Russian Travel Guide

Коллекция Russian Travel Guide. Природа. Восточная Сибирь. Байкал

Valaam monastery in winter

A winter day at the Valaam Monastery may seem the same as all the rest, but compared to the unhurried life filled with daily duties led by the monks, these winter days are not boring at all. For centuries the Valaam Monastery has preserved the traditions of Russian monasticism and has served and continues to serve as a religious lighthouse that every year attracts thousands of people to the far-off islands in Lake Ladoga. Over its long history, monks have been forced to leave the monastery multiple times, but time after time they have returned and monastic life at Valaam continued. This is what happened at the end of the 20-th century during the fall of the Soviet Union. Nowadays the Valaam Monastery is once again known as one of Russia’s spiritual centres.

The lighthouses of the Leningrad oblast

To a sailor the lighthouse is a symbol of hope – a sanctuary at sea. In Leningradskaya Oblast the guiding light of these towering structures has been illuminating the waters for more than 300 years, saving human lives on a daily basis. Each one of these lighthouses is unique in its own way and has its own story, which is not always merely connected to the sea and its ships. Nowadays however, with new navigation technology, do we really need these lighthouses and do lighthouse keepers even still exist? RTG TV presenter Alexander Uvarov discovered the answers to these questions and more while on a fascinating water adventure to the lighthouses of Lake Ladoga and the Finnish Gulf.