Ruskeala Mountain Park

Marble was cut at Ruskeala from 1765, in the reign of Catherine II, and it went into some of the most important buildings in St Petersburg - the facing of St Isaac's Cathedral, the floors of the Kazan Cathedral, windowsills in the Hermitage, and decoration in the Marble Palace and Mikhailovsky Castle. Quarrying continued into the twentieth century and the workings were abandoned and flooded, leaving a canyon about four hundred and fifty metres long and up to fifty deep filled with water that is an intense turquoise because of the marble dust suspended in it. It is now a managed park: paths around the rim, viewing platforms, boats on the water, a via ferrata, a zip line across the canyon, and an underground route through lit galleries and a flooded lower level. A steam-hauled tourist train runs from Sortavala. It is the most visited site in Karelia and it is busy.

History

The quarries, identified by the pastor and local historian Samuel Alopaeus, were opened in 1765 under Catherine II, and up to 500 local people worked in five of them; a water-powered sawing and polishing works built by 1846 raised the workforce to about 800. Alexandre Dumas visited in 1859, the main quarry became a protected heritage site in 1998 and opened as a tourist park in 2005, and the Ruskeala Express steam train from Sortavala began running on 1 June 2019 (Wikipedia, Ruskeala (Mountain Park)).

What's there

• The turquoise canyon - a flooded quarry four hundred and fifty metres long.
• The St Petersburg connection - marble from here facing St Isaac's and flooring the Kazan Cathedral.
• The underground route - lit galleries and a flooded lower level below the rim.
• The steam train - the Ruskeala Express running from Sortavala.

When to go

May to September for boats and walking; winter, when the galleries and ice are lit, is a different and popular experience. Three to five hours.

Things to know

Heavily commercialised, with each activity ticketed separately and the total mounting quickly. Very crowded in summer and on the train days. Rim paths have unprotected drops. Booking is needed for the underground route and the train.

Nearby

Sortavala and the Ladoga skerries are south; the Valaam boats leave from Sortavala.

Key facts