THE SKETE OF THE KONEVSKAYA ICON OF OUR LADY

road laid in 1863-64 through the woods and among the rocks, leads from the western gates of the Bolshoi skete to three picturesque lakes. The largest one is Igumenskoje (Hegumen's). Hegumen Damaskin lived there in 1827-1834 in wooden cell. Now only the largest larch (thirty-two metres high and one meter thick) and the foundation remind of the hermitage.

n 1870 hegumen Damaskin decided to build a skete in honour of Konevskaya (Acathistus) icon at the site where his hermitage stood once. With that icon, in 1393, St. Arseny was blessed in Athon to establish a monastery of Our Lady in the North of Russia. The icon is distinguished by two pigeon nestlings in the hands of Our Lord signifying purification offering for a male Child. St. Arseny founded the Konevsky monastery, which gave the icon its name. The icon was especially worshipped in St. Petersburg, Novgorod, and Ladoga region. Since 1956 the miraculous icon is in the New Valaam monastery. The copy from the skete is lost.

The wooden church on the rocky cape between Igumenskoje and Mustajarvi lakes was designed by G.I. Karpov. The modest single-domed church with a belfry is the smallest in Valaam. In mid-1950s all buildings of the skete were pulled down with only foundations left, the church was moved to the main estate and turned into a feed-preparation house for the pigsty. Later, the profaned church was burnt to the ground by fire.

Map of Valaam