Sortavala, Russia

Sortavala

Hotels, motels and where to sleep

 

Description of Sortavala

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.

 

 

Travel Destinations in Sortavala

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.

 

History of Sortavala

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.

 


Hotels, motels and where to sleep

Dacha Wintera (Дача Винтера), ☎ +7 921 012-90-46. Newly built resort along the shore of Lake Ladoga, just south of town.