Photos

The Gethsemane skete is located on island Valaam in northern part of Ladoga Lake the biggest lake of Europe. This skete is one of ten sketes of Valaam Monastery. The skete church was built in 1911. "Following the tradition of pilgrimage to the sacred places connected with the life of Our Saviour, Russian Orthodox people also wanted to see some reminders of the Holy Land in their own country. The Gethsemane skete completed the creation of the "Russian Jerusalem" conceived by hegumen Mavriky. Father Mavriky completed the construction of the New-Jerusalem skete on the Sion mountain. Ladoga and a small Nikonovskoje lake are connected by the channel called Kidron.To the left of it one can see the thirty-metre Eleon mountain with a Russian style five-domed chapel on top. At the foot of the Eleon mountain stands the Gethsemane skete."
This shot begins series of shots taken during my one day trip to Valaam.