Ruskeala (russian: Рускеала; ) is a

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

(a settlement) under the administrative jurisdiction of the town of republic significance of

Sortavala Sortavala (russian: Сортавала; Finnish and krl, Sortavala; sv, Sordavala); till 1918 Serdobol (russian: Сердоболь) is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finnish bord ...

in the

Republic of Karelia The Republic of Karelia (russian: Респу́блика Каре́лия, Respublika Kareliya; ; krl, Karjalan tašavalta; ; fi, Karjalan tasavalta; vep, Karjalan Tazovaldkund, Ludic: ''Kard’alan tazavald''), also known as just Karelia (rus ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Within the framework of municipal divisions, Ruskeala is a part of Kaalamskoye Rural Settlement in Sortavalsky Municipal District. An international tourist route,

Blue Highway Blue Highway is an American contemporary bluegrass band formed in 1994 and based in Tennessee. The band's albums include ''Wondrous Love'' (2003), ''Marbletown'' (2005), and '' Original Traditional'' (2016). Background After helping found th ...

(Norway-Sweden-Finland-Russia) goes through Ruskeala.

History

Before the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

and

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, it was the seat of Ruskeala Municipality of the

Viipuri Province Viipuri Province ( fi, Viipurin lääni'', commonly abbreviated'' Vpl, sv, Viborgs län or Wiborgs län, russian: Выборгская губерния) was a historical province of Finland from 1812 to 1945. History The predecessor of the ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Ruskeala became the main village of its own parish, independent of

Kitee Kitee ( sv, Kides) is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The populat ...

, in 1721. the red area in Karelian. in Finnish, brown, Russians with communism and red will be associated with the Veps knew 5 centuries ago

Quarries

Not far from the settlement, the Ruskeala

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

are located. The deposit was discovered in 1765 and has been in operation since 1769. The integrity of the massif of the marble was cracked in the 20th century due to the use of

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

. For this reason some quarries were abandoned and inundated. Now these picturesque deep quarries and

adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adits ...

s with limpid water serve as a popular tourist attraction. The length of the quarries from north to south is 460 meters, width - up to 100 meters. The distance from the highest point to the bottom is more than 50 meters. The transparency of the water reaches 15–18 meters. The quarries, as well as some other marble deposits of Karelia, the Urals, and Italy, supplied various projects in St. Petersburg, including St. Isaac's Cathedral,

Marble Palace Marble Palace (Мраморный дворец) is one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from New Michael Palace. Design and pre-1917 ...

, St. Michael's Castle, the interiors of the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...

New Hermitage The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...

and Kazan Cathedral, and decorations of the St. Petersburg Metro (namely the Primorskaya and

Ladozhskaya Ladozhskaya (russian: Ладожская) is a rural locality (a ''stanitsa'') in Ust-Labinsky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Kuban River The Kuban; Circassian: Псыжъ, ''Psyẑ'' or Псыжь, ''Psyź'' ; abq, Къв ...

stations).

Nature

The quarry site has been designed to become Ruskeala Park, a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distri ...

. A series of small cascade waterfalls on the Tokhmayoki River is another popular tourist attraction situated near the settlement. The height of the waterfalls ranges from 3 to 4 meters. Waterfalls are known to tourists and extremes, overcoming them on kayaks.

Notable people

Teuvo Aura (1912–1999), former

Mayor of Helsinki The City Council of Helsinki (, ) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland. The City Council deals with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport. The 85-seat Council's members a ...

and

Prime Minister of Finland The prime minister of Finland ( fi, Suomen pääministeri; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol ...

; and

Yrjö Keinonen Yrjö Ilmari Keinonen (31 August 1912, in Ruskeala – 29 October 1977, in Nurmijärvi) was a Finnish General of the Infantry and Knight of the Mannerheim Cross. He was the Chief of Defence of the Finnish Defence Forces between 1965 and 1969. G ...

(1912–1977), the

Chief of Defence The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...

of the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (which i ...

between 1965 and 1969; were both born in Ruskeala.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rural localities in the Republic of Karelia Former municipalities of Finland Marble Quarries in Russia