St. Petersburg – Hiidenselga – Valaam – Staraya Ladoga – St. Petersburg on the ship Lenin

From the pier in the village of Hiidenselga, you will take comfortable buses to the village of Ruskeala, where the largest and most famous marble factories of Karelia have been operating since the XVIII century. Ruskeala village is located 30 km north of Sortavala, 20 km from the state border with Finland. Along the way, you will get acquainted with the history of this picturesque area, which was mastered during the Viking campaigns.

Before reaching the Ruskeala Mountain Park 5 km away, you will have a stop - there are waterfalls with as many as four names. You can walk along the picturesque suspension bridges, breathe clean air and admire the waterfalls of Akhinkoski. The guide will tell you what their name means in Finnish and the episodes of which famous film Stanislav Rostotsky shot here, why the river, where the streams of water flow, is brown in color and how the Finns nicknamed it for its bad and unpredictable temper. After a stop at the Ahinkoski Waterfalls, you will go to the Ruskeala Mountain Park. Nowadays, the park has become a kind of visiting card of the Republic of Karelia. Upon arrival, you will go on a walking tour of the park, which has so far a very rare status for Russia – at the same time a monument of nature and a monument of industrial culture. You will be able to take the route of the extended tour "The Road of the Mountain Masters", hear the history of local mining and marble mining, told by our guides, see an abandoned marble factory and a wonderful Italian quarry. And also visit all the most picturesque and well-equipped observation decks, admire the grand Marble Canyon with the purest emerald water. In addition, the guides will tell you which famous sights are decorated with Ruskeala marble in the color of white nights with greenish flashes similar to the northern lights. At the end of the tour in the park you will have free time, you can relax, take a walk, visit the locations that are located on its territory.

At the end of the tour, you will return to the pier in the village of Hiidenselga on comfortable buses.

Features:

Walking tour.

DURATION: 3.5 hours

THE OBJECTS OF THE VISIT:

* The Resurrection, Gethsemane and Konevsky skeets;

* "Balaam Palestine";

* Bolshaya Nikonovskaya Bay.

Detailed description:

"Balaam Palestine"

The tour route passes through three Valaam monasteries: Voskresensky, Gethsemane and Konevsky. It is here that you can experience the harmony of wild, harsh northern nature and strict ascetic monastic life. The Resurrection and Gethsemane skeets with their peculiar architectural and landscape design form the famous "Valaam Palestine", located in the western part of the island of the same name.

The quiet corners of Valaam

Next, you will see the quiet Valaam monastery in the area of remote inland Igumen lakes and Konevsky monastery. It was here that the hermitage of the hermit of Damascus, the future famous Valaam abbot, was located. A special soothing atmosphere is always created by a smooth water surface reflecting a dense coniferous forest, wooden bridges, thick, healing, juniper-scented air.

Next, the guides will tell the amazing story of the most recent of the monasteries of "Old Valaam" – Smolensky, the consecration of which took place in the summer of 1917.

Features:

A walking tour that starts from the pier of Bolshaya Nikonovskaya Bay in the south-west of the Valaam Archipelago.

DURATION: 2-3 hours

THE OBJECTS OF THE VISIT:

* Picturesque Rocky Shore Bay

* "Nikon Fort"

* Lake Ladoga

Rocky coast

During the walking tour, you will see the picturesque Rocky Shore Bay. Professional guides will tell you about the Nikon Fort, a Finnish military fortification built during the Soviet–Finnish and World War II. In addition, you will learn more about the unique nature of Valaam, as well as see the largest lake in Europe – Ladoga.

Features:

For cruises lasting from 5 days, the boat is included in the price. If the duration of the cruise is less than 5 days, a walking tour to the central estate is offered. At the request of the tourist, you can purchase a boat ticket for an additional fee directly on board the ship.

DURATION: 2-3 hours

THE OBJECTS OF THE VISIT:

* Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral;

* The place of prayer solitude of Elder Nazariy;

* Architectural and landscape complex of the Hegumen cemetery;

* Military memorial.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery

Visiting the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery on your own, you will be able to see

• the central manor of the monastery,
• Mount Tabor,
• the marble Znamenskaya Chapel,
• The Holy gates of the monastery,
• The Gate Church of Peter and Paul,
• The Assumption Refectory Church is the oldest surviving one on the island,
• The main functioning temple of the monastery is the majestic Transfiguration Cathedral.

Alexander I's visit

In the XVIII century, the Venerable elder Nazarius, the organizer of the Valaam monastery, created a place of prayer solitude on Valaam, which was visited by Alexander I during his highest visit in August 1819. After Nazarius, his disciple, schemonach Nicholas "The Humblest", settled in this place.

During the tour, you will be able to see the preserved foundation of the ascetic's desert and the place of his burial.

The unique nature of Valaam

In the middle of the nineteenth century, an arboretum nursery was established near the monastery, where trees and ornamental shrubs brought from different regions of Russia were bred. The main task of the nursery was the formation of beautiful Valaam landscapes.

In the second half of the XIX century, the architectural and landscape complex of the new Abbot cemetery appeared on the site of the nursery. A corner is being created here that reminds us of the splendor of paradise mansions and the immortality of the human soul. In a small area around the man-made church hill, the most exotic trees for Valaam were planted:

• broad-leaved elms,
• fragrant lime trees,
• Siberian fir trees,
• cedar pines.

You will hear a story about the fate of the abbots of the Valaam monastery, whose graves are located behind the altar of the temple, and plunge into the history of the monastery up to the end of the 30s of the XX century.

Military Memorial

The dramatic pages of Soviet history are forever imprinted on the image of the Abbot's cemetery. In memory of the Valaam school cadets (boatswains and Jung), about the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, whose lives ended in the walls of the Valaam home for the disabled, a military memorial was built.

Professional guides will tell you about the events of the Soviet-Finnish and World War II, about the post-war history of Valaam, as well as about the revival of the monastery in 1989.

Souvenirs

In the icon and souvenir shops of the monastery, you can buy icons, candles, and submit notes. Gourmets can delight themselves with traditional cheese, which is produced on the farm of the Valaam monastery.

Features:

Water walking/walking tour.

The distance from the ship to the Central estate is 7 km. You can get there both on foot and by boat.

For cruises lasting from 5 days, the boat is included in the price. If the duration of the cruise is less than 5 days, a walking tour to the central estate is offered. At the request of the tourist, you can purchase a boat ticket for an additional fee directly on board the ship.

DURATION: 3-4 hours

THE OBJECTS OF THE VISIT:

* The central estate of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery;

* Mount Tabor;

* Marble Znamenskaya Chapel;

* The Holy gates of the monastery;

* Gate Church of Peter and Paul;

* Assumption Refectory Church is the oldest surviving church on the island;

* The main functioning temple of the monastery is the majestic Transfiguration Cathedral.

Detailed description:

The men's monastery

Your journey through the central estate of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery will begin from the pier of the Monastery Bay. During the tour, you will hear the history of the monastery and see the picturesque narrow bay that goes deep into the island.

Ancient granite steps

A wide granite staircase, built in the middle of the XIX century, rises from the pier to the foot of Mount Tabor. There are 62 authentic granite steps preserved here, fastened with powerful forged brackets.

The path to the red rocks

There is a beautiful monastery garden on the territory of the estate, which enchants with delicate shades both during the flowering season and in the quiet golden autumn. Above the garden, along a patterned cast-iron lattice running along the edge of the cliff, there is a path to the high red rocks. It was from here that the monks of old Valaam admired the gloomy, reflecting reddish rocks, waters of the Monastery Bay, meeting or escorting pilgrims.

Former Romanov royal cells

Next, you will go to the marble Znamenskaya Chapel and the Holy Gates of the monastery. Adjacent to the walls of the church were the "Royal Cells" – the chambers in which members of the Romanov family stayed when visiting Valaam.

In addition, you will see the monastery square, the architectural ensemble of which was formed from the end of the XVIII to the beginning of the XX century:

• The Church of Peter and Paul
• The Assumption Refectory Church is the oldest surviving one on the island
• Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-giving Spring"
• Church of the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God
• cell buildings
• outbuildings

Relics of the Holy Valaam Wonderworkers

A special place during the tour is given to visiting the main functioning temple of the monastery – the majestic Transfiguration Cathedral. According to legend, the relics of the holy founders of the monastery, St. Sergius and Herman of Valaam Wonderworkers, are buried under a bushel in the foundation of the monastery. Professional guides will tell the story of the saints, as well as show the decoration of the Transfiguration Cathedral.

At the Old Fraternal Cemetery, guests will get acquainted with the amazing fates of Valaam ascetics of former times.

Souvenirs
Icons and candles can be bought in the icon and souvenir shops of the monastery.

Excursion to Konevets Island, located in the southwestern part of Lake Ladoga and famous for its ancient monastery in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The excursion program includes a visit to the main monastery cathedral, where the relics of St. Arseny Konevsky the Wonderworker, the saint who founded this secluded monastery in the XIV century, and acquaintance with the complex of cell, hotel and outbuildings of the monastery.

Next, the route passes along a quiet sandy forest road to the Holy Mountain, where the hermitage in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is located, and the legendary Horse Stone - a stone block resembling the skull of a horse, which, according to local legend, pagans made their bloody sacrifices before the arrival of St. Arseny on the island, who consecrated these remote places. Now there is a small chapel on top of the Horse Stone - a favorite place of pilgrimage for Russian people of the late XIX – early XX century. XX century.

The excursion program "Along the path of Holy Russia" introduces more than a thousand years of the city's history, monuments of archeology and architecture.

The journey begins on the southern outskirts of Ladoga, where the Old Doge St. Nicholas Monastery, reopened in 2002, is located. Legend relates the foundation of the monastery to the XIII century and connects it with the name of Alexander Nevsky. Today, you can see the monuments of the XIII-XIX centuries, visit the current church of St. John Chrysostom, venerate the relics of St. Peter the Great. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, brought to the monastery after its renewal.

The walking route is a walk along Varyazhskaya Street, which is accompanied by a guide's story about the settlement of the central part of modern Old Ladoga, the preserved merchant houses of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries and the display of the monument to Princes Rurik and Oleg, installed in 2015.

The acquaintance with the history of the city continues at the exposition "Archeology of Ladoga". The presented finds tell about the life, appearance, and occupations of the townspeople of the IX-XVII centuries; they allow us to trace changes in costume, weapons, and everyday objects from the Viking Age to the Time of Troubles. The halls showcase finds obtained as a result of archaeological research in Ladoga during the 20th century.

During the walking tour, you will visit the Ladoga Fortress, get acquainted with the history and architecture of the complex, which is more than 1000 years old. You will learn about the main construction stages of the fortress and its reconstruction. You will visit the fortress yard, see fragments of fortifications of the XII-XVI centuries: parts of the fortress spinning wheel, a trading arch, towers.

The meeting place of the group is in front of the fortress.

At the end of the program, an independent return to the ship is provided.