The border between Norway and Russia was not defined in terms of land, instead the Treaty of Novgorod (1326) specified which indigenous, nomadic families had to pay their taxes to which government.

Inspired by the model of the Solovetsky Monastery, Tryphon wished to convert the local Skolt Sami population to Christianity and to demonstrate how faith could flourish in the most inhospitable lands.

The present border between Norway and Russia was settled in 1826, and the development of the area considerably accelerated in the late 19th century, when the monastery was re-established there.

The harbor of Liinakhamari in Petsamo was important for the Russian economy during World War I as the Baltic Sea was blocked by the Germans.

According to the 1920 Treaty of Tartu that followed Finnish occuрation of the region, Soviet Russia ceded the area of Pechenga (Petsamo Province) to Finland.

In 1944, the Red Army occupied Petsamo again, and this time Finland had to cede it to the Soviet Union as part of the Moscow Armistice signed on September 19, 1944 that halted fighting in the Continuation War.

Following the Paris Peace Treaty, the local Skolt Sami were given the choice of staying in Soviet Russia or moving to Finland.