Karelia ruskeala marble quarry. Address and working hours of Ruskeala mountain park. Location of Ruskeala mountain park in Karelia
mountain park Ruskeala has been operating for almost ten years. It was opened for mass visits in 2005. Its creation was sponsored by tour operator Kolmas Karelia. "Ruskeala" is very popular today. This place has become so famous for a reason. Tens of thousands of tourists visit it every year.
General information
The monument is called "Ruskeala Marble Breaks of the 17th - Early 20th Centuries". At present, the creation of such a complex is a positive and infrequent phenomenon in Russia. This example clearly demonstrates how an object can be revived with private funds. cultural heritage. The place itself is unique. Here, a rare symbiosis of the mining museum of the past centuries and the natural attractions that Karelia is famous for has been recreated. "Ruskeala" is a truly unique ensemble. His natural beauty can be admired at any time of the year.
Special atmosphere
Three quarries were formed here as a result of marble mining. They are located next to the left bank of the Tohmajoki River. The quarries are interconnected by adits. Soon, work on the extraction of stone ceased. The quarries were abandoned. On the site of ancient quarries, picturesque ones appeared. They are white marble thickets, which are filled with clean water bluish green. At present, the inactive adits and mines resemble mysterious grottoes and caves.
Local Attractions
The marble quarry "Ruskeala" is the main attraction of the complex. This place is a monument of industrial culture of the XVIII-XX centuries. Ruskeala Park is officially included in the list of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. This monument is unique. There is no other such complex anywhere in Europe. This is a kind of man-made "bowl" from a solid marble array. It is pierced by systems of drifts, galleries and mines. Facing blocks were mined here for many architectural structures city of St. Petersburg. Majestic Saint Isaac's Cathedral is also no exception. A variety of buildings were decorated with Ruskeala marble. It has a stunning color: white with greenish flashes. Some metro stations are still decorated with this marble.
Quarry marble "Ruskeala"
Its length is about four hundred and fifty meters. It's pretty deep. The quarry is currently flooded. Water rises to the upper underground horizon. The Finns did this before the war began in the 40s. Most of the adits that were formed in the first half of the last century are under water. Only one of them is located above this level. This adit was formed in the bowels mountain ranges in the 30s. A path was built inside it, along which trolleys with marble moved. It is connected to shaft No. 2. It was along it that the workers moved. The mine goes deep into the mountain at a distance of about two hundred meters. mound railway, along which the trolleys moved, is still preserved.
picturesque views
Outwardly, the marble quarry "Ruskeala" makes a tremendous impression. Gray-white rocks descend down to its heavily indented shores. Rocks go deep into a huge distance. There is a regular excursion to Ruskeala. The canyon has its own pier. Here guests can use the rental service and take a boat. While traveling on it, you can look at the canyon from the water. A certain part of the blocks hangs over this space at a negative angle. Travelers can also admire the views of the grottoes. They were formed in sheer cliffs. The play of light on the marble ceiling attracts the eyes of tourists for a long time. The grottoes really look very picturesque. White and vaults are reflected in the calm water surface.
Precautionary measures
There are also dry adits here. However, tourists are strictly forbidden to visit them. This requires the support of a geologist. The heat outside means that in marble adit cold reigns. You can feel the dankness as you go deeper into the layer. It's hard to imagine what it was like working here. The Quarry Board provided some data from that time. During peak periods, mining was carried out year-round. The drilling process did not stop day or night.
Fundamental differences
There is the main, most famous and visited quarry "Ruskeala". Around it were located several more abandoned ones. Currently, activities are underway to develop them. Most quarries are different from each other. This applies not only to the types of coasts. This also applies to the color of the water. For example, in one career it may be gray, and in another - blue. The main one is slightly different from the rest. The water in this quarry is bluish-green in color. Over time, the walls here have darkened and weathered. This happened during the time when there were no developments in the quarries. However, this does not prevent tourists from seeing their true color. It can be observed on freshly chipped marble pieces. They are quite common. The old "block" quarry is special in this respect. Here you can see the most striking manifestations picturesque stone. It was in this quarry that marble was mined in large blocks.
Underground research
The speleological commission of St. Petersburg was engaged in the development of a multi-year expeditionary project. It is called "Underground Karelia". Speleologists were engaged in the study in 2010. The mountain park "Ruskeala" and the Marble failure became the main objects of research. The latter is located very close to the place where the main excursion route by the complex.
Features of the complex
IN winter period The marble quarry "Ruskeala" looks no less attractive. At this time of the year, the lake is covered with ice. Therefore, it is very easy to get to the mysterious grottoes and adits. One of these places is called musical for its unusual acoustic properties. In winter, "Ruskeala failure" strikes with its magnificence.
It becomes like an ice castle, the columns of which have the most bizarre shapes. There is art lighting here. It helps the majestic canyon to light up with bright colors after dark. Marble Quarry (Karelia) (a map of the area is given in the article) is a favorite place where divers love to conduct their training. As a rule, they do this in the most remote corners of the quarry, so they do not interfere with the bulk of visitors at all. Several quarries are flooded here. The adits connecting them also ended up in the water. The Ruskeala canyon (the map clearly demonstrates this) included only three functioning underground horizons that were used for mining. Diving enthusiasts will find this place paradise. Tempting labyrinths will not leave anyone indifferent. At the very bottom of the canyon, some equipment is still preserved. For example, motorcycles, cars and even a crane. All this attracts those who are engaged in techno diving. The water here is clear. Muti is practically non-existent. Aquatic vegetation is also absent. In autumn, however, leaves that drop birch trees can fly.
Local staff keep the marble quarry "Ruskeala" clean. Workers periodically make trips to the lake and clean it of debris. Traces of people's presence are preserved everywhere: papers, plastic bottles etc. However, visitors litter quite a bit. The guests must be mesmerized by the majestic beauty of the flooded quarry. Pollute the picturesque Mountain Lake conscience does not allow. In the territory mountain park not only ancient ones have been preserved. Others are also located here. historical objects. For example, the old administrative building. It is made in the style of classicism. The building is entirely made of Ruskeala marble. On the territory of the complex there are monuments of industrial 19th architecture century. They are kilns that were designed for burning lime. Their brick pipes are conical in shape. The existing quarry will also be of interest to tourists. You can watch the process of mining large marble blocks. Currently, these objects are not included in the mountain park. For this reason, they are poorly adapted for tourist excursions.
"Ruskeala" (recreation center). General information
Lots of guests are waiting here. positive emotions. The complex is located in the Sortavala region. This South part Karelia. From St. Petersburg to this place about three hundred kilometers. The Ruskeala complex, the photo of which is presented in the article, can receive guests all year round. The base is equipped with everything necessary for their comfortable stay. The rooms can accommodate from two to eight people. There are special rooms for honeymooners and families with children. Together with parents, a child, even an infant, can be accommodated here.
Entertainment
Guests can organize a picnic on site. Barbecue available. Guests can bake fish and cook kebabs. Wood burning sauna available for rent. It is located on the shore of the lake. On the basis of "Ruskeala" a rather extensive program for vacationers has been developed. For example, you can safely go fishing, visit Lake Valaam or see waterfalls and friendly and polite staff work at the camp site. Even if guests are not prepared for fishing, they can get bait, tackle and even professional fishing advice.
Where is the attraction located?
The above are the features that marble quarry Ruskeala. How to get to this place? You can go through Priozersk from St. Petersburg by car. The path will run through Sortavala along the A-129 highway. In the city itself, you should go along the main road towards Petrozavodsk. From Sortavala, at the 10th km, there will be a turn to the A-130 highway. After Priozersk, a rather winding road begins. Total time, which will have to be spent on the whole journey - 4-5 hours.
Marble Canyon - a place of mesmerizing beauty. Not far from the village of Ruskeala, located about twenty-five kilometers north of the city of Sortavala, Republic of Karelia, there are picturesque marble quarries that have long served as a place for marble mining. Back in the 17th century, the Swedes began mining marble here. At that time, marble was used for very mundane purposes - building foundations in the surrounding settlements and for the production of construction lime. The practical Swedes did not need pompous material to decorate buildings, they always loved conciseness and practicality, so the hand did not flinch to translate good. However, almost a century later, our country began mining marble for its intended purpose.
St. Isaac's Cathedral, Marble Palace, Kazan Cathedral and Mikhailovsky Castle are decorated with Ruskeala marble
Marble from Ruskeala quarries was highly appreciated by such outstanding architects of that time as Rinaldi and Montferrand. They began to use marble slabs to decorate the buildings they erected. Many famous buildings St. Petersburg. lined with marble from the Ruskeala quarries, the main of which are Green and White, named after the color of the marble that is mined from them. For example, white marble from Karelia, they were used in the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, one of the facades of the Mikhailovsky Palace, the pedestal of the monument to Peter I, they decorated the windows of the Winter Palace. The marble of the Green Mountain was useful in the construction of the Kazan Cathedral and other objects in St. Petersburg, Gatchina and Tsarskoye Selo. Nowadays, Ruskeala marble has been used for lining the underground halls of St. Petersburg metro stations. Marble was quarried different levels called horizons, which are located even underground. The original horizons did not reach our time, they were replaced by later ones. I will not write about how the marble was mined, because it will be much more interesting for you to hear this story from a qualified guide in the park, who will tell you everything in detail. Currently, some of the quarries are abandoned and flooded, and some continue to be used for industrial stone extraction. The combination of the nature of Karelia and human activities have given these quarries an amazingly picturesque look that attracts travelers not only from Karelia, but also from St. Petersburg, Moscow and other places. One of the quarries, now called the “Ruskeala mountain park”, is equipped for tourists to visit - pedestrian paths have been cleared and fenced around, a parking lot has been equipped, right in the quarry, you can rent a boat and enjoy the view from the water to the marble walls, which are more than twenty meters high . It has been developed since 1765, today its length from north to south is four hundred and sixty meters, width - up to one hundred meters. The distance from the highest point of the canyon wall to its bottom is over fifty meters. The transparency of the water reaches up to eighteen meters. 
In addition to the marble canyon, the mountain park includes many other interesting objects.
In front of the entrance to the park there is a square with a long row of souvenir tents and an administration building where tickets are sold. There is also an observation deck at the largest Ruskeala quarry. The mountain park occupies a small area and its inspection does not take much time. If you rent a boat, then from the water you can swim into the marble grotto and admire the bizarre play of light reflected from the water on slightly transparent marble arches. Sheer cliffs also leave an indelible impression. 
In the evenings, the quarry is illuminated with colored lights. There are several other quarries around the park. An interesting fact is that quarries differ from each other in the color of water. In the main quarry, the water has an emerald green hue, in the neighboring ones it is blue and gray with a blue tint. And this is not accidental: the shade of water is directly related to the color of the marble mined here. In addition to the flooded galleries, there are also not flooded ones. But getting into them on your own without an escort is impossible.
The quarry is filled with crystal-clear water with an emerald hue and is framed by patterned banks - sheer cliffs. In places, the marble glows through the water. From the observation platforms located along the perimeter of the quarry, very scenic views. The banks of the quarry are steep, sheer cliffs. It is forbidden to climb on them, as indicated by the corresponding signs. When issuing the boat, they warn not to swim up to the rock, fenced on the water with buoys, as stones sometimes collapse from above. 
There is also something to see outside the park.
Close to it are the so-called "Italian quarries", where layers of evenly cut marble are clearly visible, both directly in the mountain, and in the form of rejected and abandoned huge stone blocks. Italian - because the first developments here were carried out with the involvement of Italian specialists and technologies. There is also a marble pool carved into the “floor” and filled with water. 
One of the sights of this place are the brick kilns of the 19th century, for firing marble chips (XIX century), the pipes of the kilns are somewhat similar to towers or minarets. You can come close to them, and even look inside. Mono to see the old administrative building, made entirely of marble Ruskeala. 
A separate topic is diving. The flooded quarries of Ruskeala, interconnected by adits, are real paradise for divers. Labyrinths of tunnels, no less than three underground levels of marble mining and remote unexplored underwater caves attract diving enthusiasts in large numbers. At the bottom of the main canyon, the technique used at one time for the extraction of marble has forever remained. Combined with amazingly clear water, these techno-artifacts only add to the attraction of the place. By the way, the transparency of water is due to its low temperature: the water in the quarry is the key and is constantly updated. 
If you are traveling by car, on the way to the marble quarries, you should definitely stop on the banks of the Tohmajoki River, at the Ahvenkoski waterfall. Benches and houses are specially made here so that you can stop and relax. Having gained strength, you can also go to the destroyed Finnish power plant, located on the same Tohmajoki river, a little downstream. To do this, you need to go back a little along the highway - less than a kilometer and turn right, after walking five hundred meters along a forest road. The waterfall is artificial but beautiful.
A small amount of money is charged for a walk through the park. Boat rental, of course, is also paid. However, the price for people who spent money on the road from St. Petersburg or another big city, will not seem high. Especially for divers provide a pier for diving. In winter, there is an ice skating rink and you can rent skates.
How to get to the marble canyon Ruskeala
It is difficult to get to the village of Ruskeala by public transport, although it is possible. First you need to get to the city of Sortavala. From St. Petersburg it can be reached by train or by regular bus. From Sortavala to the village of Ruskeala, and you can get there by bus (it runs 2 times a day to Vartsila through Ruskeala) or by taxi. Alternatively, you can get to the Matkaselka station by train St. Petersburg - Kostomuksha, and walk to the park on foot about eight kilometers along the road. The arrival time of the train is very inconvenient 1:00 and 4:00, although, on the other hand, you will be the first visitors. Traveling by private car is much easier. From St. Petersburg you need to get to the city of Sortavala along the highway A-129 St. Petersburg - Sortavala. Then go north along the A-130 highway to Vartsila to the village of Ruskeala. It will have a pointer to the Mountain Park. You can leave your car in the complex's parking lot (free parking) or on the side of nearby roads. The path is not close. From St. Petersburg to the Mountain Park about three hundred and thirty kilometers.
Ruskeala mountain park Karelia is an amazing place. This is a unique attraction not only in Karelia, but throughout Europe. More than 50 thousand tourists visit the Ruskeala park and quarry every year. The quarries created by human hands, where marble was mined until the 19th century, attract and beckon with their beauty, fresh clean air of the Ladoga region.
Abandoned quarry turned into an interesting one tourist facility mountain park Ruskeala in 2005, thanks to the efforts of several enthusiasts. For 200 rubles you can get around along the tourist routes. Paying more, you can take a boat or try yourself in extreme form sports. I recommend mountain park Ruskeala to visit in Karelia. It is also interesting to know what is popular in the Ruskeala area: hotels, prices and recreation centers.
The month of June turned out to be rich in travel. I visited Bangkok, then Pattaya, then Moscow, then I went to St. Petersburg and visited Karelia. To be honest, going there, I had no idea what the Ruskeala mountain park was and how mesmerizingly beautiful it was. But I saw this place and was completely delighted. After visiting, I studied enough interesting materials about in Karelia, and now I can tell you.
Location of Ruskeala mountain park in Karelia
Main landmark marble canyon Ruskeala in Karelia it is the city of Sortavala. Sortavala is located about 30 km from career Ruskeala and is known for being the starting point to Valaam for thousands of thousands of travelers from all over the world. Valaam is perhaps the most famous island on Lake Ladoga.
The island is similar to the island city of Sviyazhsk near Kazan with its numerous monasteries and churches. You can get there only by water - a round trip ticket starts from 2000 rubles per person. But Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia also an interesting attraction, even more accessible and not overloaded with crowds of tourists that can overshadow any, even the most interesting trip.
Ruskeala Quarry. Found this cute card:
Unusual discoveries in Ruskeala park, which are not written about anywhere
The first thing that surprised me was that mountain park Ruskeala private, created with the money of investors in 2015. In total, about 600 thousand rubles were spent. By my Moscow standards, they even met the budget. At the same time, paths were equipped in the Ruskeala mountain park, viewing platforms, highlighting the marble quarry, organized extreme rope descents. The park is being watched and it shows. And it’s not a pity even to give money for the entrance. In the park marble quarry Ruskeala perfect cleanliness, the water is clear, but this is of course more natural feature, but at least nothing floats in the water: no leaves, no bottles.
The park is equipped with all kinds of maps and signs, and in general makes a good impression.
Entrance to the marble canyon Ruskeala in Karelia
Entrance to the paid, as I said, and at the same time, the organizers also turned out to be not fools. As I noticed, every day in the Ruskeala mountain park they give out bracelets of different colors. The colors seem to be repeated, but for 2 days in a row you won’t be able to visit one bracelet at a time. And we wanted 🙂 Yesterday we had blue bracelets, the next day they sold yellow ones, and there are also orange ones for sure.
Entrance fee to Ruskeala park in Karelia
Now for the cost of visiting. mountain park Ruskeala in 2017. I read the articles of my blogger friends literally in February 2017, the entrance to the Ruskeala mountain park was 150 rubles. I visited in June 2017, the entrance is already 200 rubles. But it's worth it, of course. Well, a picture with an input cost for clarity. Discounts for schoolchildren, students, residents of the Sortavala region. Children, veterans of the Second World War and residents of besieged Leningrad - free of charge.
The entrance to marble canyon Ruskeala in Karelia as follows. Recently they put up a sign for tourists "Visit center".
Lots inside useful information about the mountain park Ruskeala.
You can also take a map of the Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia, all sorts of advertising brochures, read for general development.
A bit of history of the mountain park Ruskeala in Karelia
The territory of the current park and marble quarry Ruskeala in Karelia was Swedish until 1721. The Swedes mined marble in small quantities. After the Great Northern War, when the territory of the Ruskeala marble quarry became Russian, the extraction of industrial marble here began in the 1760s. Marble from Ruskeala was used to decorate St. Isaac's Cathedral, Mikhailovsky Castle, the Small Marble Palace and Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
As I already said, the main attraction of the Ruskeala mountain park is the marble quarry. This is a huge area of marble production, with adits and equipment, flooded with water. The view here is really beautiful, I was completely delighted, although, perhaps, it is already difficult to surprise me with something. Clear water, with visibility up to 15-18 meters, small blue boats on the water, sheer marble cliffs, everything is very beautiful and majestic.
It is also interesting that the entrance to the Ruskeala mountain park is from the side where the view of the marble quarry is the most beautiful. Going to the end of the short tourist route, you can go back to another part of the quarry. And the view there is no longer the same, the rocks are more gentle and overgrown with moss.
Around marble quarry Ruskeala in Karelia paths and viewing platforms are equipped, but I would not advise staying on them for a long time, because there was already a precedent when blocks of marble broke off and fell down. They can even be seen through the crystal clean water. Even at the bottom of the quarry there is equipment, it’s just that everything was flooded suddenly when the Finns left these lands.
Another place in the Ruskeala mountain park in Karelia that I want to talk about is the so-called Ruskeala failure. It was formed as a result of explosions in neighboring adits and fascinates with its scale, depth and eternal people at the bottom, which does not melt even in summer. You can go down there, and in winter even go ice skating.
All quarries in Ruskeala are separated by adits, which are almost all filled with water. However, there is one that you can get into. And it looks like gnomes worked there 🙂 Because with my beautiful height of 175 cm, I couldn’t calmly pass. There are "places for headbutting," as the tour guides joke. The hall is cool and the lights are flickering. Looks like one of the bulbs just burned out. However, it was very colorful, walking through the cave in marble rock by flashing lights.
The adit comes to the surface and if you raise your head up, then people are walking there. And this is the top view.
If you move away from the beaten paths, you can find quite interesting places in the mountain park Ruskeala. One of them is an Italian quarry. It is not related to the Italians and pasta has never been here. Just marble was mined using Italian technology. But the marble was not of very high quality, crumbled, and soon the quarry was closed. Blocks of marble still stand in this place. And on it you can see the stripes that have remained since the time of its extraction.
If you go beyond the Italian quarry marble canyon Ruskeala in Karelia, then you can see another quarry where they don’t lead hiking trails and equipped paths. You need to get to the quarry along a pile of stones.
But the view from it is fantastic. The abyss is behind us. I'm scared. I'm on the left 🙂
Ruskeala hotels prices and recreation centers
I’ll tell you separately where to stay if you go on vacation to Karelia and want to visit Ruskeala itself has a recreation center, but it is quite expensive, due to its good location next to the Ruskeala mountain park. Therefore, the most optimal housing in terms of price and quality is the city of Sortavala. In Sortavala there is a choice of accommodation for different categories of tourists. Not so big, but still there. The direction is developing, the Finns are actively visiting the city, so a certain tourist infrastructure is being created for them.
Prices are quite affordable, and for lovers of economy and nature, there is an opportunity to simply put up a tent. So, Ruskeala - hotels, prices and recreation centers in the Sortavala area, from where you can easily get to Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia. Here, as elsewhere, there are suggestions for budget travelers, as well as for those who are not going to save money. Prices for hotels and recreation centers in Karelia near Ruskeala - from 1500 rubles for two. Below is a selection of several options for recreation in Karelia near the marble canyon. You can view prices, as well as book hotels and recreation centers using widgets.
The nearest hotels and recreation centers to Ruskeala
Inexpensive hotels and recreation centers near Ruskeala (in Sortavala)
The best hotels and recreation centers near Ruskeala
Most best hotels and recreation centers near Ruskeala are located on the island of Riekkalansaari near Sortavala:
For a complete picture, I am also attaching a map of Ruskeala with the nearest hotels.
Shops in the mountain park Ruskeala
Near the park there are cute souvenir shops with all sorts of garbage. A bunch of memorabilia, marble items, amulets, amulets, magnets, bags of herbs and other crap.
If you want to eat after long walks By marble quarry Ruskeala in Karelia, then there is only fast food here. You can buy the famous Karelian wicket (with cheese and cheese or with potatoes and red fish), hot corn is sold on the street, and fish is fried. After several hours of walks in the Ruskeala mountain park, you will be so hungry that you will no longer care what you eat 🙂
So, today I talked about the Ruskeala mountain park, the main attraction of which is the Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia. In addition, there is also an Italian quarry, an abandoned quarry (I’ll tell you about it another time), adits, and Akhvenkoski waterfalls, which is often called the Ruskeala waterfall. This place is known for the fact that the film "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" was filmed there. But more about that in future articles.
Life hacks of visiting Ruskeala mountain park in Karelia
Many seek to get to Karelia and the Ruskeala mountain park, most tourists choose Saturday. Naturally, Saturdays from 13 to 18 are the busiest peak times in Marble Canyon. If you want to truly enjoy privacy with amazing nature Karelia, calmly go boating in the canyon, try everything possible entertainment and attractions and avoid long queues and crowds of tourists - I suggest you go to Karelia b weekdays or Sunday.
So, what can you do in the Ruskeala mountain park on weekdays and Sundays, without queues and rush?
1. Guided tour of the park, visiting abandoned quarries and the ruins of an old marble factory that have survived to this day.
2. Jump from the 24-meter cliff of the Maramor Canyon. Of course, with insurance. Height free fall at the same time it is 8 meters.
3. Passage along the rope bridge: three ropes are stretched across the canyon at a height of 24 meters - you walk one at a time, you hold on to two.
4. Downhill along an obliquely stretched cable straight to the surface of Marble Lake. This is the longest troll in Europe!
5. Rope park for younger children. Trains agility and endurance.
6. Fascinating and romantic boat trip through the marble canyon. You will be able to swim in all corners of the canyon and in underwater grottoes (from the moment the ice melts from the lake).
7. Photographing and communicating with husky dogs.
8. Rent of standard and small (for children) snowmobiles (in winter).
9. Riding on an inflatable banana behind a snowmobile (in winter).
10. Driving around Ruskeala in jeeps (by appointment).
11. Dog sledding.
13. Workshops on making souvenirs in the souvenir workshop.
14. Rental of sports equipment (cheesecakes, skis, skates, bicycles).
That's all for now. Soon I will tell you more about Karelia, because I have visited and seen a lot of things. She didn’t tell everything about Thailand, and there will be several articles about Crimea soon. In general, subscribe to updates and share the article in in social networks. +100500 to karma guaranteed 🙂
Breaking into the air is useful at any time of the year, and it is not necessary to take a vacation for this. In relative proximity to the city, there are enough places where you can spend a weekend: relax in nature, visit the local arboretum and go down into the adit of an old marble quarry, the stones of which are almost two billion years old. Or commit little trip by water to the island of Valaam, when the weather permits. The Village continues the rubric "Itinerary for the weekend" - we choose one direction, the end point on it and curious stops along the way.
Ruskeala Natural Park seemed to have been created for a relaxing holiday and walks along the steep stone slopes, although it appeared as a result of the development of a valuable stone. Isaac's and Kazan's cathedrals, the Hermitage and the Mikhailovsky castle are decorated with local marble. If there is enough time, visit Priozersk and Sortavala, small towns in the bays Lake Ladoga. Very close is the Russian-Finnish border, from which you can continue the journey to the lake part of Suomi. IN last years many of our compatriots appeared here, who add Ruskeala to the trip to Valaam.
How to get there
By bus from the bus station to Sortavala
(they go twice a day, 500 rubles), by minibus - about a thousand rubles.
By train- from Finland Station. From Sortavala on a ride or taxi to Ruskeala (37 kilometers, about 20–30 minutes).
By car along the Priozersky highway (A129
to Priozersk, then Sortavala and up (A130)
to Ruskeala. The journey will take 4-5 hours.
Ruskeala park and surroundings
1.
Saint Petersburg 2.
Priozersk 3.
Sortavala 4.
Ruskeala
5.
Balaam 6.
Finland
rubles- entrance to the park "Ruskeala"
kilometers- length of Tohmajoki waterfall
rubles- the cost of a set lunch
at the local Lutheran parish
years - approximate age Ruskeala stones
meters- the length of the Ruskeala quarry
kilometers- distance from Ruskeala to the border
with Finland
Priozersk
A small settlement on Vuoksa and Lake Ladoga was first mentioned in chronicles in 1295. The city was called Kexholm for some time, and got its current name after World War II. If you are driving, then look into the ruins of the Korela fortress, see the Lutheran church (it was built by the Finnish architect Armas Lindgren) and walk to the monument to Mowgli - this is the only monument to the character of Rudyard Kipling in Russia.
Sortavala
Immediately after Priozersk, the quality of the coating deteriorates sharply. The track, which runs through the forest, winds, and outwardly looks like a washboard. Motorists, get ready to drive at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour and remember the domestic road services with a kind word. By the way, new track Petersburg - Sortavala is under construction, it will be ready by 2016. The question of what will help her not turn into the same washboard remains open.
The city of Sortavala, like most of the border settlements, has a difficult fate. Built at the beginning of the century by leading Finnish architects (Uno Werner Ulberg, Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen, Johan Jakob Arenberg), the center of Sortavala has survived to this day, despite the bombings in 1939-1940. At that time, almost all the indigenous Finnish population of the city left these lands, and after the war, the Soviet authorities decided to resettle evacuated people from the Vologda region here.
Clockwise: embankment of Sortavala, Korela fortress, embankment in Priozersk
In addition to northern modern architecture, the city has the Museum of the Northern Ladoga Region, where thousands of household items of the indigenous population of Karelia are collected. Eight kilometers from the city there is a local arboretum and cottage village Winter's Dacha. Renting a six-bed house in the off-season costs from 5,900 to 10,000 rubles.
It is worth staying in Sortavala if there is enough time and there is no hurry. If hot dogs and chocolates at gas stations took too many minutes of the trip, immediately go to Ruskeala.
Ruskeala
The road from Sortavala to Ruskeala takes 15-30 minutes, you can get there by one of the inexpensive taxis (the numbers are pasted on trees and lampposts). Or catch a car for 200-300 rubles. The bus to Ruskeala runs twice a day, its Ending station- the town of Vartsila.
It is worth starting the tour from the waterfalls, which are located four kilometers from Ruskeala. At the Ahvenkoski waterfall, which can be seen from the road even in the cold season, shots from the movie “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” were filmed. It is now impossible to get to the dilapidated Finnish hydroelectric power station, it is being repaired, but walking through a snow-covered pine forest is always a pleasure for a city dweller who opens Facebook and mail 45 times a day.
Moving higher, on the left side of the road you will get to the center of Ruskeala village. Here is the most popular recreation center of the same name (2,500 rubles for two guests, 5,600 for eight). However, in Ruskeala you can rent a house and not at the camp site, as all the surfaces in the city say.
One of the local attractions, the Lutheran parish, looks very deplorable. The building was built in 1834, but it was allegedly burned down in 1940, and is now being restored with donations from the Finns. The latter have long chosen these places for retrotourism, almost all prices are indicated both in euros and in rubles. In Sortavala and Ruskeala there are many inscriptions and signs in Finnish, local population Most of them are fluent in two languages.
Recreation center "Ruskeala"
2 500 rubles for two guests 5 600 rubles for eight
Clockwise: Ruskeala quarry in winter, illumination of the quarry, quarry in autumn, exposition "Marble through time"
Pilgrims stop at the arrival, but the rooms are quite cozy and concise - apart from two beds and a bedside table, there is nothing there. If you're lucky, you'll get a ten-inch three-channel TV. But guests can use the sauna, the room rate (one thousand rubles) includes breakfast. If you feel like cooking yourself, then use the barbecue in the backyard or local cuisine, the entrance to which is also open for guests. One thing - the place is intended for families, so making noise after 22 pm is strictly prohibited.
Even if there is no desire to stay in the parish, anyone can have lunch or dinner in the fireplace room. For 100 rubles you get tea and coffee according to the free refill system, assorted buns. And for 300 rubles they offer a real Buffet. Soup, second course, appetizers, fruit drink, kvass and hot drinks are included. You can arrange a stay in the Ruskeala Church in advance by calling (814) 30-33-268 and 8 (921) 467-63-20.
After lunch, go to see the marble quarry. This is an artificial lake surrounded by sheer stone walls. Marble production began here under Catherine II. When the Finns left here for last time, they cunningly connected the quarry with the Tohmajoki River, and its impressive area was flooded.
In winter, right at the entrance to the park, you can ride a husky sled for a thousand rubles, 2.5 kilometers to Lake Svetloe and back. Dogs are very sociable, and no one forbids petting them. In the summer it is allowed to swim in the lake itself and put up a tent on the shore. So it's up to you - go down, rent a boat, look at the quarry from the water and swim into one of several caves. Souvenirs are also sold at the entrance to Ruskeala, where you can find a couple of pretty ones out of hundreds of magnets with brownies, Russian women and birches. The entrance to the park formally costs 150 rubles, but no one checks this. But at the reception they give a map where two routes are indicated: a short one for 1.5 kilometers and a long one for 2.5 kilometers.
Lutheran church parish
1000 rubles from a person. Barbecue in the backyard and the ability to use the kitchen.
100 rubles- tea
and free refill coffee, assorted buns.
300 rubles- a real buffet.
Along the quarry there are about ten viewing platforms with benches - this perfect place for a picnic, so stock up on food. By the way, from six o'clock in the evening on Saturdays and Sundays, Ruskeala employees turn on artificial lighting around the perimeter of the quarry, so it makes sense to walk until the evening.
If you are moving along a long route, you will definitely stumble upon a cave-failure, where in winter you can go down and go skating for the same thousand rubles (they are rented on the spot). In the evening, the artificial grotto is illuminated with candles.
Finally, the last point in long route along Ruskeala - this is the exhibition "Stone through Time", where blocks of marble stone aged under two billion years are conveniently located for inspection.
In Karelia, not far from the city of Sortavala, in the village of Ruskeala, on the banks of the Tokhmajoki River, there is mountain park "Ruskeala". The main attraction of this park is the amazingly beautiful marble canyon. The depth of the canyon, which stretches for almost 500 meters in length and 100 meters in width, in some places reaches fifty meters.
Geography and climatic conditions
Karelia is located in the northwest of Russia, on the coast White Sea. Most of the territory of the republic is occupied by a hilly plain. The glacier that retreated to the north at one time had a strong influence on the relief structure of Karelia, forming a large number of moraine ridges, ramparts and ridges.
The climate in Karelia is generally mild, changing from maritime to temperate continental. For Karelia, precipitation is typical throughout the year. a large number precipitation.
Winters are snowy and cold, although frost is rare. Summer in these parts is short, mostly cool. Hot days are extremely rare.
The coldest months of the year are in January and February. July is considered the warmest month in Karelia, the average temperature during this period is +13 -15 degrees, the maximum air temperature can rise to +30 degrees.
Light day in Karelia has a different duration depending on the season. The shortest day is in December - about six hours in the south, four hours - in the Subpolar regions. Somewhere in mid-January, the daylight hours intensively increase, and in June-July the famous “white nights” begin, when the sun shines with almost round knocks.
The first to develop marble quarries in Ruskeala were the Swedes. Then, when these lands, after successful military operations in northern war were transferred to Russia, the development of marble was suspended for some time. And only in 1769, Empress Catherine II issued a special decree, according to which work in the quarries was restored. The beginning of work on the quarries was associated with the active construction of new palaces and cathedrals in St. Petersburg.
Starting from the 17th century, the Ruskeala marble canyon began to supply different types marble to the capital and other cities of Russia. St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg was faced with marble mined here, and the floors of the Kazan Cathedral were decorated with it. Ruskeala marble was used for the manufacture of window sills and window cladding in the Hermitage, the facade of the Marble Palace, the Winter Palace, the Mikhailovsky and Tauride Castles. In Soviet times, it was used to decorate the Primorskaya and Ladozhskaya metro stations in Leningrad. The locals are very proud of this.
Ruskeala today
Today, most of the quarries flooded with groundwater and the waters of the Tohmajoki River are no longer used for industrial purposes. Unique nature in combination with the results of human activities have made the canyon one of the most attractive natural attractions of Karelia. Some of the quarries are adapted for visiting tourists, while others continue to supply valuable building material.
Since marble of various colors was previously mined here, the banks of the canyon also acquired various shades. The marble quarries remaining under water differ from each other not only in outline, but also in bizarre shades of water. When you sail on the Marble Lake on a boat or boat, you find yourself in a snow-white, then malachite-green, or even completely black kingdom.
And the water in the lake is so transparent that you can see the bottom at a depth of 10-15 meters. Around there are many grottoes of the most bizarre shapes and shades, which creates a feeling as if you have fallen into fairyland. This lake trip is one of the most popular excursions among the tourists of Karelia.
No less exciting activity - walking tour
along the shores of Marble Lake. Moreover, they are cleared and paths for tourists have already been laid along them. In some places, observation decks are specially equipped. Tour guides take tourists to the mines and galleries within the walls of the quarry, most of which, unfortunately, was flooded during the Russian-Finnish war. And in the adits and drifts that have survived to this day, you can walk along the routes of the old masters.
Here you can find dry galleries but it is dangerous to go there unaccompanied. Interesting feature adit - the higher the temperature outside, the more deadly cold is felt inside.
One of the grottoes of Marble Lake was named "Musical Grotto" because of its unique acoustic features. in winter the park turns into a bizarre fairy-tale palace shrouded in snow and ice.
Ruskeala waterfalls
Tohmajoki river is one of the most major tributaries Lake Ladoga, its length is almost 40 kilometers. It has many rapids and waterfalls. The largest of them - Ahvenkoski waterfall, located three kilometers from the village of Ruskeala. The name of the waterfall is Finnish, which means “perch threshold”. Among local residents there is also the name "waterfall at the three bridges."
The waterfall is clearly visible from the road passing by the village, and therefore it attracts the attention of tourists. Especially for them, next to the waterfall, there is a parking lot, a recreation area with cozy gazebos and awnings. Once upon a time, it was on this waterfall that the famous bathing scene of the heroine of the famous Soviet film"And the dawns here are quiet."
Ahvenkoski is a complex that includes four waterfalls about four meters high. This is a favorite place for tourists and fans of active water recreation.
Another waterfall near the village - Ryumyakoski which is not accessible by car. The road there is very swampy, so you have to walk about 200 meters. Once there was a Finnish hydroelectric power station on Ryumyakoski, some of the dilapidated buildings of which have survived to this day.
Behind the village of Ruskeala, where the Tokhmajoki River crosses the road, an amazing picture of another group of water rapids opens before the eyes of the tourist. And, although these waterfalls are not so high, nevertheless, their unique and enchanting beauty cannot leave anyone indifferent.
Ruskeala failure
Ruskeala failure- Another attraction of Karelia, it is located on the border of the territories of the mountain park and the current marble factory. Local residents claim that this ice failure was formed when blasting was carried out in a nearby quarry in the 60s of the last century. The roof of the semi-flooded adits left by the Finns could not stand it and went under water, forming an oval-shaped hole on the surface of about 20 by 30 meters. From here you can go down to the mining center. Once upon a time, the underground zone was connected to the territory of the current mountain park through unflooded adits. But now they are all under the rubble. Inside the sinkhole, especially in its distant parts, the ice does not melt even in the summer.
Lutheran parish
The Lutheran parish in the village of Ruskeala was founded in 1727. wooden building was built by the Finnish architect Anders Fredrik Granstedt in 1834, approved by the famous German architect Johan Carl Ludvig Engel.
The building almost completely burned down during the war in 1941, only fragments of its foundation have survived to this day. The church bell was moved to Stockholm, where it is still kept.
The modern Lutheran parish was founded in 1990, when local residents registered the Church of Ingria. When the church was open small hotel"Papilla".
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Water activities and excursions
divers, especially cave divers, love to train in Marble Lake, swimming in the most remote corners of the quarry. At one time, there were three underground horizons of marble mining here - there is where lovers of underwater travel can roam. After the Finns flooded many mines and adits during the war, a huge amount of equipment remained at the bottom of the canyon, which attracts cave and techno divers in our time.
Amateurs make their routes along the rapids of the Tahmajoki River, from spring to the end of summer. The length of the route is about 2.5 kilometers, along the way there are dams and blockages created by beavers.
Travel company in the city of Sortavala - "Kolmas Karelia" organizes rafting one-two- and three-day itineraries along the local rivers - Janisjoki and Tahmajoki. The tour includes a transfer from Sortavala to the start of the rafting, the cost of which is from 1,500 to 6,500 rubles per person, depending on the duration. Multi-day rafting includes accommodation, meals and various educational excursions to local attractions. The complexity of the routes depends on the preparedness of the tourists.
For inexperienced tourists those wishing to try their hand at rafting at the Forest Hotel Vegarus offer a route along the Janisjoki River. The program has two routes to choose from - a length of 7 and 9 kilometers. Rafting takes about 2-2.5 hours. In addition, the program includes a rest at the finish line, where you will be treated to excellent fish soup from local trout. The cost of the tour is from 2,400 rubles per person.
The hotel offers several options for excursions to local attractions. Very interesting trip to a lost village Kinerma It will help you to get acquainted with the culture and history of the local people. In this village are unique monuments architecture dating back to the 16th century.
