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Historical tour to Karelia
9 days/8 nights
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Days
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Programme
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1
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*Arrival in Saint Petersburg. Transfer to the cafe.
* Lunch.
* The city tour.
* Dinner.
* Leaving St.Petersburg for Petrozavodsk by train.
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2
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* Arrival in Petrozavodsk - the capital of Karelia.
* Breakfast at a restaurant (Karelian cuisine).
* Accommodation in the hotel.
* The trip to the island of Kizhi by hydrofoil. The excursion around the Kizhi Architectual Ensemble and the historic village of the 19th century. The island of Kizhi is the beauty of the Russian North, the pearl of Karelia in Lake Onega. It is famous for the 22-dome Church of Transfiguration (1714) and the oldest wooden church in Russia - the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus dating back to the 14th century. UNESCO has declared the Kizhi Architectural Ensemble a World Heritage Site because its monuments constitute some of the finest examples of wooden architecture in the world.
* Coming back to Petrozavodsk.
* Lunch in Petrozavodsk.
* The city tour by bus. The capital of Karelia - the city of Petrozavodsk was founded in 1703 by the Emperor Peter the Great to provide support in his war against Sweden (1700-1721). Saint-Petersburg - capital of Russia at that time – dates back to the same year. In spite of its three century history Petrozavodsk remains an eternally young and dynamically developing town.
The bus trip to the historic village of Kinerma. Walking around the village with the visit to a chapel. This small 17 house village is a unique complex monument of folk wooden architecture of the Karelian-Livviks. In the centre of the village there is a worship fir-tree grove with the Smolensk Mother of God chapel, built in the 18 century.
* Dinner in the Karelian house.
* Return to Petrozavodsk.
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3
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* Breakfast.
* Leaving Petrozavodsk for the Medvezhyegorsky district. Visiting the Belomorsko-Baltic Canal. On 2 August 1933, the 'White Sea-Baltic Canal in the name of Stalin' was officially opened. In Russian the canal is called the Belomorsko-Baltiysky Canal or shortened to 'Belomorkanal'. It is a vital link between St. Petersburg (Leningrad) and the White Sea, constructed between 1930 and 1933, mostly by penal labor.
About 150.000 convicts worked on the project, digging 37 km. of the canal through hard rock and building 19 large wooden locks with little mechanical equipment. They were 'enemies of the people' - farmers, political prisoners and criminals - and lived in guarded camps. The hard labor was officially meant to 'reforge' them, to make new men of them who would be good Soviet citizens. Tens of thousands of convicts died under harsh conditions.
* Visiting the memorial place of Sandarmokh dedicated to the victims of political repressions. According to the archive data, from August, 1937 to December, 1938 more than 9500 people of 58 nationalities were executed by shooting and buried there: Russians, Karelians, Finns, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Tatars, Udmurts, Jewish, Gypsies, Germans, Polish and other nationalities. The exact place of these peoples’ execution and burial is not stated in the documents.
* Lunch in Medvezhyegorsk.
* Visiting the defensive constructions (fortifications). One of the most interesting sights in Medvezhyegorsk is the complex of the Finnish defensive fortifications of the Second World War. This complex is a unique system of military-engeneering constructions. It is still impressive with its scale and unconventional methods of building.
* Return to Petrozavodsk.
* Dinner.
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4
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* Breakfast.
* Departure to Belomorsk by bus.
* Lunch.
* The bus trip to see the ancient rock drawings. Through thousands of years shore rocks have brought us the drawings hammered by ancient people, the contemporaries of the Neolithic. The rock drawings of Besov Nos are the object of thorough examination of Karelian researchers. This is just a small part of the abundant rock art heritage of the inhabitants of ancient Karelia.
Leaving Belomorsk for Kem.
* Accommodation in the hotel.
Dinner.
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5
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* Breakfast.
* Leaving Kem for the islands of Solovky.
* Accommodation in the hotel.
* The excursion around the central architectural complex, the Solovetsky monastery, the Transfiguration cathedral, household buildings, a refectory, turrets, the exhibition “The History of the Solovky camp”.
* Lunch.
* The bus tour to the mountain of Secir with the visit to the Voznesensky small monastery, the church of St-George, the cross of worship, and the panorama of the islands of Solovky.
* Dinner.
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6
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* Breakfast.
* The boat trip to the island of Anzer (2,5 hours by boat). The excursion around the island of Anzer (10 hours). The island of Anzer is one of the biggest islands of Solovky. Two small monasteries (skits) were built here in the 17-18 centuries. Tourists will have an opportunity to see diverse landscapes, islands, to visit small monasteries, to learn a lot about the history of different periods of the island of Anzer (the island used to be a monastery and a concentration camp).
* Doggy bag lunch.
* Leaving the island by boat (2,5 hours). Return to the hotel.
* Dinner.
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7
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* Breakfast.
* Free time on the island.
* Lunch.
* Leaving Solovky for Kem (2,5 hours by motor boat).
* Accommodation in the hotel.
* Dinner.
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8
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* Breakfast.
* Leaving Kem for St.Petersburg.
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9
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* Arrival in St.Petersburg.
Breakfast.
Transfer to the airport.
Departure from St.Petersburg.
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The price includes: the accommodation in the hotels, the meals, the transfer, the excursion programme, the service of the guide and the visa support to Russia.
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