Valaam

Island tour with a visit to the Transfiguration Monastery.

Imagine: just an hour's journey across the water surface separates you from a world where time flows differently. A speedboat takes you past those very Ladoga skerries, and on the horizon it already grows — the ancient island of Valaam, crowned with the domes of the Transfiguration Cathedral.

We dock in a quiet Monastery bay, and the first thing you see is the monastery hovering above you on a cliff. It is from this point that the most famous view opens, which for centuries has been considered by pilgrims and travelers as the gateway to the heavenly city.

Next is the road to Mount Tabor. 62 ancient granite steps, worn down by millions of steps, lead up past the blooming monastery garden. You will see the holy gates, which hide a wonderful world. Here, grandeur is juxtaposed with simplicity: grand cathedrals and quiet cells, the royal chambers where the Romanovs stayed, and the old monastery bakery.

You will meet with the main shrine of these places — the relics of St. Sergius and Herman, the founders of the monastery. The Transfiguration Cathedral is surprisingly quiet and cool, and the murals and gilded iconostasis make the heart of even those who are far from religion freeze.

But Balaam is not just about walls. This is the smell of juniper, sun-warmed rocks and the endless Ladoga, opening from the observation decks. It's a place of power where you want to come back again and again.