Kivach Waterfall

Kivach drops about eleven metres in a series of steps where the Suna cuts through a diabase ledge, and it was once one of the sights of the Russian north - Derzhavin wrote an ode to it in 1791, and it drew travellers through the nineteenth century. It is smaller now than it was: a hydroelectric scheme built in the 1930s diverted most of the Suna's flow, and what falls at Kivach is what is left, which in a dry summer is a fraction of the original. In spring melt it still carries weight. The reserve around it was founded in 1931, among the oldest in Russia, protecting Karelian pine and spruce forest and including a stand of Karelian birch - a genetic variant whose figured wood has been valued for furniture for centuries. There is a museum, a dendrological garden and a short boardwalk to viewpoints over the fall.

History

The falls owe much of their fame to Gavrila Derzhavin, whose poem Waterfall, inspired by them, is one of the most important Russian poems of the 18th century, and Alexander II later had a road, a pavilion and a bridge built for visitors. Part of the river was diverted in 1936 for a hydroelectric station, and the Kivach Nature Reserve around the 10.7-metre fall dates from 1931 (Wikipedia, Kivach Falls).

Highlights

• The stepped fall - about eleven metres over a diabase ledge on the Suna.
• The reduced flow - most of the river diverted for hydroelectricity since the 1930s.
• The Karelian birch - a stand of the figured-wood variant in the dendrological garden.
• The 1931 reserve - among the oldest protected areas in Russia.

When to go

May to June for the strongest flow from snowmelt; by August it can be thin. Two to three hours. Winter freezes parts of it.

What to expect

The waterfall is much smaller than its historic reputation because of the dam, and late-summer visitors are often disappointed. Viewing is from fixed boardwalks; walking in the reserve is restricted. Mosquitoes in summer are severe. Coach groups arrive from Petrozavodsk.

Nearby

Kondopoga is south; Petrozavodsk and Lake Onega are further down the road.

Key facts