The city of Pitkyaranta in Karelia: history and sights

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Among the eighteen municipal districts of Karelia, Pitkyaranta practically does not stand out. This is a quiet district center, completely inconspicuous - a typical five-story building, wide streets with rare cars, a house of culture, several monuments and a beach area.

But you can come here for the sake of amazing nature, amazing with its imagination and ingenuity. What is worth only one road leading to the cities - eight kilometers winds along the coast of Lake Ladoga, so that moss-covered rocks and dense pine forests hang on one side, and on the other - the blue expanse of the lake, smooth as glass in calm weather.

History of Creation

One of the most beautiful and historically rich cities in Karelia is Pitkyaranta. It was founded in 1966, and the name means "long coast" in Finnish. The territory on which it is located was inhabited by tribes of hunters and fishermen eight thousand years ago, and since the end of the 11th century, the ancient population of the "korela" lived here. 24 monuments of those times have been preserved, they can be viewed on the coast and skerries of the Ladoga region.

First mentionedabout the village, which was formerly called Kondushi, dates back to 1500, then it consisted of only three households with a population of 30 people, but after 150 years there were 7 households, and the number of inhabitants grew to 50. Most of the territory was farmland, hunting, as a way food production, faded into the background.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Swedish invaders came to this land, with their presence is associated with the most ancient historical object of the region - Varashev stone, installed as a border sign between Russia and Sweden in 1918.

After the defeat of Sweden in the Northern War, Pitkyaranta returned to the Russian lands. But in 1812, by decree of Alexander I, it passed to the Grand Duchy of Finland, and again the city became Russian territory only in 1940.

Pitkäranta gained fame thanks to scientists - metallurgists, geologists and mining industrialists. They talked about an unusual blackberry juice-colored almadine stone, found copper and tin ore. One by one, factories for the extraction and processing of ore began to be built, and after them a glass factory appeared, the products of which were famous for their special strength and quality no worse than the European level. The mines operated until the middle of the 20th century, but their remains can still be seen.

Location

The city of Pitkyaranta in the Republic of Karelia stretches in a narrow strip along Lake Ladoga. It is distinguished by magnificent landscapes - dense taiga, rocks, waterfalls, many rivers and lakes, canyons, skerries and sandy hills. Together with the rich flora and fauna, the area is a uniquenatural museum, where you can get acquainted with various rocks and geological structure.

Tourists will be especially interested in the Ladoga skerries - the interweaving of capes, bays and islands and the Uksa esker ridge declared a geological monument - the only place in Karelia where mountain pine grows.

Sandy beaches, eolian dunes and pine forests stretch for kilometers along the shore of the lake.

What is rare for Karelia, Pitkyaranta has a developed infrastructure and good transport accessibility to the capital of the region. The border with Finland is only 115 kilometers away (border point "Vartsilya").

Climate

Like almost the entire territory of Karelia, the climate in Pitkyaranta is continental and mild. In the middle of summer, the temperature usually stays around +16°C, and in winter it drops to -9.5°C.

Weather is strongly influenced by winds from the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

Economy and population

The population of the city of Pitkyaranta in the Republic of Karelia has been constantly decreasing since 1996, if 14,700 people lived here ten years ago, now it is only 10,530. Such a strong outflow of the population is explained by an acute shortage of jobs, the inability to get a higher education, the weakness of the cultural and entertainment sphere, poor medicine. Young people are increasingly leaving in search of a better life in larger cities - Petrozavodsk, St. Petersburg and Moscow.

The economic basis of the city is the timber, pulp and paper and woodworking industries, which provide 4% of the total production of the entire republic.

Outside of Karelia, Pitkyaranta is known not only for the beauty of the Ladoga skerries, but as the most convenient starting point to the famous island of Valaam.

Attractions

V. F. Sebina

The museum has a large and diverse collection of antiquities, telling about the life and culture of the peoples who previously lived on the territory of Pitkyaranta, as well as the history of the founding of the city and the development of industry.

House of Culture

This building regularly hosts reviews of city folklore groups, hobby groups work here, in which they try to involve not only young people, but also the older generation.

Monument to V. I. Lenin

The sculpture dedicated to the leader of the proletariat can be found in the heart of the city. It does not represent a special artistic value, but it brings variety to a rather dull urban landscape.

Peryakul area

The oldest of all urban areas, it may be of interest to ancient, recognized architectural monuments, houses.

There are no more attractions in the city. Going for amazing and beautiful places is a little further, where there are waterfalls, Ladoga skerries and the path to the island of Valaam. Just look at the photo of Pitkyaranta and Karelia will beckon to you.

Pulp Mill

Special mention deserves the former breadwinner of the city, the city-forming enterprise for the production of pulp - the plant "Pitkyaranta", all types of pulp are produced here - commercial, electrical insulating and capacitor. In addition to it, coniferous turpentine and tall crude oil were produced.

It was founded in 1921 by Diesen Wood on the island of Pusunsaari, separated from the city by a narrow part of Pitkäranta Bay. Before the advent of the railway, they had to transport products along Ladoga, and in winter they saved the situation of the horse.

In the future, the plant was reconstructed more than once, equipped with the most modern equipment, but five years ago the management declared bankruptcy. This event de alt a strong blow to the city's economy, the outflow of the population has greatly increased and continues to grow every year.