Paramushiru

Paramushiru is a large volcanic island in the northern Kurils, just south of Shumushu. Ainu villages stood on its shores, and their inhabitants travelled seasonally to fishing camps on neighbouring islands. Russian visitors reached the northern Kurils in the early eighteenth century, encountering an island society connected by trade as far south as Hokkaido. An Orthodox mission later established a church on Paramushiru in 1747, introducing another strand of outside influence.