Hotels, motels and where to sleep
Sortavala (Fin. Sortavala, Swedish. Sordavala, Karelian. Sortavala; until 1918, Serdobol) was a city in the Republic of Karelia of the Russian Federation. It is the administrative center of the Sortavala district and forms the Sortavalsky urban settlement. Sortavala is included in the list of historical cities of Russia.
Sortavala is a small provincial town, the capital of the Northern Ladoga area, located on the northern coast of Lake Ladoga, 200 kilometers west of Petrozavodsk. At first glance, it may seem a bit boring and neglected, but if you look closely, you can find a lot of interesting things in it. The central part of the city is built up with stone buildings of 3-4 floors of the beginning of the 20th century, there are also a couple of nice museums and a park. And, not least, boats leave for Valaam, trips / tours to Ladoga skerries are organized, and the mountain park Ruskeala lies 40 km from the city.
Christian architecture
1 Lutheran Church (Church of St. John
the Forerunner aka the Baptist). The house church was built in 1931
by the architect Juhan Viiste.
2 Nikolskaya church-Saint Nicholas
Church. Built by architect N. P. Grebenka in 1873.
Civil
architecture
3 Finnish bank building. Built by Uno Werner Ullberg
in 1915.
4 Savings Bank Building. Built by Uno Werner Ullberg in
1930.
5 House of Leander. Residential building built in 1905
according to the project of Eliel Saarinen
6 Lyceum building.
Built in 1901 by architect Ahrenberg.
7 The building of the
female gymnasium (near the lyceum). Built by architect Ahrenberg in
1911.
Museums
1 Museum of the Northern Ladoga area,
embankment of the Ladoga flotilla, 5. ☎ +7 (81430) 4-61-58, +7 (964)
317-51-24. In the summer - Tues – Fri 9:00 - 17:00, Sat – Sun 10:00
- 17:00, the rest of the year - Mon – Fri 9:00 - 17:00, Sat 10:00 -
17:00. The Museum of Local Lore, where at the end of 2014 a new
exposition “Stone Keys of Sortavala” was opened, consisting of a
game module with maps of Sortavala and Northern Ladoga lakes and six
sections - “keys”. The museum also organizes two-hour guided tours
of the city.
2 Cultural and Exhibition Center. Gogoleva K.A., ul.
Komsomolskaya, 6. ☎ +7 (81430) 45-6-75, +7 (81430) 47-8-08. In the
summer of 10:00 - 20:00, in the rest of the year 10:00 - 17:00. The
cost of a full ticket is 100 rubles, a discount ticket is 50 rubles,
for children up to 7 years old - free of charge, excursion service
from a group is 100 rubles (a group of 5 or more). Exhibition of
works by the artist Gogolev KA Its peculiarity in the technique of
making paintings is basically wood carving, but there are also
paintings.
3 Recreation Park "Vakkosalmi". The main road of the
park rests on the steps leading to the top of the 63-meter mountain,
from where a picturesque view of the city and the surrounding lakes
opens up. There are several attractions, but most likely abandoned.
The district of Sortavala was first recorded in Swedish documents
dating to 1468. Russian documents first mention it as Serdovol or
Serdobol in 1500. It was ceded to Sweden after the Ingrian War.
With the 1721 Treaty of Nystad, the settlement was joined to
Russia along with the rest of Old Finland and was given the Russian
name Serdobol. It became known for its marble and granite quarries
which provided materials necessary for construction of imperial
palaces in St. Petersburg and its neighborhood. In 1812, along with
the rest of Viipuri Province, it was joined to the newly formed
Grand Duchy of Finland.
In 1917, the town remained a part of
independent Finland. It suffered extensively from mass Soviet
bombardment during the Winter War, and through the Moscow Peace
Treaty Finland was forced to cede the town to the Soviet Union. All
of the population of the town was evacuated for the first time. Like
the rest of Finnish Karelia, Sortavala was retaken by Finland during
1941–1944 (the period of the Continuation War) and most evacuees
returned to rebuild their homes. However, after the armistice of
1944, the Finns were evacuated again and the town was ceded back
empty of population. After the war, the town was resettled by the
Russian and Karelian population.
Until 1940, the Ladoga shore
southwest of Sortavala had been one of the very few relatively
densely populated areas north of the Karelian Isthmus populated by
Karelians.
Dacha Wintera (Дача Винтера), ☎ +7 921 012-90-46. Newly built resort along the shore of Lake Ladoga, just south of town.