Ruskeala (russian: Рускеала; ) is a rural locality (a settlement) under the administrative jurisdiction of the town of republic significance of Sortavala 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 (ru ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

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

, it was the seat of Ruskeala Municipality of the Viipuri Province in

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 Bo ...

. 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 In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that a ...

, 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. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

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 environ ...

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

and Prime Minister of Finland; and Yrjö Keinonen (1912–1977), the Chief of Defence of the Finnish Defence Forces 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