The city of Sortavala

Sortavala is a cozy European town on the shores of Lake Ladoga, which is often referred to as the open—air museum of Finnish architecture.

Sortavala is not just a point on the map of Karelia, it is the main gateway to Ladoga region and a living encyclopedia of northern architecture. Imagine a city where medieval Swedish foundations, Finnish national romanticism and Russian scope met on the same street. Here, on the shores of the picturesque Lappjärvi Bay, time flows differently.

The city remembers the Swedish kings and Russian emperors: founded in 1632 by Gustav II Adolf, it managed to visit the Swedish Sordavalla, the Russian Serdobol and the Finnish Sortavala. Today it is a cozy European town with a population of about 15 thousand people, which is often called the "open-air museum of Finnish architecture." What is the "Leander House" by the famous Eliel Saarinen or the building of the former United Bank of the Nordic Countries with an elegant cartouche worth?

Climb the 182 steps of Mount Kukhavuori in Vakkosalmi Park and you will see a breathtaking panorama: the Ladoga bays, the roofs of the old quarters and the endless Karelian distances. And after going down, be sure to visit the museum of Kronid Gogolev, a unique master whose wooden bas—reliefs seem to come to life before our eyes, telling stories about a simple and wise northern life.

Stay here for at least an hour and you will fall in love with this city at first sight.