Tourist sights

The cultural and historical heritage of Karelia is remarkable for outstanding richness and diversity. Over 4,00 sites, 160 historic settlements, 18 Sites of History and Culture are recorded in the state accounts. Six Karelian towns have the status of Russian historical towns.

The Republic’s brand is the ensemble of Kizhi Pogost recorded in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The ensemble consists of 22-dome Church of the Transfiguration, 10-dome Church of the Intercession, a campanile, and a log fence around them.

Among the sites of stone architecture the most distinguished is Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration of Savior announced as a unique monument of Russia by Decree of Russian’s President.

The Solovetsky Islands, located by Karelia’s northern border in the White Sea on the territory of the Arkhangelsk Region, are historically connected with Karelia.

Three islands – Valaam, Kizhi, and Solovki – with the monuments of the world culture located on them, make up not only the key cultural destination of Karelia. They are outstanding symbols of the Russian cultural heritage, large-scale cultural and spiritual phenomena of the worldwide importance, and gorgeous frame of the Karelian cultural environment filled with vivid and distinctive monuments of culture, historical sites, museums, vivacious art and folklore traditions.

Karelia possesses very abundant natural and landscape resources for development of nature-related and ecological tourism. A special place in this respect belongs to nature protected areas, which occupy about one million hectares, or 5,3% of the Republic’s total area. The protected areas include natural reserves, national and nature parks, game reserves and monuments of nature.