The Izhora Plateau—known in old Western sources as Ingermanland—is not the sort of place you would expect to find Russian Old Believers. No famous spiritual centers ever rose here, no wandering prophets or teachers of the “ancient faith” preached to the native Vod, Izhora, or Liv peoples.
And yet there is a village with a warm, glowing name: Lampovo, most likely derived from the Finnish lampi, meaning “pond.” It lies just outside St. Petersburg in the Gatchina district, a short drive from the city’s stone canyons.
In the mid-19th century, Old Believers of the priestless Pomor branch came here from the Vologda and Arkhangelsk provinces. They brought with them what we love most—the architecture of the Russian North: monumental timber houses with soaring basements and rows of wide windows, some still decorated with painted interiors and intricate woodcarving.
The village also preserves a prayer house—the only Old Believer chapel in the entire Leningrad region—a vivid cemetery with tall cross-shaped golubets (wooden house-shaped grave marker), and a spring hidden among tree roots. A few descendants of the first settlers still live here, and a small community gathers for feast-day services.
Many of the giant wooden homes now stand abandoned, collapsing or fire-scarred, the cultural heritage fading as it does almost everywhere. Yet for now, Lampovo remains a rare and fascinating enclave of the Russian North, a quiet, mysterious oasis on the very edge of St. Petersburg’s urban sprawl.
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