In the mysterious region of Karelia, formerly a border territory disputed by Finland and Russia, stands the Valhamönde Monastery. Practically isolated from the world by its labyrinthine lake topography and the perennial mists of Lake Saimaa, Valhamönde was abandoned by its dwellers when Stalin invaded Finland at the beginning of the Second World War; half in ruins for various decades, descendants of the orthodox Khlisti sect would return to occupy it discreetly at the end of the twentieth century.