page_title: Konevets
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Konevets / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Horse Stone and a chapel on top of the stone in Konevets Island in Lake Ladoga, Russia. According to a legend of founding of the Konevsky Monastery the Horse Stone was a sacrificial site of local pagan Karelians until the monastery took over the control of the island. Suomi: Hevoskivi ja tsasouna sen päällä Konevitsassa. Luostarin perustamislegendan mukaan kivi oli karjalaisten uhripaikka ennen luostarin perustamista. Русский: Коневец, Конь-камень, Часовня на Конь-камене
context_page_description: Konevets is an approximately 8.5-km² island famous as the site of the Konevsky Monastery. It is located off the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga near the village of Vladimirovka. The island is part of the Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast. The nearest town is Priozersk, which is located 40 km away from the island. The island of Valaam is 60 km away and Saint Petersburg is 170 km away by boat. There is a ferry link from Vladimirovka that makes the 6.5-km trip in 40–50 minutes.
context_section_description: There is no certain information about the island’s earliest stages. According to sources discussing the establishment of the monastery on the island, there was a rock named Kon-kamen or Horse Rock where the Karelians went to perform sacrifices. The rock is located approximately 1 km north-northeast of the monastery at the base of the west slope of Svyataya. The rock is a rounded granite slab that is 9 m long, 6 m wide, approximately 4 m high and 750 tonnes that resembles the head of a horse. An Orthodox chapel has been built on top of it. The Russian name for the island, and thus the current Finnish name, are derived from the name of the rock or perhaps the assumed original Karelian name Hevossaari (Horse Island).
  The island’s Orthodox Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded by Arseny of Novgorod in 1393. The Swedes captured the island and destroyed the monastery in 1577 and 1610. Sweden lost control of the island as a result of their being beaten by Peter I of Russia in the Great Northern War. The current buildings are mainly from the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The island did not suffer any damage in the Russian revolution, as it had become part of Independent Finland in 1917.
  In 1940, during the Second World War, the monks moved to the interior of Finland and joined the monks at the Orthodox Monastery of New Valamo. The island was ceded to the Soviet Union and the monastery fell into disrepair. From 1944 to 1990, the island was used by the military and thus closed to the public. In 1991, visitors were allowed back on the island and repairs and renovations to the monastery commenced. Approximately 20 monks now live on the island, which has become a popular place of pilgrimage.
caption: Horse Stone
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