ethnic Seto and a researcher of Seto folk songs and traditional vocal polyphony () at the University of Tartu. Religion The Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery in Petseri has been an important religious and communal center for the Seto peoples. Since medieval times the monastery has owned much of the land and the Seto Churches in the region leading many Seto peasants to view the monastery as the economic and theological center of their community. In 1920 with the independence of the Republic of Estonia from Soviet Russia, the border was drawn to include the monastery on the Estonia side. This prevented it from being desecrated or demolished by the Soviet forces during the anti-religious campaign from 1921-1928. Following the occupation by the German and Soviet forces from 1940-1991, the restoration of Estonian independence led the border to be moved, dividing the ancestral Seto lands and placing the monastery on side of the Russian Federation. With the revival of Seto culture following the fall of the Soviet Union, elements of the pre-Christian religion that were preserved in private during the periods of Christianization and Sovietization began to reemerge. Since 2007, Jumalamägi, God's Hill, an ancient sacred grove that was dedicated to the God-King Peko, who would carry spirits to the afterlife in his horse wagon, has again become a center of communal activity. Recently, a sculpture by local sculptor R. Veeber was erected on the hill and has become an important location for offers to Peko by the local community. See also Seto language Võro language Karelians Skolt Sámi References Eichenbaum, K.; Pajusalu, K. (2001): Setode ja võrokeste keelehoiakutest ja identiteedist. - Keel ja Kirjandus nr 7, lk. 483-489. Eller, K. (1999): Võro-Seto language. Võro Instituut'. Võro. External links Photo essay by BBC News - "In pictures: The Seto people, a border people" "Seto Culture in Setumaa" on visitestonia.com Picture Stories on National Geographic - A Fairytale Kingdom Faces Real-Life Troubles by Jérémie Jung and Eve Conant Seto Baltic Finns Ethnic groups in Estonia Ethnic groups in Russia Pskov Oblast Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East Indigenous peoples of Europe