In South Karelia, near the town of Sortavala nearby villages Ruskeala housed colorful embossed marble quarries. To date, only a small portion of these quarries is used for the extraction of marble and its production, while the remaining areas until recently were in complete disrepair or even flooded.

Ruskeala Natural Park is a good example of the transformation of all the forgotten and the abandoned quarry in mountain open-air museum. The heart of the mountain park - Marble Valley is not only a cultural monument, but also a reminder of the immense work of the people that were in the fishery for the extraction of marble, built the entire system of tunnels and mountain mines analogues that are not in the Old World.

Marble Ruskeala Village history originates in 1766 .  It was in this year opened the first deposit of marble .  Very soon in the region began to extract marble varieties such as the white-streaked with gray, ash-gray, white-gray-blue and gray-green .  First produced marble used locally, mainly for the production of building lime .  And only by a special decree of Catherine II quarrying began in full .  For a lot of beautiful architectural structures (Oryol gate Tsarskoye Selo, the Roman fountains of Peterhof, window frames and window boards Marmara Winter Palace, Gatchina palace columns, the facade of the Mikhailovsky Castle, Chesma obelisk, Kazan Cathedral, the pedestal of the monument to Peter) in the northern capital was used marble Ruskeala .  A crown of creation of Ruskeala marble became Isaac's Cathedral .  Sam Auguste Montferrand, the famous architect, was frequently in the quarries and personally selected the most durable and beautiful marble .

Extraction was carried out directly into the open pits and tunnels, which led to the formation of the three pits along the river. Flooded today are career lake overhung marble rocks. The water in these lakes that can not be any - any description, emerald color.

However, since 1840 the development of marble starts to reduce turnover and after Isaac's Cathedral was built entirely died out. State orders dwindled. If work was conducted, again for local purposes and for the production of lime. Currently, the combination of rich history, rock man-made monuments and beautiful nature make marvelous Marble Canyon and attractive place for tourists.

"Mountain Park Ruskeala" opened to the public in 2005, has impressive dimensions, the height of the cliffs reach up to 22 meters, the depth of the submerged part of the more than 30 meters. In good weather the transparency of water up to 15 meters. The color of the water in the pits can vary from gray to green.

The park is well equipped and ready to explore! In addition to traditional land route possible to try and water. Before heading toward adventure, all the tourists are divided into groups of not more than 20 people. This is done primarily for safety as part of the route runs along the cliffs and guides you need to watch out for each person. Hiking includes a walk on a specially equipped observation deck from which you can observe not only the abandoned tunnels, ruins of factories, mines themselves, but also, of course, the beautiful scenic views. To avoid accidents, the tourists are not allowed to approach close to the dangerous places mines. The total length of the route is 1.3 km and time it takes 1.5-2 hours.

During water route you will have an opportunity to swim in the lake boats on the Marmara, immerse yourself in the amazing story of the beautiful canyon. Also visit the secret marble grotto, in which you can get only by boat. Upon arrival you can go ashore and visit the drift. Incredible beauty picture appeared before his eyes in a grotto - hanging over the water marble layer thickness of 20 meters. The whole tour will take about 2 hours.

Whichever route you choose, be sure to get his share of unique experiences. And how would you come back here every time you are waiting for the opening of the new and unknown.