The chronicles of Valamo Monastery record that it was founded on the island of Valamo (Valaam) in Lake Ladoga, Karelia, in the 10th century by the orthodox monk Sergei. More propable the monastery was founded around the mid-12th century. It grew to its maximum size during the 19th century, and housed by 359 monks and 562 novices in 1913, for example.

Valamo underwent dramatic changes as a result of the Russian revolution of 1917, with a sharp decline in the number of new entrants. As Lutheran Finland separated itself from Russia in 1918, the monastery continued but by 1939 its brotherhood had dwindled to a couple of hundred.

The Winter War led to evacuation of the monastery in 1940, but it was able to resume its normal life at its present site in Hein�vesi later the same year, the brethren being joined there by the monks of Petsamo Monastery. After the war in 1944 Soviets claimed half of Finnish Karelia, including the island of Valamo, so the monastery stayed in Hein�vesi.

The monks from the monastery of Konevitsa became part of the same community in 1956, bringing with them the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God of Konevitsa.

The monastery became entirely Finnish in the late 1970's and adopted Finnish as its principal language for communication and worship.

http://www.valamo.fi/