Ruskeala Mountain Park. Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia. Unusual discoveries in Ruskeala Park, which are not written about anywhere. Accommodation at the Ruskeala recreation center

Not far from the city of Sortavala (35 kilometers) the Ruskeala base is located. From St. Petersburg to the base it is a little less than 300 kilometers. This is South Karelia. There is a lake nearby. The famous Marble Canyon is 2 kilometers away. From here marble was delivered for the palaces of royal St. Petersburg and other cities. No less famous place- Ruskeala waterfalls. This place is familiar even to those who have never been to Karelia. The film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” was filmed here. Located next to the camp site.

Lake Ladoga is a paradise for fishermen. It is home to 60 species of fish, half of which are commercial.

From northern capital The base can be reached by car - it will take about 5 hours. You can use minibus or by train to Sortovala. A transfer is organized from the station to the base.

Accommodation at the Ruskeala recreation center

The base has two hotel complexes, which can simultaneously accommodate up to 100 people. Rooms range from double to eight-bed rooms. Shower and toilet room on the floor. Houses with a long history, Finnish construction. Therefore, it is impossible to provide convenience to the rooms. The rooms for 5 and 8 persons have bunk beds.

Each complex has a common refrigerator, microwave, clean drinking water, boiling water.

Lovers of real outdoor recreation are offered accommodation in tents at the campsite. There is a shower and an outside toilet.

Meals at the Ruskeala recreation center

Three meals a day in the cafe are offered to guests, but for additional fee. The menu is set or made to order.

The cottages also have a shared refrigerator, microwave, and bottle of drinking water.

Additional services based on Ruskeala

• baths - large and small, located on the shore
• grill
• gazebos
• picnic areas
• rental of boats, skis, skates
• parking with security
• excursions to Valaam

Admire the beauty northern nature, clean waters of lakes, you can breathe healing air at the Ruskeala base. They leave here with healthier souls and bodies. Many return to base again.

Ruskeala Nature Park is one of the most unusual places Karelia, a natural and historical monument, clearly demonstrating the volumes of mining in Russian Empire. The center of the composition is the Marble Canyon, an abandoned stone quarry, equipped for tourists and connoisseurs of exotic things.

Marble Canyon: first acquaintance

For the first time, people started talking about the possibilities of marble extraction in the Northern Ladoga region in the 80s of the 17th century - the rapidly developing Catherine’s empire needed stone for facing St. Petersburg. Karelian stone was valued for its special beauty - local marble was preferred by the architects Montferrand and Rinaldi. Many castles and cathedrals (Kazansky, St. Isaac's) of the Northern capital, "Ladozhskaya" and "Primorskaya" metro stations are faced with stone from Ruskeala.

Today, tourists from all over the world come to admire the sheer walls of the huge bowl, cut into a wide stone layer. Its size is amazing - over 450 m long and almost 110 m wide. In the forties of the last century, at the height of the Russian-Finnish war, the quarry was flooded. Now through the clear emerald water you can see rock formations, lush vegetation and the amazing living world of the underwater kingdom.

The banks of the Marble Canyon are picturesque winding drifts, adits, and shallow mines. Several hundred meters of workings are given over to tourist routes, which can be explored even at night thanks to the beautiful lighting.

Nature is also of interest mountain park: in the surrounding area there are many beautiful mosses and lichens (including endemics), orchid plants and shrubs listed in the “Red Book of Russia”; There are rare species of amphibians and reptiles.

This is interesting! In 1998, the Ruskeala Marble Canyon received a special status and was recognized as part of cultural heritage countries. A similar monument cannot be found in Europe.

What to see: the most picturesque places in the mountain park

Tourists and travelers are attracted by the Marble Canyon - the contrast of snow-white twenty-meter cliffs and emerald water surrounded by rich greenery invariably pleases the eye. There are many places in the quarry where marble rock shines through the water, creating unusual color tints.

Career ennobled, along its perimeter are located observation decks and adits and mines open to the public. Stone ovens built before the revolution are also available for inspection. It was in them that marble chips were burned to obtain lime. The memorable shape of the pipes in the form of cones is somewhat reminiscent of the towers of an old castle or minaret. Another point of interest is the old administrative building in the classicist style, made of marble.

There is a pier on the lake boat rental: by renting one of them, you can go to an amusing trip along the flooded grottoes or admire the rugged rocks from the water side.

Together with a special accompanying tourist, they are allowed to go down to dry adits. With every step, the temperature in them drops, and the summer heat gives way to eternal chilliness. It is interesting that in past centuries, marble mining was carried out all year round and did not stop even after dark.

Marble Canyon is the best known and most visited of the quarries in the area. There are many others around, and some are still used for their intended purpose. All quarries are unique - they are distinguished not only by the shape of the banks and steep cliffs, but even by the color of the water - emerald, turquoise, gray, blue.

Interesting fact! Russian geographical society developed a special project for multi-year expeditions under common name"Underground Karelia". In 2010, the main object of interest for scientists was the Ruskeala failure, located very close to the tourist excursion route Marble Canyon.

Diving in Ruskeala

Marble Canyon is an interesting place for scuba diving enthusiasts. At the mining site, you can find many flooded quarries connected to each other by narrow adits. Three mining horizons in Ruskeala promise interesting labyrinths for those who dare to dive into the emerald waters of the lake. An undoubted surprise for divers will be the sunken equipment - cranes, cars and even motorcycles have remained here since the last century.

A big plus is the quality of the water: crystal clear, unclouded, without suspended matter or turbidity, without algae and vegetation. Thereby sunlight penetrates without barriers greater depth, opening up fantastic observation opportunities.

Relaxation in a mountain park

A trip to Marble Canyon is an unforgettable experience accessible to everyone. Hiking and sightseeing can be combined with boating and catamarans, fishing, picking mushrooms and berries, studying the history of mining and the ruins of old factories and buildings. The Marble Canyon is a magical place, just a stone's throw from the famous Ruskeala waterfalls, where the beloved film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” was filmed.

Not far from the city of Sortavala (35 kilometers) the Ruskeala base is located. From St. Petersburg to the base it is a little less than 300 kilometers. This is South Karelia. There is a lake nearby. The famous Marble Canyon is 2 kilometers away. From here marble was delivered for the palaces of royal St. Petersburg and other cities. An equally famous place is the Ruskeala waterfalls. This place is familiar even to those who have never been to Karelia. The film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” was filmed here. Located next to the camp site.

Lake Ladoga is a paradise for fishermen. It is home to 60 species of fish, half of which are commercial.

You can get to the base from the northern capital by car - it will take about 5 hours. You can take a minibus or train to Sortovala. A transfer is organized from the station to the base.

Accommodation at the Ruskeala recreation center

The base has two hotel complexes that can simultaneously accommodate up to 100 people. Rooms range from double to eight-bed rooms. Shower and toilet room on the floor. Houses with a long history, Finnish construction. Therefore, it is impossible to provide convenience to the rooms. The rooms for 5 and 8 persons have bunk beds.

Each complex has a common refrigerator, microwave oven, clean drinking water, and boiling water.

Lovers of real outdoor recreation are offered accommodation in tents at the campsite. There is a shower and an outside toilet.

Meals at the Ruskeala recreation center

Three meals a day in the cafe are offered to guests, but for an additional fee. The menu is set or made to order.

The cottages also have a shared refrigerator, microwave, and bottle of drinking water.

Additional services based on Ruskeala

• baths - large and small, located on the shore
• grill
• gazebos
• picnic areas
• rental of boats, skis, skates
• parking with security
• excursions to Valaam

You can admire the beauty of northern nature, the clear waters of lakes, and breathe in the healing air at the Ruskeala base. They leave here with healthier souls and bodies. Many return to base again.

Sortavala district, Karelia

We invite you to take a journey into the world of relaxation and fresh positive emotions. Our recreation center is located in the southern part of Karelia in the Sortavala region, 290 km from St. Petersburg and less than 30 km from the border with Finland. Tourist complex“Ruskeala” is designed to welcome guests all year round for outdoor living in comfortable conditions. Accommodation is provided in rooms with a capacity of 2 to 8 people, there is special numbers for newlyweds or families with children (including infants).

The Ruskeala tourist center can accommodate more than 90 people. On site you can have a picnic, use the barbecue, cook barbecue or bake fish. Also, if desired, you can rent a wood-burning bathhouse, which is located on the shore of the lake, go fishing, go to the marble canyon and waterfalls, or visit the sacred island of Valaam... If you are not very prepared for fishing, it doesn’t matter, the friendly staff of the camp site is ready to provide You need gear, bait and professional advice. All this and much more that can contribute to good active recreation available in the new Ruskeala complex.

Photos of the Ruskeala camp site in Karelia:

Living conditions at the Ruskeala recreation center.

Building No. 2 “Finnish School”.

One-story cottage with 10 rooms.
Facilities: women's toilet + shower, men's toilet.
Capacity: 42 people + 10 additional places("Euro folding bed").
In each room: single beds (some rooms have bunk beds), bedside tables, table with chairs, hanger.
TV - in the hall; Cafe-dining room.

Cost of living in rooms in building No. 2 per day in rubles:

Building No. 3 "Pastorate".

Two-storey cottage with 12 rooms.
Facilities are located on the 1st floor: women's toilet, men's toilet, shower.
Capacity: 24 people + 12 extra beds ("folding bed").
In each room: single beds (some rooms have double beds), bedside tables, table with chairs, hanger.
On the 2nd floor – 2-room suites; TV is in the hall.

Daily cost of accommodation in rooms in building No. 2 in rubles:

Prices for additional services of the recreation center (entire season 2012):

Ruskeala Mountain Park in Karelia - 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, in which marble was mined until the 19th century, attract and beckon with their beauty and the fresh clean air of the Ladoga region.

An abandoned quarry turned into an interesting one tourist site mountain park Ruskeala in 2005, thanks to the efforts of several enthusiasts. For 200 rubles you can walk along the tourist routes. By paying more, you can rent a boat or try your hand at extreme form sports I recommend Ruskeala mountain park to visit in Karelia. It is also interesting to find out what is popular in the Ruskeala area: hotels, prices and recreation centers.

The month of June turned out to be rich in travel for me. I visited Bangkok, then Pattaya, then Moscow, then went to St. Petersburg and visited Karelia. To be honest, when I went there, I had no idea what the Ruskeala mountain park was and how breathtakingly beautiful it was there. But I saw this place and was absolutely delighted. After visiting I learned enough interesting materials about in Karelia, and now I can tell you.

Location of the Ruskeala mountain park in Karelia

Main landmark marble canyon Ruskeala in Karelia - this is the city of Sortavala. Sortavala is located approximately 30 km from Ruskeala's career 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 town of Sviyazhsk near Kazan with its numerous monasteries and churches. You can only get there by water - a round trip ticket starts from 2,000 rubles per person. But Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia It’s 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. I found this cute card:

Unusual discoveries in Ruskeala Park that are not written about anywhere

The first thing that surprised me was that Ruskeala mountain park private, created with money from investors in 2015. In total, about 600 thousand rubles were spent. By my Moscow standards, they even stayed within the budget. At the same time, in the Ruskeala mountain park, paths, observation platforms, illumination of the marble quarry were equipped, and extreme events were organized. rope descents. The park is looked after, and it shows. And it’s not a pity to even pay money for entry. In the park Ruskeala marble quarry perfect cleanliness, clear water, but of course there is 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 overall makes a pleasant impression.

Entrance to the Ruskeala marble canyon in Karelia

Entrance is paid, as I already said, and at the same time, the organizers turned out to be no 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 you won’t be able to visit one bracelet for 2 days in a row. And we wanted :) Yesterday we had blue bracelets, the next day they sold yellow ones, and there are definitely orange ones too.

Entrance cost to Ruskeala Park in Karelia

Now regarding the cost of visiting Ruskeala mountain park 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, entrance was already 200 rubles. But it's worth it, of course. Well, here’s a picture with the entrance cost for clarity. Discounts for schoolchildren, students, residents of the Sortavala region. Children, WWII veterans and residents of besieged Lenangrad - free.

The entrance itself marble canyon Ruskeala in Karelia as follows. Recently we hung up a sign for tourists “Visit center”.

There's a lot inside useful information about the Ruskeala mountain park.

You can also take a map of the Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia, all sorts of advertising brochures, read for general development.

A little history of the Ruskeala mountain park in Karelia

The territory of the current park and Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia it 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 for decoration St. Isaac's Cathedral, Mikhailovsky Castle, Maly Marble Palace and the 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 marble production area, with adits and equipment, flooded with water. The view here is really beautiful, I was completely delighted, although, perhaps, it’s already difficult to surprise me with anything. Clear water, with visibility up to 15-18 meters, small blue boats on the water, steep marble cliffs, everything is very, very beautiful and majestic.

Another interesting thing is that the entrance to the Ruskeala mountain park is from the side where the view of the marble quarry is the most beautiful. After reaching the end of the short tourist route, you can go back along another part of the quarry. And the view there is no longer the same, the rocks are flatter and overgrown with moss.

Around Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia There are paths and observation platforms, but I would not recommend staying on them for a long time, because there has already been a precedent when blocks of marble broke off and fell down. They can even be seen through the crystal clean water. There is still equipment at the bottom of the quarry, it’s just that everything was suddenly flooded 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 even go ice skating in winter.

All quarries in Ruskeala are separated by adits, which are almost all filled with water. However, there is one that you can hit. And it looks like gnomes were working there :) Because I, with my wonderful height of 175 cm, could not walk through calmly. There are “places for head banging,” as the guides joke. It's cool in the adit and the lights are flickering. Apparently one light bulb just burned out. However, it was very colorful, walking through the cave in marble rock with flashing lights.

The adit comes to the surface and if you raise your head up, you can see people walking there. And this is the view from above.

If you go off the beaten path, you can find quite interesting places in the Ruskeala mountain park. One of them - Italian quarry. It is not related to the Italians, and the pasta makers have never been here. The marble was simply mined using Italian technology. But the marble turned out to be of not very high quality, it crumbled, and soon the quarry was closed. Blocks of marble still stand on this site. And there are visible stripes on it that remain from the time it was mined.

If you go behind the Italian quarry marble canyon Ruskeala in Karelia, then you can see another quarry where they don’t lead hiking trails and equipped paths. To get to the quarry you need to walk over a pile of stones.

But the view from it is fantastic. There is an abyss 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. There is a recreation center in Ruskeala itself, but it is quite expensive due to its favorable 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 vacationers. Not that big, but still there. The destination is developing, the city is actively visited by Finns, so a certain tourist infrastructure is being created for them.

The prices are quite affordable, and for lovers of economy and nature there is the opportunity to simply set 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 offers for budget tourists, as well as for those who are not going to save. Prices for hotels and recreation centers in Karelia near Ruskeala - from 1,500 rubles for two. Below is a selection of several options for recreation centers 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

The most best hotels and recreation centers near Ruskeala are located on the island of Riekkalansaari near Sortavala:

For a complete picture, I also attach a map of Ruskeala with the nearest hotels.

Shops in Ruskeala Mountain Park

Near the park there are cute souvenir shops with all sorts of crap. A bunch of memorabilia, marble items, amulets, amulets, magnets, bags of herbs and other crap.

If you want to eat after long walks By Ruskeala marble quarry in Karelia, there is only fast food here. You can buy the famous Karelian wicket (with cheese and feta cheese or with potatoes and red fish), hot corn is sold on the street, and fish is fried. After several hours of walking around the Ruskeala mountain park, you will be so hungry that you won’t 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 Ahvenkoski waterfalls, which are often called Ruskeala waterfall. This place is famous for the fact that the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” was filmed there. But about this in the following articles.

Life hacks for visiting the Ruskeala mountain park in Karelia

Many people strive to get to Karelia and the Ruskeala mountain park; most tourists choose Saturday. Naturally, Saturdays from 1 to 6 pm are the busiest peak hours in Marble Canyon. If you want to truly enjoy privacy with amazing nature Karelia, relax on boats 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 on Sunday.

So, what can you do in Ruskeala Mountain Park on weekdays and Sundays, without queues or rush?

1. Guided tour of the park, visiting abandoned quarries and the ruins of an ancient marble factory that have survived to this day.
2. Jump from the 24-meter cliff of Maramora Canyon. Of course, with insurance. Height free fall while it is 8 meters.
3. Walking along a rope bridge: three ropes are stretched across the canyon at a height of 24 meters - you walk one at a time, hold on to two.
4. Downhill along an inclined cable straight to the surface of Marmara Lake. This is the longest troll in Europe!
5. Rope park for younger children. Trains agility and endurance.
6. A fascinating and romantic walk around marble canyon on the boat. You will be able to swim to all corners of the canyon and to 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. Jeep ride around Ruskeala (by appointment).
11. Dog sledding.
13. Master classes on making souvenirs in a souvenir workshop.
14. Rent of sports equipment (cheesecakes, skis, skates, bicycles).

That's all for now. I’ll tell you more about Karelia soon, because I’ve visited and seen a lot. I haven’t told you everything about Thailand yet, and there will be several articles about Crimea soon. In general, subscribe to updates and share the article on in social networks. +100500 to karma guaranteed :)