The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

2020/10/29

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

Ruskeala marble park is one of the most beautiful places in Karelia, Russia. Since the XVII century it’s also been a big source of marble. The marble quarried in Ruskeala is used for construction, decorative and industrial purposes.

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

Now the quarry is flooded but previously it was dry. Methods of production changed through the times.

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The same technology was used in the USA:

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

Huge marble blocks were transported along winter roads.

Mikhailovskiy castle, southern facadeThe Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

Queen Catherine II wanted to use Ruskeala marble for facades of Saint Isaac’s Cathedral but the project whose author was Rinaldi discontinued because of Queen’s death, her son Pavel I didn’t like mother’s ideas and the marble was divided between smaller construction projects in St. Petersburg.
The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

Columns from Ruskeala marble

The Story of Russian Marble From KareliaThe Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

St. Isaac’s Cathedral was finally finished with marble anyway

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The quarry was getting deeper and deeper, the technology changed to mining.The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

One can have an excursion here now

Before it got flooded…

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

And today…
The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The big quarry in the 1900s.

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia
Photo from the book Karjala muistojen maa, сайт regionavtica.ru

Ruskeala marble and lime factory, XX century.

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

Rather cool place for photoshoots

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

Square furneces were called “Swedish” while round ones – “Finnish”.

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The expolosive technology of mining destructed the entire deposit – permanent expolisions caused micro-cracks that affected the quality of marble, now it cannot be used for decoration of facades.

1959:

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

1959

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

In 1970 they found reserves of facing stone that was not destructed by explosions. The technology of sewing began to be used for production. The quarry was called “Italian” because the equipment used there was from Italy.

Italian quarry:

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The marble from the Italian quarry was used for lining of subway stations Primorskaya and Ladozhskaya in St. Petersburg. But this was the last “song” in the story of Ruskeala marble as facing stone.

Primorskaya station:

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

In the early 1990s the quarry and its factory stopped working. But in 2005 it was given another chance by enthusiastic businessmen who created the Ruskeala mountain part around the old quarries. They removed trash, made paths for tourists, organized several excursion routes, equipped viewing points and parking lots, built cafes and shops.
Today it’s one of the best tourist places in Russia.

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

The Story of Russian Marble From Karelia

On 12th October 2020 the creator of the Ruskeala mountain park Alexander Artemyev passed away at the age of 45… He is remembered with kind words. Let’s hope the work he began will be continued.

via nikolai_endegor

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