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Konevets (russian: Коневец; fi, Konevitsa or ''Kononsaari'') is an approximately 8.5-km² island famous as the site of the
Konevsky Monastery Konevsky Monastery (russian: Рождество-Богородичный Коневский монастырь (as it is written on the seal of the monastery), fi, Konevitsan Jumalansynnyttäjän syntymän luostari) is a Russian Orthodox monastery ...
. It is located off the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga near the village of Vladimirovka. The island is part of the
Priozersky District Priozersky District (russian: Приозерский район) is an administrativeOblast Law #32-oz and municipalLaw #50-oz district (raion), one of the seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northwest of the oblast and bor ...
of
Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 194 ...
. The nearest town is Priozersk, which is located 40 km away from the island. The island of Valaam is 60 km away and
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
is 170 km away by boat. There is a ferry link from Vladimirovka that makes the 6.5-km trip in 40–50 minutes.


Geography and environment

The island is 6.5 km long and generally slightly less than 2 km wide. At its widest point near the monastery on the south end of the island, where it is approximately 3 km wide. The island is completely covered in sandy soil. The majority of the shore is covered in fine sand beaches. Topographically, the island is mostly level. The terrain of sandy heath slopes gently up from the shoreline towards the interior of the island, where two cliffs, Svyataya and Zmeinaya, rise up out of the ground to 34 m and 29 m above sea level respectively. The steep cliffs are the result of erosion when the water level in Lake Ladoga was slightly less than 20 m above the current sea level, thus reaching the base of these cliffs, thousands of years before the
Neva The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it ...
emerged. The majority of the island is uninhabited, and covered by coniferous trees. The
average annual temperature Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorological ...
is 3.5 °C. The island experiences a short summer season, from mid June to the latter half of August. July is the warmest month on the island. Winters can be quite harsh, and it is possible to walk to the island across the ice then.


History

There is no certain information about the island’s earliest stages. According to sources discussing the establishment of the monastery on the island, there was a rock named Kon-kamen or Horse Rock where the Karelians went to perform sacrifices. The rock is located approximately 1 km north-northeast of the monastery at the base of the west slope of Svyataya. The rock is a rounded granite slab that is 9 m long, 6 m wide, approximately 4 m high and 750 tonnes that resembles the head of a horse. An Orthodox
chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
has been built on top of it. The Russian name for the island, and thus the current Finnish name, are derived from the name of the rock or perhaps the assumed original Karelian name Hevossaari (''Horse Island''). The island’s Orthodox Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded by
Arseny Arseny (officially transliterated as Arsenii) (also Arsenii and Arseniy) ( ua, Арсеній, russian: Арсений) is a name, derived from Arsenius. Notable people with the name include: Arseny * Arseny Avraamov (1886–1944), Russian avant-g ...
of Novgorod in 1393. The Swedes captured the island and destroyed the monastery in 1577 and 1610. Sweden lost control of the island as a result of their being beaten by Peter I of Russia in the
Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...
. The current buildings are mainly from the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The island did not suffer any damage in the Russian revolution, as it had become part of Independent Finland in 1917. In 1940, during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the monks moved to the interior of Finland and joined the monks at the Orthodox Monastery of New Valamo. The island was ceded to the Soviet Union and the monastery fell into disrepair. From 1944 to 1990, the island was used by the military and thus closed to the public. In 1991, visitors were allowed back on the island and repairs and renovations to the monastery commenced. Approximately 20 monks now live on the island, which has become a popular place of pilgrimage.


Trivia

* A traditional Karelian folk song about the island is entitled '' Konevitsan kirkonkellot'' (The Church Bells of Konevets). The Finnish group Piirpauke recorded a version of this song in 1975. Heavy metal band Sentenced used the melody as intro on their 2002 album
The Cold White Light ''The Cold White Light'' is an album by the Finnish metal band Sentenced, released in May 2002 on Century Media. Limited copies contain the video for the song "Killing Me Killing You" from the band's previous album ''Crimson'' plus a free Senten ...
.


See also

*
Konevsky Monastery Konevsky Monastery (russian: Рождество-Богородичный Коневский монастырь (as it is written on the seal of the monastery), fi, Konevitsan Jumalansynnyttäjän syntymän luostari) is a Russian Orthodox monastery ...
*
Valaam Monastery The Valaam Monastery (russian: Валаамский монастырь; Finnish version: ''Valamo Monastery'') is a stauropegic Orthodox monastery in Russian Karelia, located on Valaam, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Euro ...
*
Alexander-Svirsky Monastery Alexander-Svirsky Monastery (Александро-Свирский монастырь) is a Russian Orthodox monastery situated deep in the woods of the Leningrad Oblast, just south from its border with the Republic of Karelia. The golden age o ...


External links


Official website of the monastery
(in Russia) {{coord, 60, 51, 40, N, 30, 36, 50, E, region:RU_type:isle_scale:100000, display=title Islands of Leningrad Oblast Karelia