08:20 Meeting of the group and gathering at the railway station of Sortavala.
For those who cannot start the tour in Sortavala, it is possible to leave Petrozavodsk at 04:00 in the morning by our bus, without additional payment.
The most suitable train for the tour: Moscow — Sortavala 160B with arrival at 08:19, goes through St. Petersburg.
Our guide will meet you with a sign at the main entrance to the Sortavala railway station. Starting at 08:00, our bus will be on duty here, where you can put your things away immediately after arrival.
08:40 Breakfast at the cafe.
We have breakfast in a cafe and go on an excursion to Sortavala – the locals do not bend the name of this city and are very offended when someone does it. That's the national flavor!
09:10-10:50 Sightseeing tour of the city of Sortavale with a visit to the main attractions of the city.
Sightseeing tour of the city and sightseeing of the stunning monuments of the Northern Art Nouveau.
Just look at how beautiful it is:
- the building of the national school, built in 1929 in the neoclassical style;
- The Seurahuone Hotel, built in 1908, where Nicholas Roerich stayed;
- Leander's House (1905);
- the building of the Finnish Bank, built in 1915, in which every detail informs about the inaccessibility and reliability of the bank;
- The Siitonen Merchants' House is a typical Northern Art Nouveau built in 1907;
- The Town Hall, built in 1882, is one of the most beautiful buildings: turrets, carved skates, pale pink color, with carvings and white frames, as if a lace napkin was thrown on top;
- wooden fire station built in 1888;
- the house with a lantern, built in 1920 and owned by the Helsinki Joint–Stock Bank, resembles a glass syringe in shape;
- The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It was built with the money of St. Petersburg merchants in 1873. It is built in the Russian style. Today, the main city temple of Sortavala.
11:00 Departure by meteors to Valaam Island.
We are going to the pier – there are high–speed comets waiting for us, which will rush us to the first holy island of our adventure - the island of Valaam.
The holy island is not so far away – only 22 kilometers. By the way, did you know that in Ladoga, the only freshwater reservoir in Russia, there are seals – small black seals? No wonder they say that Ladoga is almost a sea.
11:50-16:50 Arrival at Valaam, sightseeing tour of the central manor of the monastery, performance of the male choir.
And here it is – the holy island of Valaam. Nature seemed to have specially created it away from the shore. These Kizhi are closely connected with the shores and nearby villages. Balaam is different. It was created for solitude, in order to be away from civilization.
We arrive at the Monastery Bay.
Here we will have a walking tour of the central manor of the monastery.
We will visit the Transfiguration Cathedral, where the relics of Saints Sergius and Herman, the founders of the monastery, are located.
And what a holy island without a concert of the creative team! This time the singers of the male ensemble "Valaam" will sing for us.
After enjoying the beauty of the church hymn, we will move on the Meteor to Nikonovskaya Bay.
Here we have already been waiting for a lenten lunch in the refectory, prepared within the walls of the monastery.
The New Jerusalem tour will reveal unknown fragments of the island's history.
We will visit the Resurrection Hermitage.
Further along the forest road we will walk to the man-made Gethsemane Garden, where the cozy Gethsemane hermitage with the wooden church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located.
The tour ends on the Mount of Olives, where one of the most poetic views of Ladoga opens.
Balaam heals both the body and the head.
It is calm and peaceful here.
So it's time for us to go back. From Nikonovskaya Bay, the Meteor carries us back to the glorious city of Sortavala.
After such a busy day, it's time to check into the hotel.
We will have dinner and rest at the hotel.