Ruskeala Marble Canyon

Ruskeala Marble Canyon is the central tourist attraction in the mountain park of the same name, developed in Sortavala district of Karelia. This former quarry, where even today there are deposits of marble, is located 37 km from the town of Sortavala, near the village of Ruskeala. The village stands on the bank of the Tohmajoki River, whose waters flooded the mines and the open canyon in the late 30s of the last century, turning it into a lake. As a result of flooding, the quarry was abandoned for a long time. But in 1998 it received the status of a historical and cultural heritage site of Karelia and was soon included in the 2000-kilometer international tourist route Blue Highway (Blue Way), leading from the Atlantic coast of Norway through the sights of Sweden and Finland to the Russian Karelia, ending at Lake Onega.

.

Video: Ruskeala Marble Canyon

Contents

Highlights

Around the Marble Canyon, the Ruskeala Mountain Park was created in 2005. It is the first tourist destination for European travelers heading along the Blue Route to Russia. Ruskeala is only 20 km away from the Finnish border crossing “Vyartsilya”. There are a lot of tourists from Scandinavia in Ruskeala, in the stores of the village you can see price tags in rubles and euros. But buses with foreign tourists do not stay here for a long time. After visiting the Marble Canyon Ruskeala and the mountain park, travelers go to the sights near Ladoga and Onega, so there are still no good hotels in the tiny village. But unpretentious Russian tourists will find shelter here in several campgrounds and hotels, resembling, rather, hostels or guest houses with hotel rates.

.

However, the tourist infrastructure in Ruskeala is improving from year to year. So, from June 1, 2019, from Sortavala there is a daily tourist “Retro train”. Its stylized in the olden days carriages are driven by a real restored steam locomotive. The schedule of the “Retro Train” is conveniently coordinated with the schedule of the “Lastochka” train, and tourists from St. Petersburg have the opportunity to travel to Ruskeala, see the Marble Canyon, walk in the mountain park, and by the end of the day return to St. Petersburg.

.

In addition to thematic excursions with inspection of underground drifts, visitors to the park is offered a lot of entertainment at any time of the year. In summer you can swim on Marble Lake on a boat, scuba divers have the opportunity to dive and explore the flooded passages carved in the marble massif. There are attractions for extreme athletes and rock climbers, you can rent an all-terrain vehicle and ride in the forest. In winter seasonal entertainment is organized here. At this time skiers glide along the paths of the park, and an ice rink is organized on the ice of the underground lake. Powerful snowmobile rides are also very popular.

.

History of Marble Canyon Ruskeala

Dolomite marble deposits near Ruskeala were discovered in 1765 by Samuel Alopeus, a parish priest of the Finnish Lutheran Church in Sortavala, who was keen on studying local minerals. The naturalist reported about his discovery at the meeting of the scientific council of the Vyborg University and published his report. Alopeus, a pastor and local historian, accompanied the expedition organized by the Imperial Academy of Arts to Karelia as a guide. Soon a quarry began to operate near Ruskeala, where marble of several shades was extracted.

.

Excellent finishing material was delivered to the workshops of St. Petersburg, where architectural details for the construction of luxury buildings were carved from multi-ton blocks. The colored stone quarried in Ruskeala was used to make the facade slabs of the Marble Palace, erected by Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi in 1785 on the Palace Embankment of the Neva. Staircases, columns, window sills, carved wall panels made of Rusceale marble decorate the interiors of the Hermitage, St. Isaac’s and Kazan Cathedrals, the Winter Palace, Mikhailovsky Castle and other iconic buildings of the Northern Capital.

.

In Peterhof you can admire the ensemble of fountains, sculptures and bowls of which are created from decorative marble of Ruskeala. The tombstones of Russian emperors in the Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Chesmenskaya Column in suburban Tsarskoye Selo are made of this stone. During the construction of the Leningrad Metro, this beautiful material was used for the interiors of the Ladozhskaya and Primorskaya stations.

.

By the beginning of the XX century there were five marble quarries in Ruskeala. Each of them developed layers of stone of a special shade – gray, greenish, blue, white with narrow dark stripes. Equipment for sawing marble blocks into blocks and slabs was installed here, and a factory for final polishing of the products was operating. Marble fragments were sent to kilns for lime production. At the peak of quarrying there were up to 800 workers.

.

Over many decades, hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of decorative marble have been extracted from the central open pit. Ruskeala is a deep man-made canyon 450 meters long and 50 to 100 meters wide. In its walls miners have cut dozens of shafts and adits, going to a depth of 60 meters. The underground workings were connected by a network of auxiliary tunnels through which the workers moved and carriages with the mined rock moved.

.

From 1917 to 1940 the territory of Sortavala district, where the Marble Quarry is located, belonged to Finland, then it was included in the Soviet Republic of Karelia. During the military actions of 1939-1940 the canyon was flooded by the water of the Tohmajoki River, and now it is a lake 30-50 meters deep. Six horizons were mined and many of the mines are underwater, but some of the tunnels of the upper horizons are above the lake level and are accessible for inspection.

In the 1970s, new life was attempted to be breathed into the quarry. Not far from the flooded Marble Canyon, a new industrial site called the Italian Quarry began to operate, as the equipment for the extraction of decorative stone was purchased in Italy, and the commissioning work was carried out with the participation of Italian engineers. Finishing elements from the Italian quarry were supplied to new buildings in many cities of the USSR. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union stone quarrying in Ruskeala came to naught.

.

The happy idea to turn the Marble Canyon Ruskeala into a tourist attraction has been in the air since the late 1990s. In 2005, the area surrounding the mining excavation was declared the Ruskeala Nature Conservation Mountain Park.

Walking around the mountain park

The 32-hectare Ruskeala Park has wide walkways covered with marble rubble. The total length of walking paths and terrencourts – more than 15 kilometers. Benches and posts with lanterns are installed along the curbs. Some interesting rock formations along the route are equipped with artistic illumination. During a family walk you can look at the children’s playgrounds, where there are swings, tourniquets, slides, sandboxes.

.

There are several hiking excursion routes in the park. During an hour-long hike along the one and a half kilometer trail, going over the cliffs of Marble Canyon Ruskeala, you will learn about who and when discovered this deposit of unique stone, in the decoration of what famous buildings of the capital of the Russian Empire it was used by prominent architects. Then you will hear a story about dramatic events of the Soviet-Finnish war, as a result of which the quarry was permanently flooded. The trail passes near local attractions – an old vertical mine, a grotto in the marble rock, the cliff of Catherine II, and leads excursionists to a small stone-carving workshop, where travelers have the opportunity to observe the work of carvers and buy cute author’s souvenirs of marble. The cost of the excursion is 500 rubles per person, schoolchildren and students enjoy discounts by showing the appropriate documents.

.

From the Marble Canyon Ruskeala begins an hour and a half themed excursion “The Road of Mountain Masters”, including a visit to the Imli cliff, underground lake and Italian quarry. On the way there is a building of the former Finnish management of the quarry, built from improvised material – colorful marble blocks. The cost of the excursion – 550 rubles per person.

.

One of the most impressive routes is called “Underground Ruskeala”. The entrance to the bowels of the mountain is located 300 meters from the Marble Canyon. The guide-speleologist leads the group through a 750-meter labyrinth of galleries and narrow tunnels carved in the thickness of marble and leading to a huge hall with an underground lake. The path lies on an enclosed metal deck. The walls of the mines are illuminated by hundreds of LED lights, and the water in the lake is also illuminated.

.

In summer in the mine workings the air temperature does not exceed +6…+8 ° C, it is desirable to take warm clothes and waterproof cape – from the vaults of adits oozes water. The cost of this excursion – 1200 rubles per person, the tariff for students – 750 rubles, for school-age children – 550 rubles.

.

At 4 kilometers from the Marble Canyon are Ruskeala waterfalls. The water of the Tohmajoki River falls from stone ledges 3-4 meters high. This is a very atmospheric place. Here you can fish, have a picnic in nature, in the season to look for mushrooms and berries in the surrounding forests.

.

Entertainment

In summer you can rent an ATV in Ruskeala Park, and in winter – a snowmobile. They offer trips accompanied by an instructor along well-prepared routes with distances from 5 to 20 kilometers lasting from half an hour to three hours. The cost of renting an all-terrain vehicle – from 2500 rubles.

.

In winter, inflatable “bananas” on skids are attached to snowmobiles, which allows a company of up to 5 people to take a fun ride on a specially prepared track in the park. The 2 km long track runs along the winding shore of the Tohmajoki River and through snow-covered forest past Lake Montferrana and the entrance to the underground tunnels. The snowmobile turns around at the marble cliffs overhanging Lake Svetloe. The cost of this entertainment is 300 rubles per person. From January 1 to January 8, the park hosts entertaining holiday shows.

.

In the warm season (from the end of May to the beginning of October) on the lake of Marble Canyon Ruskeala you can ride on a paddle boat with a capacity of up to 4 people. The cost of renting a boat is 600 rubles per hour.

.

On the territory of the park there is a rope town “Cube”. Between the trees at a height of three to five meters laid labyrinths of rope bridges, equipped with a 6-meter climbing wall on a steep wall. Visitors are given helmets and safety belts with carabiners. The weight of climbers should not exceed 80 kg, there are no age restrictions, the attraction is available for children under adult supervision. The ticket price is 500 rubles.

.

For those who want to experience a surge of adrenaline here is arranged a kind of attraction “Flight over the canyon”. Above the steep walls stretched 400-meter cable with stretching, crossing the space above the lake. A roller trolley is fixed on the cable. Tourists climb up to the high starting platform, settle down on a flimsy seat made of straps fastened to the rollers on the cable with a carabiner, then leave the start with a burst of acceleration and rush over the Marble Canyon of Ruskeala to the opposite shore. At the finishing area the daredevils are stopped by the instructor with the help of the braking system. Children from 7 years old are allowed to fly on the trolley, the maximum weight of the “flyer” should not exceed 120 kg. The flight lasts 30 seconds, the cost of pleasure – 1200 rubles. The attraction works daily from 11:00 to the closing of the park. Trolley does not operate in unfavorable weather – on rainy or windy days, as well as in winter.

.

There is another mind-blowing attraction on the bluff – “Tarzanka”. Here extremists jump into the abyss above the lake, tied to a 20-meter elastic rope. The cost of the jump – 1500 rubles, weight limit – up to 100 kg.

.

Both extreme attractions belong to the local certified company “Center for Sports Tourism.”

.

From May 1 to October 1, Marble Lake welcomes groups of scuba divers. Divers explore the flooded adits, descend to the bottom of the canyon, where since 1940 stands abandoned by the Finns equipment – crane, trucks, motorcycles. To dive, you need to bring your own equipment and present your personal diver’s certificate to the keepers. Divers are provided with inflatable floating platforms. The cost of diving is 300 rubles. About the arrival of divers should be reported to the park administration in advance.

.

Every year by the beginning of the summer season in the vicinity of Marble Canyon Ruskeala open new entertainment locations. Recently, near the Italian quarry a town called “Secret Paths of the Kalevala Land” was created, dedicated to the characters of the national Karelian-Finnish epic. The mini-park is populated by stone and wooden images of gods and heroes of “Kalevala”. The world of dark forces is represented at the gloomy rocks with a viewing platform above the stone cliff, the opposing hero Vainämönen and other positive characters live in the bright glade surrounded by centuries-old pine trees. Tourists are invited to walk along the picturesque eco-trail and take part in quests. The cost of an entrance ticket to the interactive mini-park – 100 rubles, the ticket comes with a colorful booklet with a summary of the main events reflected in the plot of the epic “Kalevala.”

.

In February 2019, a festival of ice sculpture was held in the underground workings of the park. Carvers of fantastic figures were inspired by the myths and legends of Karelia.

Video: Ruskeala Marble Canyon in winter

Practical information

For car tourists who come to see the Marble Canyon of Ruskeala, there is a spacious free parking lot in front of the entrance to the park. An entrance ticket to the mountain park will cost an adult visitor 300 rubles. Preferential rates are available for students. Students can buy a ticket with a 50 percent discount, schoolchildren – for 100 rubles. Children under seven years old are allowed to walk in the park for free. At the entrance you can get an audio guide for 250 rubles. If you want to learn more from the mouth of a connoisseur of the history of the canyon, join a guided tour. The cost of informative walks – 500-1200 rubles per person. At the end of the story guide leads tourists to the scree of marble rubble, where you can take as a memento of the attractive multicolored pieces of beautiful stone.

.

On the steep banks of the Marble Canyon Ruskeala there are several viewpoints with fences, from where you can take memorable photos. In other places there are no fences at the cliffs, only signs placed somewhere warn visitors that it is dangerous to go to the edge of the cliff. Swimming, smoking and drinking alcohol in the park is strictly prohibited, and campfires are forbidden. Violators will be fined from 500 to 5000 rubles, and especially rowdy visitors may even be sent to jail for 15 days.

.

Souvenirs

At the entrance to Ruskeala Mountain Park there is a souvenir store “City of Masters”. It sells various crafts made of marble – figurines, bells, whistles, clay knick-knacks, wooden toys, birch bark pots for picking berries. There is a set of marble plates with carved letters of the alphabet in Old Russian style. There are magnets with views of Marble Canyon and postcards with images of the same content.

.

In the center of the village there are two grocery stores, opening hours – 09:00-20:00. On Sortavalskoye highway, 17-A, you can replenish the stock of products in the grocery store “Apelsin”, next to it works a specialized store “Smoked fish”. A hundred meters away is a competing outlet – “Smoked Fish of Karelia”. The signboard informs that all products are cooked on the smoke of natural alder sawdust. The fish here is really very appetizing, such a purchase will be a worthy tasty souvenir from Ruskeala.

.

Where to eat

Near the parking lot at the entrance to Marble Canyon Ruskeala there is a cafe “Ruskolka”. Here you can have a hearty lunch. The menu includes Karelian and European dishes. Nearby there is a pavilion “Kolmas Burgers”, it offers fast food for a light snack – french fries, sandwiches with meat, fish, chicken or vegetable patties, sauces, salads. For dessert – pastries, soft drinks, coffee, tea, milkshakes.

.

Where to stay

For auto tourists there are camping sites “Finnish Mill” and “Lesnaya Polyana” on the outskirts of Ruskeala. Another camping site can be found on the bank of the Tohmajoki River. Recently in the village opened a hotel “Tsar Mountain”, it is also built on the river bank and positions itself as a three-star hotel. Rooms are located in a two-storey building, kitchen and common toilets are on the floor. One of the bathrooms is located in the sauna, and if the sauna is occupied, there is only one toilet at the guests’ disposal. In the yard there are gazebos with barbecues, as well as a separate log cabin with a veranda. The cost of accommodation – from 2798 rubles per day per room. According to guests, the rates in the hotel are significantly overpriced.

.

It is quite inexpensive to spend the night in Ruskeala in a small hotel for pilgrims at the Lutheran parish – the same one that was once headed by the discoverer of the marble deposit, Pastor Alopeus. The church where he served was destroyed during the Soviet-Finnish war in 1940, but now it is slowly being rebuilt. For a night’s stay in a modest and clean room you need to pay only 1000 rubles. This amount includes a light breakfast and the right to use the Finnish sauna. In the courtyard there is a barbecue, where food can be cooked by yourself. For 300 rubles you will get access to a buffet in the fireplace room of the hotel. Here guests can enjoy a full lunch: soup, second course, meat appetizers, salads, rolls and berry morsels. By the way, any tourist can pay for the buffet, not only guests.

In the center of the village there is a tourist base “Ruskeala”, for a room for two people ask 2500 rubles per day. Room for a company of up to 8 people will cost 5600 rubles.

.

Romantics are not refrained to put a tent in a desirable place and spend a couple of days in communication with the fantastic nature of Karelia.

.

How to get there

It is convenient to get to the Marble Canyon Ruskeala from St. Petersburg. From the Northern capital such a trip can be made by rail, by shuttle bus or by your own car.

.

The high-speed electric train “Lastochka”, which runs from St. Petersburg to Sortavala, departs daily at 06:15 from the platform of the Finland railway station. The train arrives in Sortavala at 10:20. From the local station directly to the mountain park “Ruskeala” at 10:40 departs “Retro train”, travel time – 1 h. 35 min. 35 min. The return trip of the “Retro train” is at 17:30, you will be in Sortavala at 18:20, just before the arrival of the “Lastochka” going to St. Petersburg. The fast train arrives in Sortavala at 18:42, it will take you to the Finland station.

.

In the schedule of St. Petersburg bus station “Severny”, which is near the metro station “Devyatkino”, there are several bus trips to Sortavala. Travel time is 4 h. 30 min. There is a bus from Sortavala bus station to Ruskeala, the duration of the trip is 35 minutes. Then you need to walk to the Marble Canyon. The entrance to the mountain park is located one and a half kilometers north of the village of Ruskeala. Marble Street, leading to it through the forest, is equipped with signs with the park’s emblem – a cheerful gnome-rudokopa in a red cap.

.

Buses going from Sortavala to Vyartsilya through Ruskeala leave only twice a day, but you can get to the park by cab for 250-300 rubles. If you don’t see any cars nearby, look closely at the ads pasted on the roadside posts and you’re sure to find several phone numbers to call a cab.

.

There is a daily bus to Ruskeala from Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia. It departs from the bus station at 06:00, and after 4 h. 15 min. arrives at the bus station, located near the entrance to the mountain park.

.

Auto travelers heading to Marble Canyon Ruskeala from St. Petersburg need to keep going north, following the federal highway A-121, then turn right at the sign, and continue along highway 86K-332. The total distance along the highway to Ruskeala is 310 km.

.