Ruskeala mountain park. — Italian quarry. Attractions in Ruskeala Mountain Park

mountain park Ruskeala 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 marble quarry Ruskeala 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, viewing platforms, illumination of the marble quarry were equipped in the Ruskeala mountain park, 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 for decoration St. Isaac's Cathedral, Mikhailovsky Castle, 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 hiking trails and equipped paths do not lead. 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. High-speed descent along an obliquely stretched cable straight to the surface of the Marble Lake. This is the longest troll in Europe!
5. Rope park for young 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. Riding on dog sledding.
13. Workshops on making souvenirs in the souvenir shop.
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 🙂

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Since ancient times, man has been striving for beauty. Once he simply admired the beauty of the world around him. Then he began to strive to create something beautiful, trying to repeat the wonders of nature in his man-made works.

But it happens that a person intervenes in nature in his own interests, destroying it ... Then he leaves these places. And nature is reclaiming its possessions back, creating a more beautiful landscape than the one that was before ...

Such a place was the Ruskeala Mountain Park - a former marble quarry, often called tourist name marble canyon Ruskeala.

Ruskeala marble quarry is located in Karelia, 30 km north of Sortavala, near the village of Ruskeala (its name, most likely, from the word “ruskea” - rusty, red - because the waters of the local river are brown-red from the iron contained in them).

A Brief History of the Ruskeala Marble Quarry

A long time ago, during the reign of Catherine II in Rus', on the lands of Karelia, they began to intensively look for reserves of beautiful and durable Karelian marble for use in the construction of palaces and other architectural structures northern capital. In 1766, marble quarries began to be developed in Ruskeala, adjacent to Sortavala.

And from that time right up to the curtain of the 80s. of the last century, magnificent, high-quality marble was mined in Ruskeala. Ruskeala marble was used in the design of the following buildings: the Marble Palace, St. Isaac's Cathedral, triumphal columns to the glory of Russian weapons, Mikhailovsky Castle, the famous monument to Peter I, the Rumyantsev's Victories obelisk, Kazan Cathedral - you can't list everything.

In the troubled 90s, Ruskeala marble was no longer mined, and Mother Nature began to reclaim her possessions. And the newly created beauty did not go unnoticed - in 1998 the main marble quarry of Ruskeala received the status of a monument of historical and cultural (mining and industrial) heritage of the Republic of Karelia. And in 2005, the Ruskeala Mountain Park was created.

Walk in Ruskeala Mountain Park

When Roma and I set off for 2000 km from our native home (glorious southern city Rostov-on-Don) into ours, the Ruskeala Mountain Park became an obligatory point of our trip. How can you not visit such a beautiful place!

When we arrived, it immediately became clear that this is a place of mass tourist visits: tourist buses, a lot of cars, an abundance of souvenir shops. They didn’t particularly deal with the parking rules - they drove onto a mound with their faces into the bushes not far from the barrier and went. It may be wrong, but cars were everywhere, and this place was perfect for us.

After walking along the souvenir rows, Roma and I bought tickets and went along tourist trail. Although, honestly, this is far from being a trail, but a well-groomed paved path for numerous tourists. The path goes around the main quarry of Ruskeala around.

Along the path there are signs telling about the history of the Ruskeala marble canyon. Cables are stretched over the quarry for those who want to see the beauty from the height of a low-flying bird, and boats with tourists ply along the quarry itself (it is flooded with water), contemplating the greatness of the symbiosis of man and nature from the bottom up. And divers dive into the depths of the quarry from a separate platform.

As with parking, they cheated a little - we were not part of the tour, did not take a separate guide, but just walked, read the signs and listened to the stories of the guides of other groups. They (stories), by the way, practically did not differ from each other - such stories lie in abundance on the Internet.

I liked the walk itself - and the stories are interesting, especially in combination with what you see. And the views are wonderful. And the tourists had fun. Sometimes (hmm, how often I see this) one gets the impression that people come not to see something new with their own eyes, but to check the box “I was here”. And how often the production of such ticks is very reckless. But it’s not for me to judge these people - off-road trips are also often beyond reasonable ...

Marble Canyon Ruskeala on the map and useful information:

2017 prices: just walk in the park 250 rubles per adult, 100 rubles per child, preferential categories and children under 7 are free. You can go boating (but only from May 20 to September 30, 600 rubles a boat). You can also visit the galleries (for a fee).

You can check the opening hours, the current cost of visiting the Ruskeala marble canyon on the official website mountain park Ruskeala: ruskeala.info/ru.

We walked around the Mountain Park for more than 3 hours, but in fact I didn’t even notice how much ... As a result, Roma and I were very pleased. And after the park, our course lay on the waterfalls of Karelia, but more on that next time ...

The amazing beauty of the nature of Karelia fascinates and amazes.

Did you like the marble canyon of Ruskeala?

All materials of the site "Roads of the World" are copyrighted. A big request is not to take articles and photos without the permission of the author and the site administration.

© Sergey Izvozshik (izvozshik), site "", 2017. Copying text and photos is prohibited. All rights reserved.

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I continue the story of our weekend trip to Karelia by car. The main purpose of the trip was the Ruskeala Marble Canyon.

I longed to visit Karelia, because I really wanted to see northern landscapes, rivers and lakes instead of the sights of Thai palm trees and beaches that were pretty greasy.

Sounds weird, doesn't it? I think many people dream of just the opposite - to soak up the warm sand away from the hustle and bustle and swim in the sea, but when the weather and landscapes outside the window hardly change for five months, you start to want something else. Like most people, I like variety.

From time to time, the guys write questions in social networks about whether I regret that I came to Russia and whether I miss Asia. Where is it! In Russia gorgeous nature, summer is coming, so it's time to continue exploring this vast country, especially since the Ruskeala marble quarry, which opened my eyes in Karelia, is perhaps one of the most striking natural attractions that I had a chance to visit this year. Russia still hides many such treasures.

Hotels and apartments in Sortavala

You can read about the beginning of the trip and organizational moments, prices in Karelia and our hotel in the post:

If you plan to spend the night in the canyon area, keep in mind that the nearest place where you can rent a hotel, apartment or hotel is the city of Sortavala, 30 km from Ruskeala.

It is better to book accommodation in advance, especially on weekends or in summer high season. We traveled to May holidays, most of the hotels in Sortavala were occupied.

You can study the prices on several search engines or at least write down the addresses of the hotels you like in order to know exactly where to go. Links to hotels in Sortavala:

So, having settled in the pre-booked Seurahuone hotel in the city of Sortavala, Marina, Kostya and Max went to the Ruskeala canyon, which is located near the village of the same name, 30 km from Sortavala. Approximately the same number of kilometers separate the deposits of marble from the Finnish border.

History of Ruskeala mountain park

The Ruskeala mountain park became a tourist attraction only in 2005. It is interesting that it was created at the private expense of several entrepreneurs from the Northern Ladoga region. To equip the surroundings of the canyon and create tourism infrastructure, it took about two years and about 600 thousand rubles.

Until the second half of the 18th century, the territories near Ruskeala belonged to the Swedes, who actively mined marble from the bowels of the earth. After the Northern War, the lands were ceded to Russia, and the quarries were forgotten.

The Russians remembered the marble deposit in those parts under Catherine II, with whose light hand the development was resumed, and four different types of marble began to be extracted from the quarries: white with gray veins, ash-gray, white-gray-blue and gray-green.

The construction of St. Petersburg required significant amounts of materials. Blocks were taken from the marble quarries of Ruskeala for facing St. Isaac's Cathedral, the decoration of the Mikhailovsky Castle and many other buildings in St. Petersburg, Gatchina and Leningrad. region, he also laid the floors of the Kazan Cathedral and decorated the memorial of the Brest Fortress in Belarus.

With the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish war in 1939, the development in the quarry completely stopped. After the Second World War, there were feeble attempts to resume marble mining, but the aquifer was already damaged, and the water in the quarry was rising so quickly that the marble miners hurriedly abandoned tractors, cranes and other special equipment.

In 1973, marble mining was resumed in new workings created near Ruskeala. Currently, work is carried out in a limited amount due to the danger of collapse of the quarry.

Parking in the park is free, but the entrance to the park itself is paid. Tickets are sold in this wooden house:

Souvenirs (magnets, mugs and wooden items) are sold on site. There is also a cafe.

What to see in Ruskeala Mountain Park:

– Marble Canyon Ruskeala

Perhaps one of the most interesting sights of the Mountain Park can be safely called the man-made Marble Canyon. This is a giant bowl, hollowed out by human hands in a mountain layer and filled with groundwater over the years of its existence.

There is a picturesque trail along the canyon, which offers breathtaking views of the grottoes, caves, as well as the incomparable water surface. The walls of the former quarry are pierced with adits, drifts and shafts, in which marble was previously mined. Now most of the workings are flooded with water. The length of the canyon is about 450 m, width - 60-100 m, depth - 30-50 m.

Around the perimeter there are many viewing platforms:

It is forbidden to enter this site, as it is gradually being destroyed. Relatively recently, 20 tons of earth and rocks crashed into the water. Out of ignorance, we spent about half an hour on this site, until a guide passing by said about a possible danger.

In addition to the improved quarry, there are several other abandoned or developed quarries on the lands near Ruskeala, but we did not look for them.

— Adits at the Ruskeala quarry

Only one adit remained on the territory of the mountain park, which can be visited without a guide, and which was not flooded by the Finns before the Soviet-Finnish war. To be honest, this is the first adit I have visited in my life.

Before my career trip, I didn’t even know the word. Also, by the way, in St. Petersburg I got acquainted with the concept of “lakhta”. In general, sometimes it is useful to enrich the vocabulary to travel and change the place of residence. :)

An adit is a horizontal or inclined mine working that has access to the earth's surface. At one time, marble was mined in adits.

There is still snow at the bottom

- Ruskeala failure

The Ruskeala failure arose in the 60s of the 20th century as a result of explosions in neighboring quarries. If you go down into this hole on a special rope (the descent will cost 1000 rubles) and go through the tunnel, you can get to the marble production center. Interestingly, the ice in the corridors does not melt even in summer. Previously, it was possible to get to the main quarry through the Ruskeala dip, but now all the passages are blocked.

In winter, the thickness of the ice is about 25 cm. Brave climbers who are not afraid of the cold descend into the Ruskeala failure, spend the night there and carve figures out of ice, so that later tourists invited to the cave can admire the ice sculptures. Also in winter you can go ice skating.

We chatted with the guy who is responsible for the descent of tourists into the Ruskeala failure along a rope. He told us a story about how, on the day of our visit, one economical citizen decided to climb into the cave for free through the mine, without informing the workers of the Ruskeala park.

He went on an adventure not alone, but with a friend. Being a clever man, our citizen gave his friend the opportunity to go first. As a result, his comrade fell through the ice without even taking a few steps.

Fortunately, our adventurer extended a helping hand in time and pulled his companion by the scruff of the neck. In general, if you are not an experienced speleologist and not a novice suicide, then it is better to go down into the cave under the supervision of the mountain park staff. The guys assure that they have undergone special training and in case of danger they can save everyone.

Ruskeala failure is still covered with ice

– Italian quarry

After inspecting the Ruskeala dip, you can go along the path to the Italian quarry to see the marble in the section. Relatively recently, the Italians began to develop this part of the quarry, but the quality of the marble at the output turned out to be so low that pasta lovers abandoned their idea and left the development. The fact is that the quality of marble depends on the depth of its location, and on the surface the marble is too fragile.

What to do in Ruskeala Mountain Park:

– Diving in Ruskeala Marble Quarry

The marble quarry is very famous and popular among Russian divers (especially among caving divers and tech divers). People come to Ruskeala to dive from the clubs of St. Petersburg and Moscow, because this is the only deep reservoir in the north-west of Russia with underwater caves and excellent transparency. In the quarry, visibility reaches 12 meters, in adits it reaches 17 meters. Inspection of underwater mines is available only to experienced divers.

Equipment remained at the bottom of the quarry. The crane, cars and motorcycles were flooded by the Finns before the start of the 1939-40 war. and now rest peacefully in the depths. Several submarine routes have been developed varying degrees difficulties.

Official descent to the banks of the canyon

Ruskeala in the Republic of Karelia is the name of a large tourist complex.

Its name comes from the nearby village of the same name.

Another landmark is the Tohmajoka River, on the banks of which it is located.

In contact with

Marble Canyon Ruskeala (Karelia, Russia) - description

The main attraction of this place is the Marble Canyon, which is now about 500 meters long and 100 meters wide, and the depth reaches 50 meters. All its walls are dissected complexes white marble. Once its entire territory was riddled with a whole network of mines, drifts and adits, the total length of which is several kilometers.

Now the main quarry and most of it are flooded, and the once industrial facility has become amazing place created by the joint efforts of man and nature.

Abandoned quarries were discovered by S. Alopeus, a local local history pastor. Active development began in 1765, during the reign of Catherine II. Since such work was rarely carried out in Russia, initially "stone work" was carried out under the guidance of Italians. The extraction of stone began quickly, because at that moment several large buildings were erected in the country at once.

More than 500 people worked at the quarries at that time. Then marble rock was found here, mainly of 4 colors: gray with a green tint, white with blue and gray tint, gray with an ash tone and white with gray streaks.

St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg

Marble from the Ruskeala quarries was used as a finishing material for such well-known buildings as:

• Saint Isaac's Cathedral;
• Mikhailovsky Castle;
• in the Kazan Cathedral they laid out the floors;
• in the Hermitage and the Marble Palace he made window sills;
• in the 20th century, Karelian marble was also used to decorate the Ladozhskaya and Primorskaya metro stations in St. Petersburg.

In 1846, a processing plant was built and a lime production process was organized. At this time, the number of workers in the quarries grew to 800 people. In wartime, from 1939 to 1947, there was no mining. Resumed production did not stop until the 1990s, but on a much smaller scale.

But after the end of mining and the flooding of the main quarry with groundwater, he was not forgotten. In 1998, the Marble Canyon was identified as a site cultural heritage and taken under state protection. Since 1999, it has been part of the international tourist route called the Blue Road.

It is worth noting: in 2005, with the active participation of local entrepreneurs, work was carried out to create a whole tourist complex, and in just 10 years of work, he became very famous.

Marble quarry and waterfalls

The flooded quarry is an unusual and beautiful place. Marble cliffs rising above the water, surrounded by a dense forest, look very picturesque.

It is worth noting that the water here is of an unusual shade. Perhaps this is due to the marble bottom. At the same time, water is visible to a depth of 15 meters.

The area around is equipped for a comfortable stay in the park, as well as organized various pastime options. For example, boat trips are very popular. During boat trips, you can personally observe pieces of marble peeking out of the water and look into numerous grottoes.

Less popular and hiking, allowing you to enjoy views not only of the canyon, but also of the surrounding area. For convenience, several observation platforms, which allow you to take the most advantageous positions for the photo. Also located here brief information about attractions and famous people who visited her.

For the most adventurous lovers cable cars, bungee jumping and jumping with ropes, cables are stretched over the water surface of the Marble Lake. Another feature of the quarry is the unusual colored illumination, which you can look at in the evening. It is used both in the canyon itself and in some grottoes and caves.

The lights on the marble cliffs look very impressive. In winter, you can ride a husky dog ​​sled. They will ride adults and children on the ice of the Marble Canyon itself.

A must visit point is the Ruskeala or Tokhminsky waterfalls. They don't differ great height or spectacular, but nonetheless very picturesque. The height of the largest of those located here is no more than 4 meters.

The area is especially famous for several films that were filmed directly here and in the vicinity. One of them is “The Dawns Here Are Quiet,” in which the heroine dived from one of these waterfalls. A small museum remains of the film.

A fairy tale about Baba Yaga was filmed right there, for the shooting of which fabulous scenery was built. It was also decided to leave them, because they fit very organically into the surrounding nature.

Sights of Ruskeala

Local adits are also popular with tourists, which are nothing more than through holes in the rock. They can be both vertical and horizontal. However, almost all of them were flooded by the Finns in 1939, except for one, which was later equipped for tourists to visit.

Once upon a time, a special marble was mined here, which was used to produce lime. Trolleys were used to transport material from here. Due to the special microclimate (it is always damp here), water drips from the ceiling, and snow can be found even in summer.

Another place where adits have been preserved is the Ruskeala failure. On the ground, it is marked with a sign " underground lake”, and all because now the failure is flooded. The collapse itself occurred in the 60s - then blasting was actively used to extract the rock, which led to the formation of cracks in the rock mass. So one day, the arch of the cave just collapsed.

It is a rounded hole in the ground and has a fence. For the descent down, a special system of ropes was built. At the bottom, special bridges are organized for passage deep into the caves.

Note: in winter, visitors descend directly onto the ice and go ice skating.

The so-called Italian Canyon is also interesting to visit. Not so long ago, the Italians decided to extract marble here, but it did not work out. It turned out that high-quality material lies rather deep, and located on the surface is very fragile and is not at all suitable as a finish. The extraction of deep marble costs a lot of effort and money, which is not entirely justified.

However, in the Italian quarry one can observe a fundamentally different approach to mining using special saws. From the developments started, there were huge sections of the rock, which allow you to admire the marble in the cut in natural conditions.

A place where not many tourists reach is an abandoned marble and lime factory. Despite his lesser prominence in the park, he is of great interest. Built by the Finns in 1896, it was intended for the production of lime. For this, calcite marble was fired in special kilns, of which there were originally three. Later, the production expanded: they built 3 more furnaces and began to deal with facing stone, as well as marble chips. It closed completely in the 1990s.

Now you can wander around here and see everything well. All buildings, furnaces and even iron tracks that were used to transport rock to the processing site are well preserved.

Official website of the recreation center

All necessary information about the marble canyon Ruskeala (Karelia, Russia) can be found on the official website of the complex - http://ruskeala.info/ru. Due to the proximity of Finland and other European countries, there are also Foreign tourists, so the site can be viewed in three languages. Here you will find all the relevant information about accommodation options, prices and additional services. Before visiting the park, you can find out about possible tours and excursions, as well as book accommodation if necessary.

Address

Marble Canyon Ruskeala is located at the address: Republic of Karelia, Sortavala, next to the Ruskeala village of the same name.

How to get there

There are several ways to get to the Ruskeala mountain park, leaving from St. Petersburg or.

From Petersburg There are 2 options, and the whole journey is about 300 kilometers:

1. By private car, you should move along the federal highway A129, along the Priozersky highway. Having reached the city of Sortavala, we continue moving towards Petrozavodsk. Soon you will need to turn onto the A-130 highway, to the village of Vartsila, and from there to Ruskeala.
2. By train "St. Petersburg - Kostomuksha", which departs from the station "Ladoga", to the city of Sortavala. It is worth checking the schedule in advance, since the train does not run on this route every day. There is a regular bus from Sortavala to Ruskeala village.

From Petrozavodsk:

1. By private car we are moving along the P21 highway, through Kolatselga. The distance is about 250 km. Seeing the turn to the village of Vartsila, we turn. From there we move to the village of Ruskeala.
2. By train Petrozavodsk - Sortavala we reach the final city, and from there to regular bus to the destination.

Take note: it is most convenient to travel to the park by private car, since the attraction is located near the village, where public transport is not very developed.

Another convenient option- ordering a group tour, and then the trip will be organized from St. Petersburg to the desired point and back.

Where to stay

Not far from the Ruskeala mountain park, there are not many places to stay and relax in comfortable conditions. One of the most popular, in the immediate vicinity of the Karelian sights, is the King of the Mountain guest house, formerly called the Blue Lagoon tourist center.

Ruskeala guests are offered comfortable and varied rooms, free parking and gazebos equipped with barbecue grills. In addition, there is a camping site on the territory where you can set up a tent and plunge into nature. Of course, a special success is the proximity to the famous park, to which the path is only 800 meters, and amazing landscapes around.

Marble canyon Ruskeala - the most beautiful photos

You can visit the Ruskeala mountain park at any time of the year - each of them has its own charm. In general, this is a great option to change your favorite beaches and do active species recreation. In addition, now it is one of the most popular natural and technological attractions in Karelia and throughout Russia.