Sortavala (Russian: Сортавала; Finnish and Karelian: Sortavala; Swedish: Sordavala), previously known as Serdobol (Сердоболь) until 1918, is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finnish border, 246 kilometres (153 mi) west of Petrozavodsk, the capital city of the Republic of Karelia. The closest city on the Finnish side of the border is Joensuu, which is located 136 kilometres (85 mi) from Sortavala. In 2021, the population of Sortavala was 19,215.[7]
History
The district of Sortavala was first recorded in Swedish documents dating to 1468. Russian documents first mention it as Serdovol or Serdobol in 1500. It was ceded to Sweden after the Ingrian War.
With the 1721 Treaty of Nystad, the settlement was joined to Russia along with the rest of Old Finland and was given the Russian name Serdobol. It became known for its marble and granite quarries which provided materials necessary for construction of imperial palaces in St. Petersburg and its neighborhood. In 1812, along with the rest of Viipuri Province, it was joined to the newly formed Grand Duchy of Finland.
In 1917, the town remained a part of independent Finland. It suffered extensively from mass Soviet bombardment during the Winter War,[8] and through the Moscow Peace Treaty Finland was forced to cede the town to the Soviet Union. All of the population of the town was evacuated for the first time. Like the rest of Finnish Karelia, Sortavala was retaken by Finland during 1941–1944 (the period of the Continuation War) and most evacuees returned to rebuild their homes. However, after the armistice of 1944, the Finns were evacuated again and the town was ceded back empty of population. After the war, the town was resettled by the Russian and Karelian population.
Until 1940, the Ladoga shore southwest of Sortavala had been one of the very few relatively densely populated areas north of the Karelian Isthmus populated by Karelians.
Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with two urban-type settlements and forty-seven rural localities, incorporated as the town of republic significance of Sortavala—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[1] As a municipal division, the town of republic significance of Sortavala is incorporated as Sortavalsky Municipal District; the town of Sortavala and ten rural localities are incorporated within it as Sortavalskoye Urban Settlement.[4] The remaining urban-type settlements and rural localities are incorporated within the municipal district into two urban settlements and two rural settlements.[9]
A corner of the Ulitsa Karel'skaya and Ulitsa Vyaynemyaynena streets in the center of Sortavala
Transportation
Sortavala is a railway station on the Khiytola-Matkaselkä railway.
Layout and development
Architecture
The central part of the city consists mainly of stone 3-4-storey buildings built at the beginning of the XX century (until the 1930s). As a rule, these are buildings in the style of Northern Art Nouveau (national Romanticism), neoclassicism, the most recent — functionalism, their authors are the most famous Finnish architects Uno Werner Ullberg, Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen, Johan Jacob Arenberg, etc. In addition, a large number of wooden buildings built in the middle of the XIX century, usually in the Empire style, have been preserved. The most notable buildings are:[10]
The building of the Bank of Finland (arch. Uno Ulberg, 1915)
The building of the United Bank of the Nordic Countries (architect firm GLS, 1905)
Lyceum building (arch. Johan Jacob Arenberg, 1901)
The gymnasium building (arch. Johan Jakob Arenberg, 1911)
Законодательное Собрание Республики Карелия. Закон №871-ЗРК от 29 апреля 2005 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Республики Карелия», в ред. Закона №1895-ЗРK от 2 июня 2015 г. «О внесении изменения статью 9 Закона Республики Карелия "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Республики Карелия"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: газета "Карелия", №48, 7 мая 2005 г. (Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia. Law #871-ZRK of April 29, 2005 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of Karelia, as amended by the Law #1895-ZRK of June 2, 2015 On Amending Article 9 of the Law of the Republic of Karelia "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of Karelia". Effective as of the official publication date.).
Законодательное Собрание Республики Карелия. Закон №825-ЗРК от 1 декабря 2004 г. «О муниципальных районах в Республике Карелия», в ред. Закона №1694-ЗРK от 2 апреля 2013 г. «О преобразовании муниципальных образований "Нюхчинское сельское поселение" и "Сумпосадское сельское поселение" Беломорского муниципального района и внесении изменений в некоторые законодательные акты Республики Карелия». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: газета "Карелия", №141, 16 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia. Law #825-ZRK of December 1, 2004 On the Municipal Districts in the Republic of Karelia, as amended by the Law #1694-ZRK of April 2, 2013 On the Transformation of the Municipal Formations of "Nyukhchinskoye Rural Settlement" and "Sumposadskoye Rural Settlement" of Belomorsky Municipal District of the Republic of Karelia and on Amending Various Legislative Acts of the Republic of Karelia. Effective as of the day which is ten days after the day of the official publication.).
Законодательное Собрание Республики Карелия. Закон №813-ЗРК от 1 ноября 2004 г. «О городских, сельских поселениях в Республике Карелия», в ред. Закона №1694-ЗРK от 2 апреля 2013 г. «О преобразовании муниципальных образований "Нюхчинское сельское поселение" и "Сумпосадское сельское поселение" Беломорского муниципального района и внесении изменений в некоторые законодательные акты Республики Карелия». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: газета "Карелия", №124, 126, 129, 132, 135, 136, 139, 4 ноября — 9 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia. Law #813-ZRK of November 1, 2004 On the Urban, Rural Settlements in the Republic of Karelia, as amended by the Law #1694-ZRK of April 2, 2013 On the Transformation of the Municipal Formations of "Nyukhchinskoye Rural Settlement" and "Sumposadskoye Rural Settlement" of Belomorsky Municipal District of the Republic of Karelia and on Amending Various Legislative Acts of the Republic of Karelia. Effective as of the day which is ten days after the day of the official publication.).
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