Luostari (inhabited locality)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Luostari is a rural locality in Pechengsky District, Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located near the Norway–Russia border. It had a population of 2,260 in 2010 and an estimated 1,687 in 2021.

Name and background:
From 1920 to 1944 it was known in Finnish as Ylä-Luostari, meaning “Upper Monastery,” to distinguish it from Ala-Luostari near Pechenga Bay. After the Tartu Peace Treaty in 1920, Soviet Russia recognized Petsamo and Luostari as part of Finland. The area once had 47 residents.

History highlights:
- A youth hostel named Lohilinna operated there from 1935, run by the Finnish Tourist Association; it was destroyed in the Winter War.
- An airfield at Ylä-Luostari was completed just before the Winter War in 1939, and Finland’s national airline Aero used a Helsinki–Petsamo route that stopped there.
- In 1942, during the Continuation War, Finland lent the airfield to the German Luftwaffe.
- After the Moscow Armistice in 1944, Finland lost Petsamo, and the airfield was renamed Luostari air base by the Soviets.

Current administration:
Luostari is part of Pechengsky Municipal District and the Korzunovo Rural Settlement.