Valamo Monastery

8km/5mi farther along Road 23 another side road on the left leads to the monastery of Uusi Valamo (overnight accommodation), in the commune of Papinniemi, at the southern tip of the Juojärvi. A community of Orthodox monks found a new home here when they were compelled by the Soviet advance in the winter of 1940 to leave their old monastery of Valamo on an island in Lake Ladoga. They were able to bring with them many icons and valuable church furnishings. The church of Uusi Valamo, consecrated in 1976, is believed to be the largest Russian Orthodox church outside Russia.