In the ancient northern city of Kemi, on the banks of a river flowing into the White Sea, lies the first and currently the only monastery in Russia dedicated to the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. The monastery was founded by the decision of the Holy Synod in 2000 on the site of the partially destroyed Annunciation Cathedral, built in 1903 with funds from merchant Fyodor Antonov. The choice of this northern city and temple for the creation of the first monastery in memory of the new martyrs was not accidental.

Kemi housed the administration of special northern camps, known as SLON, through which tens of thousands of Russian people passed, including bishops, priests, and monks who were undesirable to the 'Soviet authorities.' In Kemi, a former possession of the Solovetsky Monastery, gifted by Martha the Benefactress in the 15th century, convoys arrived from all over Russia. In the Annunciation Cathedral, Orthodox believers could pray before being sent to the Solovetsky camp. The temple remembers countless prayers and two great 'archbishops of Solovetsky,' the holy martyrs Hilarion Troitsky and Peter Zverev.

Next to the temple stood a three-story building of the camp administration and the NKVD hotel 'Priboy,' designed in the style of Soviet constructivism. The camps were managed by disgraced Chekists, mainly for drunkenness. However, even far from Moscow and Leningrad, they sought to live luxuriously. The building had only five Chekist offices, but most of it was occupied by a restaurant with excellent chefs and musicians who found themselves behind bars, along with 'cultural' waitresses. Tired of work, the Chekists relaxed in the restaurant while prayers for the salvation of Russia echoed in the temple.

This confrontation between the temple and the Chekist restaurant symbolized the conflict of two worlds, characteristic of the troubled times in Russia. Soon the temple was closed, its basement became a place of executions, and now the cathedral stands on the remains and blood of the new martyrs.

The 'Priboy' hotel was acquired by Murmansk merchants, but the business did not succeed, and the building remained abandoned. Subsequently, it passed into the hands of the spiritual heirs of the victims and was dedicated to those who suffered in the church basement. The hotel rooms became monastic cells, and the building became the brotherhood's corps of the monastery.

Founded 19 years ago in honor of the New Martyrs, the monastery has become a spiritual center of Karelia. The inhabitants restore buildings, hold services, and conduct prayers to the saints. Icons of the Savior, the Mother of God, and other saints exude myrrh in the temple. The monastery receives pilgrims heading to Solovki daily, and a hotel is being created for them. A Sunday school has started, and the brotherhood curbs the activity of Protestant sects in Karelia. The inhabitants are convinced that the fate of the monastery is part of the prophecy about the revival of Orthodoxy in Russia from the North.

In 2006, the monastery was transferred the building of the wooden Assumption Cathedral, an architectural monument of the 18th century, built in 1717 and considered an 'encyclopedia' of northern wooden architecture.