The Valaam Monastery is renowned for its unique system of sketes, located on the island amidst picturesque nature and stunning beauty. Unlike other pre-revolutionary monasteries, Valaam has long had its first stone sketes with their own churches. The first of these, the skete in honor of All Saints, was built in 1789 and 1796 under the guidance of the famous abbot Nazarius. In the mid-19th century, it was reconstructed by the outstanding Russian architect Alexei Gornostayev and has remained in this form to this day, although it had to be repaired after the arrival of Soviet power.

The second stone skete was the Nikolsky skete, located on Cross Island at the entrance to the Monastery Bay. It combines two churches built almost simultaneously by architects Alexei Gornostayev and Grigory Karpov. The skete also includes a pre-revolutionary cell building for the brotherhood. Interestingly, the Church of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, in addition to its spiritual functions, served as a lighthouse for passing ships.

The Prechtyevsky and Konevsky sketes, built in 1858 and 1870, are also of interest; however, they have not survived to this day due to the anti-religious campaign of the Soviet period. A particularly heavy loss was the bell, gifted to the monastery during the time of Boris Godunov, which was located on the second floor of the Prechtyevsky skete. The Bolsheviks destroyed six more sketes, some of which were restored, but the exact dates of their restoration are unknown.

In addition to the sketes on Valaam itself, the monastery had sketes on the islands of Putsari, Saint Herman, and Vossinansari. They were also destroyed during the Soviet era, and restoration work is currently underway on the first two islands. Fortunately, the monastery has still preserved some of its unique sketes.