VALAMO. - An archipelago composed of about 40 islands in the northern part of Lake Ladoga and, after Solovki (v.), the seat of the second great island monastery of Russia.

In the first half of the 14th century the monk Sergius, followed by a certain Germanus, began the eremitic life on these islands. These two are venerated as the founders of that community which later formed the great and wealthy monastery of the Transfiguration. Although repeatedly destroyed and even for a long time desolate, it was never totally abandoned; indeed, by order of Peter the Great it was rebuilt in 1718 with renewed splendor. Before the Russian Revolution as many as 400 monks resided there, not only in the central monastery but also in many "sketes" and hermitages scattered across the various islands. V. was the destination of great pilgrimages coming from all of Russia. From V. missionaries departed for the Aleutian Islands in the Far East. After the First World War V. was incorporated into Finland, from which it returned in 1940 to Soviet Russia. This brought with it a marked decline. However, some monks have remained on the islands, while others have taken refuge in Finland.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: B. Sandberg - H. J. Viherjouri, V., Helsinki 1936; A. M. Ammann, Storia della Chiesa russa e dei paesi limitrofi, Turin 1948, see index.

Alberto M. Ammann

@incollection{ec12_valamo, author = {Ammann, Alberto Maria}, title = {Valamo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {963--964}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/valamo} }

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