Konevsky Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery

Konevsky Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery (Konevitsan Jumalansynnyttäjän syntymän luostari) is a male monastery of the Vyborg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church on Konevets Island in the western part of Lake Ladoga in the Leningrad region. It was founded in 1393 by Venerable Arseny of Konevets. It is often considered a twin of the Valaam Monastery, which is also located on an island in Lake Ladoga.

Konevets Island measures 5 by 2 kilometers, is located about 5 kilometers from the mainland, and is separated from it by the Konevets Strait. In the Middle Ages, the island housed a pagan sanctuary of Finnish tribes, who especially revered a huge boulder shaped like a horse’s skull, weighing more than 750 tons. This boulder is known as the “Horse-Stone,” which gave the island its name.

The monastery was founded in 1393 by Venerable Arseny of Konevets, a monk from the Novgorod Republic, who sought to convert the pagan Karelians to Christianity. The monastery’s location was changed once to avoid flooding. The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos was founded by Saint Arseny in 1421; it was the main church of the monastery, housing the principal shrine — the miraculous Konevskaya Icon of the Mother of God, brought by Saint Arseny from Mount Athos, depicting Christ playing with a dove’s chick, symbolizing spiritual purity.

Like the Valaam Monastery, the monastery on Konevets Island was known for its missionary work. The monastery was almost completely abandoned during the 17th century: from 1611 until the Great Northern War, the island belonged to the Swedes. The Swedes captured the island during the Russo-Swedish War of 1614–1617, forcing the monks to relocate to Novgorod, where they were housed in the Derevyanitsky Monastery.

In 1718, after the glorious victory of Peter the Great and our army, when Russia regained Western Ladoga, the abbot of the Derevyanitsky Monastery obtained the tsar’s permission to restore the monastery on Konevets.

The revived monastery was dependent on Novgorod’s Derevyanitsky Monastery until 1760, when it was officially recognized as an independent monastery. In 1812, after the Finnish War, the monastery administratively became part of the newly formed Grand Duchy of Finland, along with the rest of “Old Finland.”

The golden age of the monastery came in the 19th century, when its fame spread to the imperial capital. In 1843 and 1849, Verkhovtsev, with the assistance of the abbot, Igumen Amphilochius, the future Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), created a new reliquary over the burial place of Venerable Arseny, located in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Meeting of the Lord, as well as two patens and two disks with accessories for the church of Arseny of Konevets. On June 28, 1858, Emperor Alexander II visited the island with his family, along with prominent guests from Saint Petersburg, including Alexandre Dumas and Fyodor Tyutchev.

Alexandre Dumas the Elder described his journey in the seven-volume work “Impressions of a Journey to Russia,” first published in the weekly “Monte-Cristo” from 1858 to 1862: “After breakfast, we asked what kind of excursion we could make on the island. We were told that the most interesting would be a short trip to the stone horse. This seemed like some kind of tradition, and for this reason, it held an attraction for me. We took a guide and set off on a path that passed through the monastery cemetery. Speaking of nature on Konevets and Valaam, it should be noted that these islands have more lakes than forests. The existing forests mostly consist of pines, birches, lindens, aspens, plane trees, and maples. Leaving the cemetery, we entered an alley that contained something majestic. At the entrance stood a huge Greek cross, which at first seemed to be made of silver, as it seemed to blaze under the sun’s rays. But upon closer inspection, we saw that the cross was made only of flat white iron. At the top of a small hill stood a church; the road leading from it shimmered with unusual colors: smoky and bluish, which I had never seen before, and perhaps this splendor determines the dreaminess and pensiveness of Finnish poetry. To our left stretched wheat fields dotted with pale cornflowers. To the right, a deserted steppe emitted a heady smell of straw, pleasant to those who spent their childhood in the village and are accustomed to such sharp scents.”

Nikolai Leskov also described his impressions of visiting the monastery in his 1873 writings.

Having become well-known, the monastic community was able to begin extensive construction projects, starting with the building of a new cathedral with a bell tower from 1800 to 1809. This huge two-story, eight-columned building was designed by local elders. It is crowned with five octagonal drums supporting five blue domes. The same style was applied to the three-tiered bell tower (1810–1812), reaching a height of 35 meters. Two sketes — Konevsky and Kazansky — were established on the site of the ancient monastery.

Bishop Mikhail (Chub) with Abbot Peter (Joukhi) and the brethren of Konevsky Monastery in Keitele in 1954

After the 1917 revolution, the monastery found itself on the territory of independent Finland and came under the jurisdiction of the autonomous Finnish Orthodox Church (according to the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate). The island was fortified by Finnish military forces, and hotels were occupied by servicemen.

During the Soviet-Finnish War and the Great Patriotic War, the monastery buildings were damaged. On March 13, 1940, the monks evacuated to Finland, taking with them the Konevskaya Icon of the Mother of God but leaving behind the iconostasis, church bells (except for the bells of the Kazansky skete), and the library. The personal belongings of Saint Arseny (a kap worn ladle and a pectoral cross) are now kept in the museum of the Orthodox Church in Kuopio, Finland. The Konev Psalter, dated to the 14th century, was reportedly sent to the Russian National Library, though this is unverified. The monks returned briefly during the war years 1941–1944 but left again with the Finnish army in August 1944. In 1956, they joined monks who had fled from the Valaam Monastery and founded the New Valaam Monastery in Finland.

In 1990, it became one of the first monasteries in the region to be returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Services resumed. Everyone who began to come and settle there was called “garbage collectors,” then “builders,” due to the large amount of rubbish cleared from the site.

In November 1991, the relics of Venerable Arseny of Konevets, hidden from the Swedes in 1573, were discovered. Today, the monastery attracts many pilgrims and tourists; restoration work continues, and two metochions have been opened — in Saint Petersburg and Priozersk.

On May 29, 2020, Bishop Ignatius performed the rite of the great consecration of the Arsenievsky Church of the monastery and the Divine Liturgy in the newly consecrated church. Restoration work in the Church of Venerable Arseny was completed in February 2020. The church has been fully restored. It houses a carved iconostasis made by Greek masters and features fresco paintings.

By the beginning of the 20th century, on the site of the original foundation of Konevsky Monastery by Venerable Arseny, there existed the Konevsky Skete, which had a church dedicated to the Konevskaya Icon of the Mother of God. In 1796, under Abbot Adrian, the Kazansky Skete was founded on the Holy Mountain east of the monastery, where a stone church dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was located. It was on the Holy Mountain that Venerable Arseny began his ascetic life on Konevets.

A procession from the monastery to the church of the Konevskaya Icon of the Mother of God was held annually on July 10.

Sources:

https://konevets.ru/info/press/aleksandr-dyuma-otec-na-konevce/

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Коневский_Рождество-Богородичный_монастырь