Ruskeala is a quarry that became a lake and then became a destination. For almost three centuries, workers cut white and grey marble from the hillside in northern Ladoga Karelia, and the stone went to build some of the grandest buildings in St. Petersburg, including St. Isaac's Cathedral. When the pumps stopped, the pits flooded, and the water, fed by springs and filtered through the rock, turned a startling emerald green. The cliffs, white and streaked with grey, rise sheer from the surface, and the whole scene is now a mountain park with walking paths, a small gallery of tunnels and boat trips on the water.
The history of the place is more tangled than the landscape suggests. Karelia changed hands several times in the twentieth century. Ruskeala, whose name is Finnish, belonged to Finland between the wars, and the villages around it were Finnish-speaking until the Winter War and the Continuation War, after which they became part of the Soviet Union and the population was resettled. Old Finnish buildings, in dark wood or pale stucco, still turn up along the roads, and nearby Sortavala, on Lake Ladoga, has a handsome Finnish town center from the early twentieth century.
The ride to Ruskeala is part of the pleasure. The road north from Sortavala runs through forest of pine and birch, with glimpses of lakes, granite outcrops and small villages with wooden houses. The surface is mostly decent, with patches of frost damage, and the bends are gentle. Traffic is light outside the summer weekends, when visitors fill the park. The best time is from June to September, when days are long and the forest is green, and the white nights in June give a soft light that lasts for hours. Autumn has a rich palette of reds and yellows.
For practical matters, the village itself has small shops and a few guesthouses, but fuel is better found in Sortavala, about twenty-seven kilometers away, which has stations and a range of places to eat. The park charges an entrance fee, and a modest cafe serves tea and simple food. Mosquitoes are a feature in summer, so repellent is a good idea.
Go early in the day to see the water at its brightest, and stand on the rim in the quiet. The marble shines, the lake glows and the air smells of pine.