Sights in Karelia
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Statue of Yury Andropov
Unveiled to protests and arrests in 2005, a very youthful statue of Yury Andropov commemorates the USSR’s 1982–84 supremo who had been chief of Petrozavodsk’s Komsomol (Communist Party youth wing) some 50 years earlier. Andropov is best remembered as a long-term KGB director. Was the statue a sign of President Putin rehabilitating his former boss?
reviewed
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A
Afghan War Memorial
An Afghan War Memorial lists locals who died in the conflict. It's hard to track down though: if you can find ul Leningradskaya 19 (behind which is an awesome view of the parks and lake), it's just south of that, on a hill above the river. The adjacent dirt road, Volnaya ul, leads to two interesting side-by-side cemeteries, one Jewish and one Russian Orthodox.
reviewed
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B
Museum of Local Studies
The pretty crescents of neoclassical buildings on pl Lenina in Petrozavodsk were built in 1775 as headquarters for Petrozavodsk armament plants. One of them houses the Museum of Local Studies, with nicely laid-out displays on the founding of the city and the history of Karelia.
reviewed
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Onezhskaya nab
Really the nicest thing to do in Petrozavodsk is to stroll its many parks and gardens, especially those along the lakeside and flanking the Lososinka River. The lakeside promenade, Onezhskaya nab, is dotted with large sculptures, many of them gifts from Petrozavodsk's international twin cities.
reviewed
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C
Pre-Cambrian Geology Museum
Keen geologists love the Geological Institute’s Pre-Cambrian Geology Museum. However, nonspecialist tourists should think twice before dropping in and disturbing the busy academics who hold the keys: they work way up on the Institute’s 5th floor.
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Assumption Cathedral
Wind along the shore for 900m to find Kem’s greatest attraction, the fine 1711 log-frame Assumption Cathedral. Although currently half-hidden in scaffolding, its quadruple wooden spires have a charm similar to better-known equivalents around Kargopol.
reviewed
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D
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Petrozavodsk's most important and striking church is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Built in the 1820s, it became a museum in Communist times, then reopened as a church in 2000. The interior has been completely renovated with many shining new icons.
reviewed
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E
The Fishermen
One of the most eye-catching sculptures on the lakeside promenade is The Fishermen, a kind of Old-Man-and-the-Sea-meets-The-Scream affair commissioned by Rafael Consuegra from Duluth, Minnesota, USA.
reviewed
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F
Fine Arts Museum
The Fine Arts Museum features medieval icons, folk art and works inspired by the Kalevala.
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Museum Pomore
The little Museum Pomore has a nominal tourist information counter.
reviewed
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G
Amusement Park
There's a summertime amusement park next to the ferry terminal.
reviewed