VALAMO. - An archipelago consisting of approximately 40 islands in the northern part of Lake Ladoga and the site, Solovki (v.), of Russia’s second great island monastery.
In the first half of the 14th century, the monk Sergio began an eremitical life on these islands, followed by a certain Germano. 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 desolate for a long time, 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 lived there, not only in the central monastery but also in many “sketes” and hermitages scattered over the various islands. V. was the destination of great pilgrimages from all over
Russia. Missionaries departed from V. for the Aleutian Islands in the Far East. After the First World War, V. Finland, from which it returned to Soviet Russia in 1940. This brought about a marked decline. Some monks nevertheless remained on the islands, while others took refuge in Finland.