Changes

It is not clear when the monastery was founded on Valaam, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, itself being the largest lake in Europe. As the cloister is not mentioned in documents before the 16th century, different dates - from the 10th to 15th centuries - have been proposed. Whatever the truth may be, the Valaam monastery was a western outpost of Eastern Orthodoxy against the heathens and, later, against the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] Christianity of Tavastia, Savonia, and (Swedish) Karelia.

In the late 1990s, the Valaam Monastery, having gained significant legal power over the island under the Patriarch Alexey II, in a push to return to a state of spiritual seclusion and enticed by the prospect of monopolized profits from the vast tourism industry on the Valaam island, has forced many longtime residents to move out to the mainland, often employing illegal actions in the process, ranging from denying residents vital services to forcible eviction from their homes. After years of fruitless legal proceedings, many residents of the island chose to leave rather than continue the fight, though a few still remain.

*[[Wikipedia:Valaam Monastery]]

*[http://www.valaam.ru/en/ The Valaam Monastery] - Official site

*[http://www.valamo.fi/ The New Valaam Monastery in Finland] - Official site