The Eastern Orthodox religion as a cultural bridge was a tourism, business and content production project based on the Eastern Orthodox tradition and present culture, which was designed to compile and make the mutual cultural heritage of the regions available to the public. Th e project would start with the collection of databases, which would then be used for creating guides and maps in Finnish, Russian and English and would present images, objects and chronicles. An essential part of the project would be defi ning an orthodox theme route from the New Valaam to Russia via Niirala. Th e project would operate in close cooperation with the development project Runon ja rajan tien kehittämishanke (the Route of the Poem and the Border). Achievements: The projected gathered information about the orthodox culture from the North Karelian parishes, their churches and sanctuaries, graveyards and funeral grounds. Information was also gathered from the Eastern Orthodox denomination in general; details about church buildings, praasniekka festivals, icons and sacred object. The collected data was transferred into documentaries, image and audio recordings. The project used modern technology in the distribution and advertising of the Eastern Orthodox church and culture, and the Karelian Church Route were given new web pages in connection with Runon ja Rajan tie, i.e. Via Karelia, at www.viakarelia.fi . The information about the Eastern Orthodox denomination collected in the project was included in the web pages. The project also produced a joint map guide for the Karelian Church Route and Runon ja Rajan tie, in cooperation the development project of Runon ja Rajan tie, the edition was 3000 pieces. The maps were distributed to the public through travel agencies and destinations, such as the Valaam Monastery. The project also produced a set of postcards, on sale in churches during the project. Direct cooperation between the orthodox parishes of Finland and the Republic of Karelia did not succeed, since the project could not organise the required meeting of the Finnish archbishop Leo and the Karelian bishop Manuel.