Marble Canyon Ruskeala, Karelia. Marble Canyon Ruskeala – mountain park, bases, prices, photos, how to get there

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, stretching almost 500 meters in length and 100 meters in width, reaches fifty meters in places.

Geography and climatic conditions

Karelia is located in the north-west 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, shafts and ridges.

The climate in Karelia is generally mild, varying from maritime to temperate continental. Karelia is characterized by rainfall throughout the year. large quantity precipitation.

Winters here are snowy and cold, although frosts are rare. Summer in these parts is short and mostly cool. It is extremely rare to have hot days.

The coldest months of the year are January and February. July is considered the warmest month in Karelia; on average, the temperature during this period is +13 -15 degrees, the maximum air temperature can rise to +30 degrees.

Daylight hours in Karelia vary in length depending on the season. The shortest day occurs in December - about six hours in the south, four hours in the Subpolar regions. Somewhere in mid-January, the length of daylight increases intensively, and in June–July the famous “white nights” begin, when the sun shines almost continuously.

The Swedes were the first to develop marble quarries in Ruskeala. Then, when these lands were transferred to Russia after successful military operations in the Northern War, marble development was suspended for some time. And only in 1769, Empress Catherine II issued a special decree, according to which work at the quarries was restored. The beginning of work in 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. It was lined with marble mined here Saint Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, it decorates the floors of the Kazan Cathedral. Ruskeala marble was used for making window sills and window cladding in the Hermitage, façade Marble Palace, Winter Palace, 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 by groundwater and the waters of the Tokhmajoki River, are no longer used for industrial purposes. Unique nature combined with the results of human activity, they have made the canyon one of the most attractive natural attractions of Karelia. Some of the quarries are adapted for 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 different shades. The marble quarries that remain under water differ from each other not only in outline, but also in the bizarre shades of the water. When you sail along Marmara Lake on a boat or speedboat, you find yourself in a snow-white, malachite-green, or even black kingdom.

And the water in the lake is so clear that you can see the bottom at a depth of 10-15 meters. There are many grottoes around with the most bizarre shapes and shades, which creates the feeling of being in fairyland. This trip along the lake is one of the most popular excursions among tourists in Karelia.

No less exciting activity - walking along the shores of Marmara Lake. Moreover, they have been cleared and paths for tourists have already been laid along them. In some places there are specially equipped viewing platforms. Guides take tourists to the mines and adits within the quarry walls, most of which, unfortunately, were 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 also find dry adits, but going there unaccompanied is dangerous. Interesting feature gallery - the higher the temperature outside, the stronger the deathly cold inside.

One of the grottoes of Marmara Lake was named "Musical Grotto" due to its unique acoustic characteristics. in winter the park turns into a quaint fairytale 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 is Ahvenkoski waterfall, located three kilometers from the village of Ruskeala. The name of the waterfall is Finnish, and it means “Perch Threshold”. Among local residents There is also the name “waterfall at three bridges”.

The waterfall is clearly visible from the highway passing by the village, and therefore it attracts the attention of tourists. Especially for them, a parking lot and a recreation area with cozy gazebos and canopies are equipped next to the waterfall. Once upon a time, it was at this waterfall that the famous bathing scene of the heroine of the famous Soviet film“And the dawns here are quiet.”

Akhvenkoski 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 - Rymäkoski, which is impossible to reach by car. The road there is very swampy, so you will have to walk about 200 meters. Once upon a time there was a Finnish hydroelectric power station on Rymäkoski, 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 gaze of the tourist. And, although these waterfalls are not so high, nevertheless, no one can be indifferent to their unique and enchanting beauty.

Ruskeala failure

Ruskeala failure- another attraction of Karelia, it is located on the border of the territories mountain park and the currently operating marble factory. Local residents claim that this ice hole was formed when blasting work was carried out in a nearby quarry in the 60s of the last century. The roof of the half-submerged adits left by the Finns could not stand it and went under water, forming an oval-shaped hole on the surface approximately 20 by 30 meters. From here you can go down to the center of the mine. Once upon a time, the underground zone was connected to the territory of the current mountain park through unflooded adits. But at present they are all left under the rubble. Inside the hole, especially in its distant parts, the ice does not melt even in summer.

Lutheran parish

The Lutheran parish in the village of Ruskeala was founded back in 1727. The wooden building was built according to the design of 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 transported to Stockholm, where it is still kept.

The modern Lutheran parish was founded in 1990, when local residents registered the Ingria Church. The church was open small hotel"Pappila."

Do you know how to get to? Do you want to see the sights of Petrozavodsk? Read the answers to these questions, as well as tips on how to get there, where to stay and what to see in the city on our website!

Water activities and excursions

Divers, especially cave divers, they love to train in Lake Marmara, swimming to the most remote corners of the quarry. At one time, there were three underground horizons for marble mining - there is plenty for lovers of underwater travel to roam around. After the Finns flooded many mines and adits during the war, a huge amount of equipment remained at the bottom of the canyon, which is so attractive to 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 rubble created by beavers.

Travel agency in the city of Sortavala – "Kolmas Karelia" organizes one-, two- and two-way rafting trips three-day routes along local rivers - Janisjoki and Tahmajoki. The tour includes a transfer from Sortavala to the start of the rafting, the cost of which ranges from 1,500 to 6,500 rubles per person, depending on the duration. Multi-day rafting trips include overnight accommodation, meals and various educational excursions to local attractions. The complexity of the routes depends on the preparedness of tourists.

For inexperienced tourists for those who want 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 – 7 and 9 kilometers long. 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 made from local trout. The cost of the tour is from 2,400 rubles per person.

The hotel offers several excursion options to local attractions. Very interesting trip to a lost village Kinerma will help you get acquainted with the culture and history of local residents. In this village there are unique monuments architecture that has been preserved since the 16th century.

It’s Wednesday evening, the first warm weekend is approaching and the eternal question “What to do?” comes to mind. The answer is obvious - go to desert island! Having quickly found out that buying a small tropical island, which are offered in abundance on the Internet, was beyond the budget for this weekend, we decided to give up on climate zone and find an island with a free visit;) It turned out that there are many such islands in Ladoga skerries, and that in a place called Lumivaara (which is not far from Landepohja) at the tourist center of the same name, you can rent a boat and raid any island you like with the aim of robbing and enslaving it.

The site of the tourist center modestly reported that among the attractions nearby, in Ruskeala, are the Marble Quarry (Marble Lake) and a waterfall on the Tokhmajoki River - the same one where the film “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” was filmed. Remembering the enthusiastic reviews of our friends about these places, we decided - we are going to Ruskeala, and then we will occupy the island in the skerries. For the needs of the trip, we urgently bought a tent, sleeping bags, an axe, kettles, a flashlight and three cans of different varieties of stew (in order to find out which one tastes best). We are ready! :)

Go! A little about the road

The long-awaited Saturday morning, souls are jumping up and rushing forward. The navigator plots a route from St. Petersburg to Ruskeala via Priozersk, but at the same time says that 300 km will take more than 6 hours. We frivolously decide that the navigator is stupid))

The freshness of the early morning, the sun, the still empty roads. The mood is super, we sing songs, we laugh)) The road to Priozersk, with the exception of a couple of short sections, is good. But beyond Priozersk the post-war asphalt begins, which was never patched after the bombing. The thought flashes through my head that the navigator is not such a fool after all;) After 20 km, the remains of the asphalt end and we roll out onto the dirt road with relief. At the border of Karelia we are greeted by a beautiful road, smooth as a table. However, after exactly 10 km this temptation turns (no, not into a pumpkin!) back into a dirt road that stretches almost to Landepohja. I must say that the primer is quite decent and allows you to maintain a speed of 60-80 km/h.

Korela Fortress

Immediately at the entrance to Priozersk, on the left side (near the tank), there is an earthen fortress called “Korela”. Originally built by the Novgorodians, it was subsequently captured by the Swedes, who invested in this property for a hundred years. After which they were thanked and the fortress was taken back.

The fortress is famous for the fact that both wives of Emelyan Pugachev and his three children were kept there for 30 years. Such a sad story.

Marble Quarry

We were lucky and we turned off the road exactly where we needed to)) If you are coming from St. Petersburg, you need to turn left immediately after the bridge over the Tokhmajoki River. After a kilometer and a half, the path led us to the Ruskeala mountain park.

For a couple of minutes we were torn between the desire to eat and the desire to immediately see and touch everything. Curiosity, naturally, won, and a couple of livers were sacrificed to the feeling of hunger. And we dived into the beautiful :)

It is difficult to convey in words the magic of warm, sunny spring day, the aroma of resin, the smells of nature that has just awakened, the cries of seagulls echoing from the marble shores, the infinity of space underfoot and the silent admiration of this beauty. Be sure to leave the path and wander along the edge of the cliff, sit on the warm stone slopes and answer the echo of your voice.

Old adit

At the northern end of the quarry there is an adit - a deep vertical shaft cut into the rock, at the bottom of which there is darkness, cold and blocks of ice. An ideal cellar:) Approximately in the middle of the shaft there is a horizontal passage through which you can get to the bridge. From the bridge only a piece of the sky is visible, and the sun avoids this gloomy place.

Failure: Ice Kingdom

Imagining ourselves as prisoners of a dungeon, we moved towards the mysterious failure, which was formed as a result of the collapse of the vault of one of the underground galleries. When we were going down the stairs to the hole, an unusual-looking man called out to us and offered to go down into the hole on ropes. If you meet this person, agree immediately, it’s worth it :) We got a lot of vivid emotions from descending from a 12-meter height and skating on transparent ice.

As soon as you touch the ice, you enter another world. This world hardly changes... When it is hot above in June, there is still ice here. It is quiet and echoing here, the transparent ice four meters thick is covered with long cracks. In one of the corners of the cave, ice stalactites and stalagmites grew over the winter. And you can sit on the ice throne, imagining yourself as the Snow Queen :)

Our expedition to the bottom of the hole was not in vain: a thawed frog was found on the ice and saved, despite its desperate resistance. In our jacket pocket we lifted it to the surface and released it into a warm puddle not far from an Italian quarry))

Waterfall on Tohmajoki

Finish

Tired and hungry, but satisfied and happy, we exchanged the uninhabited island in the skerries for an uninhabited lawn near small lake somewhere along the way. Smoke from the fire, dinner cooked over the fire, and a quiet sunset completed this magical day.

This post is a continuation of the article about our trip to Marble Canyon. Read the beginning with a story about the road to Ruskeala, the visit to the Korelu fortress and the Ruskeala waterfalls.

Having driven a couple more kilometers from the waterfalls, we saw the village of Ruskeala itself.

It is difficult to miss the turn to the village; right there there is a large green sign that says that you have reached the Mountain Park.

Well, here we are! Here it is - the beautiful Marble Canyon, which even in the photo impresses with its beauty and majesty, to say nothing of the real picture.

I’m not talking about size now, because there are much larger canyons in the world, but about the combination of atmosphere, nature, strict vertical cliffs and history. I couldn't tear myself away when I looked at steep slope, illuminated by the rays of the sun.

When we arrived, it was already evening. It was just over four o'clock, and there wasn't much time left for a walk, since we still had to go back. But there was still enough time before closing. Since September, the park has switched to autumn opening hours - until 21.00. In the summer it worked until midnight, and in the winter it will only work until 19.00.

My companions distracted me from contemplation, and we went to buy tickets. Entrance to the park for adults without benefits costs 150 rubles. The cash desk is located to the right of the entrance and is a small wooden building, in the same style as the rest of the buildings in the area in front of the park. And there are plenty of them: houses with souvenirs, cafes, and even a toilet - everything looks like a small log street. Most of souvenirs, by the way, are made from marble mined here.

What to do in Ruskeala Park.

In general, it is clear that the park’s infrastructure is actively developing, so additional fee Various excursions and entertainment for tourists are organized here. Hiking and water walking routes have been developed. You can go through them either independently or as part of an excursion group.

The walking route is a walk around the canyon, exploring the available attractions, including a descent into a dry adit - a horizontal excavation that has access to the surface of the earth.

The remaining adits have long been flooded and can only be reached by water, and inside they are accessible only to divers.

Boat rentals are available for boat trips. There is a small boat station. Boat trip costs 400 rubles and is designed for one hour. Moving closer to the right bank, you can approach the marble wall and swim into the marble grotto.

Previously, to get the opportunity to take a boat ride, you had to book it 2-3 days in advance, but now there is no advance reservation. During the time we spent near the Canyon, there was not a minute when the water surface was not disturbed by splashes of oars. There were enough people wanting to take a walk, but there were still free boats.

Boat excursions are possible not only on the surface of the lake. There is also entertainment for diving enthusiasts. They have the opportunity to explore the underwater labyrinths of flooded adits and drifts.

According to one version of the flooding (yes, there are several versions), before the start of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. The Finns, who were active in marble mining here, left the quarry. When they stopped work, they destroyed all documents on the location of the underground adits, and, abandoning the mining equipment here, flooded the quarry, connecting it with the Tokhmajoki River.

According to another version, the flooding occurred after the end of the Second World War, when there were attempts to restore work in the quarry. The aquifer was so damaged that water began to penetrate into the quarry and accumulate too quickly, and Soviet workers were forced to quickly leave the place of work, leaving behind their equipment.

In a word, whether the Finns’ farewell mischief was to blame, or a coincidence of circumstances, the flooding served an excellent service for the formation of a wonderful landscape here. So until now, tourist divers manage to find those same abandoned cars at the bottom of flooded adits. Also a touch of history in its own way.

For those who are more attracted not by deep darkness, but, on the contrary, by heights and the feeling of flight, bungee jumping and rappelling along a rope stretched over the Marble Canyon are organized. We had a chance to observe the descents from the side, and to be honest, this activity did not make much of an impression. The speed was not very high, and judging by the reactions of the “flyers” who silently slid along the rope, this event did not give a “wow” effect. However, maybe it seemed so to me from the outside. In any case, even if it didn’t take your breath away, just looking at the canyon from such an unusual and unusual angle was probably interesting and entertaining. :)

There is also such entertainment as sledding with husky dogs. But as far as I understand, it is available in winter.

Our walk.

We, like many independent tourists, decided to do without excursions. The overview of the canyon begins from its eastern slope. Along the entire perimeter there are very nice walking paths, strewn with crushed stone and bordered with white stone, probably local marble.

Periodically, along the edges of the path there were some semblances of pyramids of stones, apparently laid out by the visitors themselves.

Observation platforms are located along the paths at certain intervals.

In some places the slope is destroyed, so it is prohibited to approach the edge of the cliff, as indicated by the corresponding signs.

And in some places, outside the pedestrian path, you can see places favored by tourists with polished stones or trampled grass. Of course, they are located at the edge of the slope, because from there the most spectacular and breathtaking views open up. I didn’t notice any signs there, so we, at our own peril and risk, contributed to polishing the stones and trampling the grass.

The view from the slope is truly beautiful. Monolithic marble walls appeared before our eyes, at the bottom of which we could see the openings of drifts and adits. All drifts and adits, except one, are flooded. You can see their entrances from a boat, but you can’t get inside - they are closed with bars.

Also, on the opposite slope from the entrance to the park, a marble grotto appeared, into which you can swim by boat

Sights of the Ruskeala Mountain Park.

There are five main attractions in the park: the Marble Canyon itself, a dry adit, the Ruskeala failure, the ruins of the Marble Factory and Italian Canyon. All these objects are located, in general, around the canyon, on the way walking route, there is no need to turn anywhere. Only in order to reach the Ruskeala failure and Italian quarry, you need to make a small loop. The marble factory remained a little away, but we didn’t look for it.

The descent into the adits was impressive. When you stand at the top and only theoretically imagine that such complex work was carried out here, you still remain under the influence of the picture around you - the magical nature that surrounds you, you feel the warm rays of the sun on your face, you see the glistening of the scales of the water cut by the bows of the boats , the talk of tourists, the chirping of birds... But as soon as you go down into the adit, you are enveloped in completely different emotions.

When I was little, I spent every summer in the village with my grandmother, in a large village house. The upper rooms were very bright, always flooded with sun, with windows at a height greater than human height.

I adored this house. But there was one place there that always... confused me, or something. It was a glacier. A small closet in the back wall of the house, on the basement level. There was a deep hole in it with a block of ice inside, which did not melt even in summer.

The glacier played the role of a kind of refrigerator; it stored dried meat, huge bottles, the contents of which remained a mystery to me, and other food for which I was periodically sent. I wasn't afraid of this place, no. But it seemed very mysterious to me, it made me hold my breath. As soon as you entered there, the cold immediately penetrated to the bone, and goosebumps ran down your body, although right here, literally outside the door, the sun was shining and warming.

So, when we went downstairs, I very clearly remembered this feeling. A huge dark mine, crossed by adits, not letting in light and heat and enveloping it in darkness and cold...

It's scary to imagine how it worked here. Previously, apparently, there was a mechanism along the vertical descent, like an elevator, which moved workers and equipment along horizontal adits. Now one of the adits is equipped with a bridge from which you can inspect the mine.

Coming out of the mine, it was incredibly pleasant to feel the warm rays of the sun.

After a short walk along the paths, visiting all the legal and illegal viewing platforms, we came to a fork with a sign indicating the new route “In the Footsteps of the Masters”.

From here you can turn left and go to the exit from the park along the western part of the canyon, or you can go straight and see another “window into the dungeon”. This is the Ruskeala failure - an oval hole in the ground, which, in fact, is the collapsed roof of one of the former adits, now flooded with water.

The depth of the hole to the water surface is about 12 meters.

The Ruskeala Gap is interesting because, thanks to its special microclimate, the ice in its remote areas does not melt even in summer. You can only get inside by rappelling into a rubber boat and then landing on the ice.

The name of the quarry is simple. Italians mined marble here, and in the development process Italian technology was used, which made it possible to use rope sawing instead of the explosive method practiced by the Swedes, Finns and Russians. This is clearly visible from the smoother, clearer contours of the cut blocks.

Leaving the Italian Quarry we again found ourselves on the path around the Marble Canyon.

The sun was setting, and its shadow had already begun to touch the eastern slope. Because of this, the colors and colors became deeper and more saturated.

We admired the beautiful emerald transparency of the water for a little while, the white sheer mass of marble walls in the gentle frame of yellowing growth on the slope, watched the drifting boats and headed towards the exit.

Initially, my plans, of course, included a boat trip, but due to lack of time, it no longer fit in. More precisely, in addition to this, according to the plan, there was also a stop on one of the lakes and personally prepared kebabs, but there was time left for one thing, because there was still a way back to St. Petersburg ahead.

I tried to timidly remind about the boat trip, but when I saw how my guys looked at each other, I decided that why would I need three angry, hungry men in a boat, especially with a swim into a dark grotto.

Well, it was a pity, of course, to say goodbye to this amazing place, but this is definitely not our last trip to Karelia, and although the first, but not the only meeting with the Marble Canyon.

Before heading back, we found a very picturesque place on the lake shore for our express picnic. It was not particularly difficult, fortunately there were more than enough pleasing landscapes there. While the guys were working their magic on the grill, I walked around the neighborhood.

The sensations and impressions made me want to gather my thoughts and think everything over. Well, don’t such landscapes, peace and tranquility around make you feel like this?

And here is the whole honest company at the farewell dinner before the return journey.

By the way, according to tradition, we got home faster. We already more or less knew the way and avoided any traffic jams.

In the north-west of Lake Ladoga there is an unusual tourist place - Ruskeala marble quarry. Unusual because a simple quarry was turned into a tourist attraction. In the end it worked out interesting place, which attracts tourists from all over Russia.

In our time Ruskeala Canyon is a whole tourist complex with all the necessary infrastructure. The basis of this complex is marble quarry, which has been developed since 1766. This establishment is called Ruskeala Mountain Park. But there are no mountains here, there are adits left over from the production of marble.

After development ceased, the quarry gradually filled with water.

The park is designed for guests of different categories and preferences.

St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, partially the Kazan Cathedral, the Hermitage inside, the Mikhailovsky Castle, as well as the Primorskaya and Ladozhskaya metro stations are lined with Ruskeala marble.

Large family with small children will be able to walk in special safe tourist routes with observation decks and benches for rest. The routes are laid around the quarry and include a passage through the cave. After a walk, you can go down to the quarry, rent a boat and ride on the turquoise-blue water surface. The water here is calm, there is no wind.

Families are more active They will add trolley riding to their program - a cable stretched across the quarry. They will put a special harness on you, fasten you to a roller suspended by a cable and push you down. In a few seconds you will slide to the other side with a lot of emotions.

For the curious just behind the mountain park there is a kindly abandoned lime factory. The place is interesting, but dangerous - the old ovens are gradually collapsing. There are many in Ruskeala interesting objects— turn off the main routes more often and you will see everything.

If you are a diver, then you have the opportunity to dive into clear water into a flooded grotto. At the bottom of the quarry you can see the remains of mining equipment, marble debris, etc. St. Petersburg instructors conduct technical diving training here. You can dive under ice both in summer and winter.

Also, judging by the white traces of sports magnesia on some rocks, this place is visited rock climbers. By the way, there are places for rock climbing in Karelia not far from here.

There is parking and souvenir kiosks in front of the park entrance.

Ruskeala Park on the map

Photos of the Ruskeala quarry

How to get to the Ruskeala marble quarry

By car from Petrozavodsk or St. Petersburg you need to go towards the city of Sortavala. Only from Petrozavodsk you need to get there just a little bit, but from St. Petersburg it’s the other way around - we pass Sortavala, then there will be the village of Helyulya, we also leave that behind. The main thing is not to miss the left turn (if you drive from Petrozavodsk, turn right). It will be approximately 7 km after Sortavala. There is a sign for “Vyartsilya”. And then, without turning anywhere, we reach Ruskeala and turn left immediately after the bridge. The total distance from St. Petersburg is 300 kilometers, from Petrozavodsk - 250.

By train or bus. From St. Petersburg (from Petrozavodsk similarly) We take the train, which stops in the city of Sortavala. We get off there and look for buses to Ruskeala. In addition to buses, in the summer there are transfers organized by Sortavala hotels, in particular Piipun Piha (marked on the map). Get there by public transport not easy, but quite possible.

GPS coordinates of the quarry in Ruskeala:

61.9448044N 30.5810452E

or depending on what system your navigator is running on:

61°56′41.3″N 30°34′51.8″E

Park operating hours

Marble Quarry open daily from 10:00 to 21:00

Cost of visit

• • Adults - 200 rub.

• • Students - 150 rub.

• • Schoolchildren - 100 rub.

• Children under 7 years old are free.

Ruskeala is a village located 20 kilometers from the Finnish border and located in the Sortavala region, near the city of Sortavala. The history of the village has been known since the beginning of the 16th century. In those distant times, the Swedes mined marble there, and after the end Northern War when the lands were annexed to Russian Empire, the workings were abandoned. But not for long: marble was needed to decorate St. Petersburg palaces and, thanks to rich deposits and proximity to St. Petersburg, industrial marble mining began in 1768. Ruskeala marble was used to decorate St. Isaac's Cathedral, Mikhailovsky Castle, and in the 20th century - for cladding the St. Petersburg metro stations "Ladozhskaya" and "Primorskaya".

In the 20th century, the territory either belonged to Finland or the USSR, and when the Finns left during the Soviet-Finnish War, they flooded the marble quarries, connecting them with the river flowing nearby. Since then, these places have not been used for a long time either for industrial or tourist purposes, unlike, for example, the one visited by Tsar Alexander II.

Creation of a mountain park

In the 90s, Ruskeala experienced a rebirth: a private company was engaged in equipping flooded quarries as tourist complex: routes are laid, leisure activities are organized, excursion programs, parking, hotels. And since then this place has become one of the most favorite places of tourists not only from Karelia, Finland, St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, but also more separated regions.

Marble Canyon Ruskeala

The main attraction of the park, which is visible even before entering the park itself, is the marble canyon. It is amazing a nice place: sheer marble rocks along the banks and crystal pure water greenish-blue color. The color of the water is mesmerizing: from afar it looks like Northern lights, he seems so unusual.

This flooded marble canyon was once used for marble mining, but now all but one of the mines are flooded. Workers and marble were delivered along them; the depth inside the rock was 200 meters. The remaining mine can be seen by boat or from above ( hiking trail runs around the canyon from above).

The park is open to visitors both in winter and summer.

Photos

Characteristics of the Canyon

Length - 450 meters, width - from 60 to 100 meters, depth reaches 50 meters.

Boat rental

You can see the canyon from above by walking around it (and every visitor to the park will do this because there is a trail there), but the real thrill comes from taking a boat ride on the lake. You can take a boat to any place on the lake, incl. swim inside, under the rocks.

Renting a boat in 2014 cost 400 rubles for an unlimited time (about an hour - that’s how much it takes to sail there and back and admire the views). Tickets can be bought at the ticket office, but you need to wait your turn. The queue and boarding of boats begins before the entrance to the mountain park itself. Boat rental is open until 20-00.

Mountain Park

The mountain park itself, in addition to the marble canyon, is an area with paths leading to other attractions. Entrance costs 150 rubles for adults, children under 7 years old and certain categories of citizens are free. Opening hours - until 21-00.

Firstly, upon entering the mountain park, you can walk around the entire marble canyon, admiring the green expanse of water and boaters. But then there is no less interesting underground lake- failure.

Ruskeala failure

They say that the failure was formed when, not far from it, in another quarry, there was an industrial explosion, and the ground fell down. A large hole with an area of ​​approximately 500 square meters was formed, flooded with water. The most remote edges of the hole are covered with ice even in summer.

Underground adit

Between the canyon and the gap there is a hole in the ground - an old adit, if you go around it from the side, you can go through it and go out.

Marble exhibition: Italian quarry

What else is there in the park?

Leisure activities in the mountain park are well organized: you can not only rent a boat, but also jump on a cable “into the water” (without reaching the water), ride, like on a bungee, from one edge of the lake to the other, ride dog sledding. This place is also interesting for divers who swim from one place to another through flooded lakes and adits. There is a small zoo nearby.

How not to get lost?

There are also two lakes in Ruskeala Park. When purchasing a ticket at the ticket office, you can take a map of the mountain park and follow it directly. You can order excursion services.

Where to stay?

You can stay in the city of Sortavala or numerous nearby on the shore of Lake Ladoga, for example, at the same name "Ruskeala", "Black Stones", "Yanisyarvi", "Piipun Pikha" and others.

How to get to Ruskeala Mountain Park?

There are no particular difficulties on the road: by car, either from the side of St. Petersburg or from Karelia and Murmansk, you need to go towards the city of Sortavala: the distance from Sortvala to the park is 37 km. Before reaching the canyon, picturesque areas with a rest area will be visible on the right. We recommend stopping there on the way there or back, it is one of the famous tourist places Karelia.

• By car from St. Petersburg

From St. Petersburg to Ruskeala 290 km, you need to go through the towns of Priozersk, Sortavala and then on the A-129 highway take a turn to the village of Vyartsilya along the A-130 highway.

• By car from Petrozavodsk

By car from Petrozavodsk you need to go through the cities of Pryazha, Kolatselga, Lyaskelya and turn to the village of Vyartsilya. Distance approximately 250 km.

• By public transport

You need to go by train or commuter train to Sortavala. You can also get to Sortavala by bus. Runs from Sortavala to Ruskeala regular bus(it goes to Vyartsilya and stops in Ruskeala), but you can also take a taxi.