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 Russian republic of Karelia or Russian Karelia is nowadays becoming more and more popular tourist destination of the Russian North, due to its high concentration of unique tourist sights and close location to other European countries, Finland and St. Petersburg city, a largest international tourist centre of Russia (see the map above). Masterpieces of Russian wooden architectural art, situated on the territory of Karelia, are well-known in Europe and all over the world. Most of them are various church and monastery buildings from small to great sizes. First of all, you will see these wonderful (often built without a nail, or anything of that kind) buildings in the open-air museum of Kizhi island (Onego lake). Transfiguration Church with 22 domes, 37 metres high, and Intercession Church are the largest of its exhibits. Secondly, all the area on the North and on the North-East of Onego lake keeps large quantity of such wooden monuments. This territory, especially the vast peninsular in the North of the lake is commonly called Zaonezhye - from the words "behind Onego". You will see the most beautiful wooden architectural masterpieces in Zaonezhye. For example, Uspenskaya (Assumption) church which is 42 metres high and is seen very far from the shore of the lake, when sailing. Old Russian monasteries are usually included into programmes of tours to Russian Karelia. For example, vast Valaam monastery on the islands of Ladoga lake, with plenty of architectural church buildings created according to different and often mixed styles, styles of various epochs. Murom monastery founded, as well as Valaam, in the early Middle Ages, Vazheozersky monastery. The White sea is famous for its numerous islands where You will find architectural wonders of the Middle Ages and a lot of mysterious monuments created by ancient people. The majestic architecture of Solovetsky monastery-fortress built of great stone boulders in combination with the surrounding northern nature of Solovki islands and the White sea creates an unforgettable impression on you when you visit this sight. Solovki islands of the White sea are attractive for tourists and other visitors because of their ancient cultural monuments, as well. When You travel to Solovki, you will see stone labyrinths (labyrinth-shaped patterns on the ground made of stones) and sacred stones-seidas left there by ancient people, who are called saamians, or lapps. They lived on the territory of northern Russian Karelia few thousand years ago and then moved to the territory of modern finnish Lapland, where one can find them nowadays. Stone images or petroglyphs created by ancient saamian people about five thousand years ago are situated on the shores of the White sea and on the Eastern shore and islands of Onego lake. These are "pictures" "drawn" on stone surfaces, i.e. on rocks with help of, again, stones. The whole number of Onego lake stone images is about 1,000 and for the White sea images more than 2,000, though, probably, many other "pictures" can be found, some of them under layers of sand and ground. Old karelian villages with original houses and other traditional buildings, saved through the centuries by local inhabitants are, perhaps, one of the most natural and live exhibits that you will see in this land. Local folks, Karelians and Vepsians lived here before Russians and are living here nowadays. Together with Russians they've created the unique cultural and historical heritage of Russian Karelia. Evergreen taiga forest, thousands of lakes and rivers, nice high and small rocks are the main features of nature on the area of Karelia. About 61,000 of lakes with pure water makes this land an ideal place for fishing. The whole number of rivers is about 23,000. In winter, all the territory of Russian Karelia with most lakes and rivers is covered with snow and you will explore it by snowmobile, sleds with dogs or reindeers, or on ski.
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