Things to do 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?
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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.
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Karelskaya Gornitsa
Karelskaya Gornitsa has rustic-village atmosphere, efficient costumed waiters and excellent Karelian cuisine including a superbly creamy lokhikeytto (archetypal Karelian salmon soup, R230). Without a reservation you just might get a seat in the appealing if cramped bar area. Notice the frog-croak soundtrack in the toilets.
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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.
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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.
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D
La Parisienne
Lounge in cream-leather armchairs around hefty central pillars in this grand yet comfortably contemporary café-restaurant serenaded by Piaf or Jean-Jacques Goldman. Ideal for a Bosnian coffee breakfast or artistically presented banana tempura (R80) but the sushi is a little limp.
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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.
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Restoran Fregat
A full-sized harp is the unexplained centrepiece of this suave, high-ceilinged restaurant with charcoal-grey walls and hip waiting staff dressed to match. There’s also a more casual café section and an upstairs bar featuring cubist-style art and various themed evenings.
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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.
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Kaffee Haus
Widely acclaimed for Petro-zavodsk’s best coffee and cakes, there are also hubble-bubbles to smoke and there’s a pleasant outdoor terrace shared with the neighbouring Germanic pub, Bar Neubrandenburg (small/large beers from R30/50).
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Restoran Petrovsky
Waiters in traditional Karelian dress serve some Karelian dishes in among a mainly Russian menu. The food is satisfying and the setting - several vaultlike dining areas with four to six tables each - has some atmosphere.
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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.
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Musical & Russian Drama Theatre
Once renovation is complete, this magnificent Parthenon pile should once again stage light operas, plays, ballets and folk-group shows. The interior decor is a wild mixture of Ancient Greek, Roman and Soviet styles.
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Bar XXXX
A vintage car bursts through the outer wall above the entrance to this appealing motor-themed rock-bar. On Friday and Saturday evenings there’s a DJ or live music and a R200 cover charge.
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Kafe Randevu
Good for a nightcap, the 'Rendezvous' has large glass windows, indoor street lamps, and a uniquely relaxed atmosphere. Occasional DJ nights are staged. The entrance is actually on pr Marksa.
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FM-Art Kafe
This large student-oriented basement beneath the Philharmonia isn’t really arty but each evening the theme varies wildly: jazz, chess, folk, iPod-battles… could be anything.
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Amerikanskoe Morozhenoe
Serves up locally produced versions of Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey and other favourites. Sundaes, milkshakes and fudge bars - is this heaven? Three scoops for around Rbl36 - it is!
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Kafe 70-Ye Gody
A few gently amusing mementoes of the ’70s including a laughing Brezhnev photo makes this more appealing than Petrozavodsk’s other plastic-cutlery stolovye.
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Restoran Severny
This glitzy hotel restaurant features dance shows, folk shows and varied live or DJ music on different nights of the week. The Russian and international food is pretty good too.
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Bar Neubrandenburg
The Neubrandenburg's coffee-house section has some of the best cakes, pastries (and coffee) in town. Note that despite the address, the entrance is actually on pr Lenina.
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Spartak
Lavished with soccer memorabilia, the football theme of this pub-style sports bar stretches as far as the hooligans’ welcome from offensively humourless bouncers.
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Khudozhestvenny Salon
Amid some half-hearted ‘art’ are good value birch-bark, wood-burn and leatherwork souvenir crafts at Khudozhestvenny Salon.
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Yuvelirnye Izdeliya
Amid some half-hearted ‘art’ are good value birch-bark, wood-burn and leatherwork souvenir crafts at Yuvelirnye Izdeliya.
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Saloon Sanches
Swaying peppers and fake cacti announce an archetypal Tex-Mex resto-bar serving R150 Margaritas and wallet-busting 300g Argentinean steaks.
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