The monastery was then originally established on Valaam (also known historically by the Finnish name Valamo) which is an archipelago in the northern portion of Lake Ladoga, lying within the Republic of Karelia in the Russian Federation.

The New Valamo Monastery is now an active centre of the Orthodox religious life and culture in Finland and welcomes visitors throughout the year.

In 1939, during the Winter War, some 190 monks from the Valamo Monastery in Karelia were evacuated from their old abode on a group of islands in Lake Ladoga in the Viipuri Province to present Eastern Finland.

The old Valamo Monastery was occupied by the armed forces of the Soviet Union quite soon after the outbreak of the Winter War.

The choice fell on a mansion in Papinniemi, Heinävesi, after the monks had found there, quite surprisingly, an icon of St. Sergius and St. Herman of Valaam, the founders of the monastery in the 12th century.

[3] In 1977, in connection with the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Orthodoxy in Finland, the stone Transfiguration Cathedral was built in the monastery according to the design of the architect Ivan Kudrjavzev.

A couple of foreign extraction, who had been living in the building, were prosecuted in the Southern Savo Local Court.

[citation needed] The monks of the New Valamo Monastery live a communal life of spirituality founded in the Ascetic tradition of the Orthodox Church.

[11] In 2016–2017, an art sale exhibition was organized at the Valamo Monastery in Heinävesi, curated by the then Bishop of Joensuu, Arseni (Heikkinen).

The monastery and the Philanthropy Association, which has been reported to be channeling the proceeds to the victims of the Syrian war, received a commission from the sales.

[13] According to experts interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat, the works on sale did not represent the best of the artists’ production and were overpriced.

[12] According to research by the Finnish National Gallery, the graphic works by Picasso, Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall that were on sale as “test pieces” at the exhibition were counterfeit inkjet prints.