of 6908, the church of the stone of the Most Holy Theotokos was erected on Lake Ladoga on Konev Island and the monastery was built under Archbishop John the Great of Novgorod and Pskov.”

The Swedes attacked the monastery several times. Unlike the southern monasteries, the monastery on Konevets did not have any fortifications. It was like a monastic village on the island. I suppose that, just like on Valaam, the local monks kept all the commandments, including “Thou shalt not kill.” So the Swedes did not have to take the island. Every time the monastery was revived, money was given by Vasily III, John IV, Fedor Ioannovich, Boris Fedorovich.
In 1610, the Swedes finally captured these lands. The monks had to leave, since it was almost impossible for the Orthodox at that time to survive under the Swedes.
Peter the Great in 1718 issued a decree on the restoration of the monastery. In the middle of the 19th - early 20th centuries, the monastery quickly became rich, had land, a farm, rented places fishing. Everything that was built at that time has survived to this day. In 1914, the brethren numbered 321 inhabitants.
After the revolution of 1917, these lands were ceded to Finland. The island was visited by Mannerheim, the northern and southern defensive batteries were built, which have survived to this day. In 1940, the monks were evacuated deep into Finland. They managed to take out something, including the icon of the Konevskaya Mother of God.
In Soviet times, there was a naval unit and a test site on the island. The island was erased from all maps, fenced with barbed wire, civil courts it was forbidden to walk past the island. Chemical weapons and solid-fuel rockets were developed and tested here. Torpedo and mine weapons were tested at the test site. No matter what they say now about the destruction of the monastery, but if it were not for the military, absolutely everything would have died there. locals they would have taken everything into bricks, building materials, removed the roofing iron. The military repaired, painted, maintained order. Therefore, all the buildings, even the wooden huts of the 19th century, have been preserved.
In 1991, the monks came to the island again.

Chapel of Nicholas the Wonderworker (1815)
The stone chapel in honor of St. Nicholas was built in 1815. Pilgrims arriving on the island performed a prayer service here for a safe arrival on the island.

Hospice
To the south of the chapel is a building built presumably in 1866 under Archimandrite Israel. This is a hospitable house (a hotel for poor people), to whom the monastery gave shelter for several days.

Hospice House and Chapel of Nicholas the Wonderworker:

At the fork, there is a small pyramidal obelisk made of Putilov stone, erected in memory of a visit to Fr. Konevets on June 28, 1858 by Emperor Alexander II.

white hotel
The hotel was built in the 1860s according to the project of the architect I. B. Slupsky. The walls are brick, plastered on the outside only on three sides (the back wall was left brick in order to save money).
End of the 19th century:

In Soviet times, the cells of the hotel were used as apartments for officers. Steam heating was carried out, and the stoves were converted into wall cabinets. Now the workers of the monastery live in the White Hotel in the summer.

Brethren at the Holy Gates. End of the 19th century:

Paintings have been preserved in the arch of the bell tower. In Soviet times, the images were covered with a layer of lime. In contrast to the fresco painting of ancient Russian churches, which was done with mineral paints on wet plaster, these images are made with ordinary oil paint. The plot was based on a visit to the Konevsky monastery by the Novgorod hierarch Euthymius, a friend and colleague of the Monk Arseny.

Monastery square
By the beginning of the XIX century. all buildings, except for the cathedral, were still wooden. By 1812, the construction of the western part of the monastery square was completed, the construction of the northern and south sides. In the northwestern tower there was a grain supply, in the southwestern tower there was a pantry for provisions, a kvass factory with a cellar. In the middle part of both building lines, 2-storey fraternal cell buildings rise, connected to the corner towers by one-story buildings that housed workshops.

In the southeastern part of the monastery square there were fraternal cells, a monastery library, a pharmacy and a small museum.

Churches were built in two corner towers of the monastery square. In the northeast tower was placed a temple in the name of St. Arseny Konevsky, and in southeast tower- Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

A number of graves belonging to abbots, abbots of the monastery and members of the elder brethren are located behind the altar of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of the graves is the resting place of the rector of the Konevsky monastery, Fr. Israel. Konevsky monastery about. Israel ruled from 1859 until his death, which followed on January 27, 1884, at the age of 92. A metal, and then a granite monument was erected over his grave with the inscription: “Grateful brotherhood to the Good Shepherd” (only the base has survived)

Library
When about. In Israel, the monastery library expanded significantly; by the beginning of the 19th century, there were about 8 thousand copies in it. There were: a list of the life of St. Arseny, the Gospel of 1524, the works of the Holy Fathers - St. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, St. Paisius Velichkovsky; early printed books from 1626 to 1764.
Almost all books and manuscripts disappeared without a trace in the 1940s.

Monastery library. Late 19th century

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1809)

The lower temple was winter. It housed ovens, which made it possible to conduct worship services in it all year round.

Lower temple. Late 19th century

Until 1940, the main chapel of the temple retained a gilded iconostasis carved with columns in three tiers: on the left side of the royal doors, wonderful in carving, there was an icon of the Mother of God of Konev, above them - the Last Supper, in the second tier - icons of holidays, and in the third - St. . Apostles. In 1830, the southern chapel was consecrated in the temple in the name of the Konevskaya Icon of the Mother of God. It was possible to completely restore the iconostasis with the help of St. Petersburg restorers.

The cathedral houses two of the most revered shrines of the Konevsky Monastery - a shrine with the relics of St. Arseny and a copy of the miraculous Konevsky Icon of the Mother of God.

The upper temple was arranged as a summer one. It is beautifully illuminated by two rows of windows and was a cross-domed church, traditional for Russia, with eight square pillars. It was finally finished from the inside, decorated with a gilded carved iconostasis, already under the rector Hilarion in 1809, with the assistance of the Christ-loving St. Petersburg merchant Ya. V. Krivonosov, who donated 4 thousand rubles in banknotes.

Upper temple. Late 19th century

The upper temple suffered during the years of Soviet power. There was an ammunition depot here, one shell exploded, resulting in a small crack:

Chapel of the Assumption of the Mother of God (1899)

Behind the chapel, on its eastern side, is the grave of Prince Manvelov. Prince Nikolai Ivanovich Manvelov was from an old Georgian family. For many years he came to Konevets - often for the whole autumn. To the best of his ability, he helped the monastery, especially the elderly monks.
Next to the cross, at the resting place of the Monk Arseny, the prince asked to be buried. Nikolai Ivanovich died in St. Petersburg, two months after Fr. Israel. The prince's will was carried out by his relatives. The inscription on the tombstone, which has now partially survived, reads: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into Your Kingdom. Prince Nikolai Ivanovich Manvelov. Born in 1780, and died in 1856, May 3rd.

This information is written on the website of the monastery. What is actually written on the grave of the prince I could not make out. Approach the grave of Fr. Israel is impossible. But Leskov saw and talked with Fr. Israel, it was in 1872. Therefore, when the prince actually died, I do not know, but it is clear that the information on the site is erroneous.

Kazan Skete (1796)
The Kazan Skete is located at some distance from the main monastic buildings in the depths of the island on top of a mountain called the Holy. As the life of St. Arseny, upon his arrival at Konevets in 1393, he settled here, having lived on the top of the Holy Mountain for about 3 years in solitude, and only then moved to live on the banks of Ladoga.

Kazan skit. Late 19th century

Iconostasis of the Church of the Kazan Skete. End of the 19th century:

Hieroschemamonk Fr. Barahiel, who arrived at Konevets from Valaam. In order not to disturb his solitude, the laymen are forbidden to enter the skete without a special blessing. By the way, this is the only schemnik in the entire Leningrad region.

Chapel of the Apparition of the Mother of God
The chapel on the Holy Mountain was erected in memory of the appearance of the Mother of God to Elder Joachim. The chapel stands at the very edge of the Holy Mountain, in its southwestern part, on the site where previously there was a wooden worship cross, erected during the life of Arseny himself. Due to its antiquity, the cross fell into disrepair already in the 18th century and in 1740, i.e. immediately after the resumption of the monastery from the Swedish ruin, a small wooden chapel was erected on the site of the cross, and the remains of the cross itself were transferred inside the chapel and remained there until the arrival of the Soviet army units on Konevets. The chapel is thus the oldest building in Konevets. Subsequently, in the second half of the 19th century, the chapel was rebuilt. During the years of Soviet power, it was moved from the Holy Mountain to the pier and was used as a checkpoint. A small lighthouse was installed on the roof of the former chapel.

Money was needed to move the chapel back to its place. Three Finnish women, Paula Koho, Irma Vuokko and Paula Vuorela, have been baking gates for Christmas for several years. Thus, in the early 2000s, money was raised, and now the chapel is back on the Holy Mountain.

Fraternal cemetery
A 4-meter-high hexagonal wooden chapel once stood at the cemetery, destroyed, like most tombstones, in Soviet times (the cemetery was demolished, and a car park was originally located in its place, and then it was converted into a sports ground).

The brethren at the fence of the fraternal cemetery. End of the 19th century:

Horse-stone
Horse-stone - a huge boulder of gray granite with veins of quartz measuring 9 by 6 and a little over 4 meters high - is undoubtedly one of the most striking sights of Konevets Island. This is the only stone on Konevets large sizes, its weight is more than 750 tons; on top of the stone stands a small wooden chapel. There is no reliable information about when exactly the first chapel on the Horse-stone was built. Most likely, at the very beginning of the founding of the monastery.
You can estimate the scale and, with a good imagination, see a horse's face: