Unique places in Russia that you have hardly heard of: Ruskeala

Today we will go to one of the most picturesque regions - to Karelia. Karelia is the pearl of the Russian North. Its modest beauty, bottomless lakes and relict forests leave no one indifferent. There, not far from the border with Finland, there is a unique natural monument and at the same time an open-air museum called Ruskeala.

Marble pantry

Mid-18th century. The newly proclaimed capital of the Russian state is developing rapidly. They build palaces, pave squares, lay out parks. St. Petersburg needs marble. Urgent and a lot. Preferably domestic, so that it is inexpensive and close.

Catherine II orders to carry out "geographical research throughout Russia." Soon, rich deposits of white-smoky, like St. Petersburg summer nights, marble were found.

Ruskeala (from the Karelian reskea - "brown, brown") is a small village in the Northern Ladoga area. It would easily get lost on the map, if not for the unique nature and glorious history.

For centuries, these lands were the subject of military disputes between the three states and passed to the Swedes, then to the Finns, then to the Russians. Therefore, the first developers of Ruskeala marble quarries were the Swedes. They built the first quarries there at the end of the 17th century.

After the end of the Northern War, the Ladoga area remained with Russia, and the Ruskeala canyons came under the jurisdiction of Field Marshal Buturlin. The quarrying of marble was temporarily abandoned.

But in 1768, at the suggestion of the local pastor Samuil Alopeus, work began again in Ruskeala. Stone craftsmen, architects and mining engineers gathered from all sides. The inconspicuous border village has become an industrial center in just a few years. Over the next 50 years, more than 200 thousand tons of marble were mined. The boulders were loaded onto a sleigh pulled by 80 horses and transported to the pier. There they were transferred to small sailing ships and floated on Lake Ladoga to St. Petersburg.

The second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries can be called without exaggeration the era of Ruskeala marble. This noble ash stone has adorned the interiors of many capital objects:

Oryol Gate (Tsarskoe Selo);
Roman fountains (Peterhof);
columns of the Gatchina palace;
Chesme obelisk (Gatchina);
facade of the Mikhailovsky Castle and others.

But the most famous building, in the decoration of which Ruskeala marble was used, is St. Isaac's Cathedral. Architect Auguste Montferrand personally came to Ruskeala to supervise the breaking of the stone. As a result, the walls of St. Isaac's Cathedral are faced with beautiful white-gray marble about 50 centimeters thick.

In the second half of the 19th century, marble began to go out of fashion (metropolitan architects switched to granite). The active quarrying of marble in Ruskeala has ceased. In 1896, the deposit was rented by the Finns: they built a marble and lime plant and produced marble chips, and they, in turn, plastered the walls and poured the floors.

The production was closed with the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. The marble quarries were flooded. According to one version - by the Finns, according to the other - by the Soviet aviation.

Entrance to the adit

Marble has been mined here for more than two centuries

Passage between adit and shaft

After the Great Patriotic War, the Ruskeala plant resumed its work. Its products (lime, crumb, crushed stone) were supplied to 10 republics and 17 regions of the Soviet Union. Solid marble was practically not mined. The last to be faced with them were the "Ladozhskaya" and "Primorskaya" stations of the St. Petersburg metro.

In 1998 Ruskeala marble quarry was included in the list of cultural and historical heritage of Russia as a monument of mining of the 18th – 20th centuries. The flooded quarries became beautiful emerald lakes. In 2005, a tourist park was opened there.

What to see in Ruskeale?

4 kilometers from the village of Ruskeala, there is a place that is impossible to pass by when going to the marble quarry. This is the Ruskeala cascade - a chain of four small but picturesque waterfalls.

The Tohmajoki River ("the mad river") flows into Lake Ladoga and has many rapids and rifts, the largest of which form waterfalls. The largest is called Ahvenkoski, which in Finnish means “perch rapids”. To say that the place is beautiful is to say nothing. That there is only the fact that one of the scenes of the film "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" was filmed there.

This waterfall is clearly visible from the highway leading to Ruskealu. Next to it there is a parking lot, a gazebo and a souvenir shop. Ruskeala waterfalls are a great place to relax on the way to the Ruskeala mountain park and take some photos.

Akhvenkoski waterfall

Several films have been filmed in these picturesque lands.

Tohmajoki river

But the pearl of Ruskeala is, of course, the Marble Canyon. It is part of the Ruskeala Mountain Park (more on it later) and is a huge stone bowl filled with bluish-emerald water.

The length of the Marble Canyon is 460 meters, the width is up to 100 meters, the depth in some places reaches 50 meters. This is the very place from where marble was taken for St. Isaac's Cathedral and other St. Petersburg architectural monuments.

The canyon makes a tremendous impression! Sheer silvery marble rocks extending deep into the clear waters, grottoes and adits - all this creates the feeling that you are in a fabulous country, and a gnome with a pickaxe is about to look out of the mine.

Marble canyon

Emerald Marmara Lake

The length of the canyon is 460 meters

Width reaches 100 meters

One of the grottoes

The water is almost clear

Water is especially striking. The quarry feeds on clean groundwater, there are no algae at the bottom. Therefore, its transparency reaches 15-18 meters, in some places you can even see equipment left at the bottom of the quarry.

The marble canyon is flooded to the upper underground horizon (there were seven of them: three underground and four aboveground).

A horizon is a layer within a rock.

Most of the adits are underwater. Only one of them, in the northwestern part of the mountain park, remained above the water level and is open to the public. It is believed that it was pierced by the Finns in the 1930s to transport trolleys with marble from mine No. 2. The mine itself is flooded by about a third, ice can be seen at its bottom, which does not melt even in summer.

An adit is a horizontal or inclined mine working that has an exit to the earth's surface.

Another attraction of the Ruskeala Mountain Park is the Ruskeala Gap. This is the collapsed vault of an underground mine. According to the recollections of local residents, it was formed in the 1960s after a strong explosion in the quarry. As a result, a huge pit about 30 meters wide was formed on the surface of the earth.

The peculiarity of the failure is its microclimate. In the distant parts of the mine, the ice never melts, there weird icicles hang from the walls. But directly in the place of the sinkhole in the warm season, a small lake is formed. Therefore, in order to get into the depths of the mine, you first need to go down onto the boat on a rope, and then use it to get to the ice "floor". In winter, everything is easier: you immediately descend onto the hard ice.

Ruskeala failure

Like the Snow Queen's castle

Failure formed in the 1960s

View of the hole from below

Inside, the ice does not melt even in summer

Inside the mine

Ice and fire

Bizarre icicles

It's worth going down for this

Photo by Vladimir Kirichenko

The interesting places in the Ruskeala mountain park do not end there. There is also a so-called Italian quarry on its territory. Until the 1970s, block marble was mined there using Italian technology (hence the name) using foreign machines. The color and texture of marble is clearly visible here, and the way of its extraction can be traced. It was sliced like bread into large slices with wire saws, layer by layer.

Ruskeala sights are a rare symbiosis of a natural site and an open-air industrial museum. Looking at all these beauties, one involuntarily thinks: "How rich our planet is, how much it can give us."

What to do in Ruskeale?

As already mentioned, in 2005 the Marble Canyon, as well as the Ruskeala Gap and the Italian quarry became part of the Ruskeala Mountain Park.

The scheme of the mountain park "Ruskeala"

The park was created by the efforts of private companies, which united, allocated money and put these objects in order. They took out trash and scrap metal, laid comfortable paths, and built observation platforms. We carried out lighting along the perimeter of the canyon - now at night the marble rocks shine with multi-colored tints. It's a pity that artistic lighting works only in winter (from November to March) and only on Fridays and Saturdays.

We also created the infrastructure. We have built a parking lot, cafes, toilets, souvenir shops and a pier where you can rent a boat. A boat trip along the Marble Canyon is considered the most exciting: you can swim into the grottoes, swim up to the adits and feed the ducks.

Boat trips are the most popular entertainment

You can swim inside the grotto by boat

Reflection of water on marble

The park is open all year round, only the regime changes from season to season. After the Ruskeala sights were ennobled, the entrance to the park, of course, became paid - 150 rubles per person. Boat rental, guide and other services also cost money (detailed price list here).

But the park offers its visitors a lot of entertainment. Those who love to tickle their nerves will appreciate them:

Jump from the 24-meter cliff of the Marble Canyon. Of course, with insurance. The free fall height is 8 meters.
Passage on a rope bridge: three ropes are stretched across the canyon at a height of 24 meters - you walk one by one, hold on to two.
Zipline is a downhill roller coaster down an inclined rope straight to the surface of the Marble Lake.

Another popular way to spend time in the park is diving. As you remember, Ruskeala marble canyon has three underwater horizons. Flooded mines, connected by adits, like a mysterious labyrinth. Diving enthusiasts can feel like real explorers and see what is hidden in the ancient quarries.

But perhaps the most exciting adventure in the mountain park is the descent into the sinkhole. To do this, you need to have special equipment and permission from the administration of the institution. In addition, descending on a rope to a depth of 16 meters is a very risky activity, so it must be done in the presence of professionals. There are guys who organize the descent to the Ruskeala Gap. Even if you're not into the extreme, the views inside the hole are worth overcoming your fears. In winter it is like the residence of the Snow Queen! Take a look at this virtual tour and you will understand everything yourself.

Of the quieter winter entertainment - riding huskies (those fluffy cuties) and taking pictures with them. Also, on the territory of the park and in its vicinity, various entertainment events are held from time to time: concerts, folklore festivals, historical installations, competitions, etc.

Pier and cable car rides

Observation deck

Lantern in the rock on the left - artistic lighting

Photo by Andrey Kirnov

It is better to come to Ruskeala for a couple of days. Moreover, there will be no problems with placement. There are two recreation centers and a tourist complex near the park. In addition, in the summer, many people prefer to camp and rest in a hike.

But at the tourist centers you will find not only comfortable beds, barbecues and equipped baths, but also additional entertainment. So, you can rent an ATV and ride around the surroundings, you can buy a jeep excursion or go rafting.

Rafting is a sports rafting on a mountain river on six-, four- or two-seater inflatable boats.

Rafting is carried out along the Tohmajoki River - you can not only see Ruskeala waterfalls, but also feel their power.

In a word, you will not be bored in Ruskeale. From this place you will take many picturesque photographs and no less vivid impressions.

How to get to Ruskeala?

The Ruskeala settlement is located in the Sortavala region of the Republic of Karelia, 37 kilometers from the regional center and 20 kilometers from the Russian-Finnish border. There are three ways to get to the Marble Canyon and other attractions.

By personal car

From St. Petersburg, the route runs along the A129 highway, through the cities of Priozersk and Sortavala. Having reached the last one, you need to turn onto the A130 motorway. The distance from St. Petersburg to Ruskeala is about 300 kilometers.

From Petrozavodsk to Ruskeale, first the M18 highway (another name - P-21) leads, from which, in the area of the city of Pryazha, you need to turn to the villages of Lyaskelia and Khelyulya (road M130).

By bus

Intercity buses run from Petrozavodsk to Sortavala every day. The schedule can be found here. In turn, you can get from Sortavala to Ruskeala by suburban bus. You can also get from Sortavala to the Marble Canyon by taxi for several hundred rubles. You can agree with the taxi driver about the day and time when he will return for you.

By train

From St. Petersburg to the city of Sortavala there is a train 350A "St. Petersburg - Kostomuksha". 23 hours - and you are there. It is a pity that the train does not run every day. Study the schedule. How to get from Sortavala to Ruskeala - see above.

It is also possible to take the train, but you have to make several changes.

The railway route is considered the most inconvenient and time consuming.

Why is it worth seeing Ruskeala?

Because Ruskeala is a beautiful mountain park with a system of underground caves, Marble Canyon, waterfalls and recreation centers. This is a tourist complex where you can spend an active weekend with the whole family at any time.

The marble canyon is so beautiful that even the Norwegian fjords fade away. Sheer silvery walls embrace a transparent emerald lake, you can see the caves of the adits. It seems as if he was in a fairy tale and everything around has special magical properties.

But most importantly, Ruskeala is an industrial monument, which can be used to trace the history of mining from the 18th to the 20th century. For centuries, the workers with the hardest work mined marble, which adorned the luxurious palaces of St. Petersburg.