Gethsemane skit

Beautiful and quiet.

The proximity of the main pier with cruise ships led to the fact that this beautiful small hermitage, which was conceived as a place of solitude filled with guests of Balaam. The device of the Gethsemane Skete completed the creation of the “Russian Jerusalem” on Valaam. Mauritius completed the construction of the New Jerusalem (Voskresensky) monastery. The mountain on which it stands is called Zion; the channel behind it, connecting Ladoga and Nikon Lake, - Kedrona. To the north of Gethsemane is the 30-meter high Mount of Olives, the top of which is decorated with a five-domed wooden chapel in the Russian style. It was consecrated in 1912 in the name of the Ascension of the Lord. The Gethsemane Skete is located at the foot of the Mount of Olives. The Most Holy Theotokos was buried in the Palestinian Garden of Gethsemane. Therefore, the skit church was consecrated in the name of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (it was staged in 1911, having attached the altar to the chapel built in 1906). The church is completed with tents and richly decorated with carvings. The interior, in particular the cypress iconostasis, was subsequently completely lost. The church was consecrated again on September 12, 1998. A carved cypress iconostasis was recreated, five bells were cast. Nearby is a wooden chapel with the icon "Praying for the Chalice" (in memory of the Lord's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane in front of the Cross Suffering). Behind the church, between the firs, there are two private corps for the brethren. The passage to the cell buildings is closed to visitors.

I went to Balaam for 4 years, but I wasn’t inside this monastery, but outside it was very beautiful, and around too.