THE SKETE OF ST. NICOLAS THE WONDER-WORKER

veryone arriving at the Monastery bay sees from afar the church of St. Nicolas, the defender of the sailing and travelling, the Saint whose prayers sanctify the waters.

The present church was built in 1853 at the place of the old chapel and lighthouse (1809). The construction was sponsored by a merchant from St. Petersburg Nikolai Solodovnikov. Alexander Dumas, having visited Valaam in 1858, wrote that 'the church is a real treasure both in its artistic beauty and its wealth, it is the creation of the best Russian architect'. It was designed by A.M. Gornostajev (1808-1862), one of the founders of the Russian architectural style. Together with K.A. Ton, the designer of the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, he aspired to renew the national architectural tradition, lost after Peter the Great's reforms. He worked at Valaam a lot. The prototypes of the church of St. Nicolas were Moscow churches of XVI century. It is crowned by a dome which is a symbol of a candle, of a prayer addressed to God. The decorations of 1902 have remained, but the icons, including the most sacred one – a large icon of St. Nicolas, are lost.

The monks of the skete brought soil themselves and planted a fruit garden, maples, ash-trees, and lilacs. They also performed customs services, as the rule strictly forbade bringing tobacco and alcohol to the monastery. By the customs house, there is one of the stone crosses with pictures of Christ's sufferings, most of which were erected by hegumen Damaskin.

In 1935, when the skete was visited by the writer B.K. Zaitsev, there was only one monk living there, father Mily. Now, there are already several hermits living in the skete.