Mount Vottovaara

Mount Vottovaara (Votto-Vaara) is located in central Karelia, near the villages of Gimoly and Sukkozero. Its height is only 417 meters, which, however, is not small for this region. Vottovaara is a ridge extending in the submeridional direction for about 7 km. The ridge is sometimes crossed by deep straight cracks. It is hard to imagine that nature is capable of such a thing. The surface of the stone in the cracks is so smooth that it seems almost polished. It seems that someone, as at a construction site, put huge slabs next to each other, leaving only a small gap between them, so that it would be more convenient to lift them later with a crane. But this is only the result of the properties of the local rock-quartzite, the structure of which sets such smooth planes during the split. There are no artificial buildings here. And when the first wave of emotions passes, the consciousness is forced to admit that the name "Karelian Stonehenge" looks like a strong figurative exaggeration. And the amphitheatre Votto-Very - first of all, a geological monument.

Vottovaara is shrouded in a huge number of legends that multiply and multiply. This is also facilitated by the numerous seidas erected by someone in this region and the gloomy swamps interspersed with rocks and stories about shamans living on the mountain. The mountain of Vottovaara is confused with the mountain of Death, which is located nearby. Death Mountain is so named because a partisan brigade died here in 1942.

On the mountain of Vottovaara, devices are mischievous and people disappear; the lakes are dead, and there are no animals or birds in the forest (and even no anthills); magicians and psychics gain energy, and open doors to parallel worlds; there is an ancient cult center where mass sacrifices were made.

The tourist attraction of Mount Vottovaara lies in a slightly different plane.

First, the wonderful nature, as you approach the top, it changes and becomes similar to the Northern one, there are: dwarf Karelian birch and pine trees, mosses, which are not so common in South Karelia, beautiful lakes with the purest water, with a diameter of 50-100 meters.

Secondly, it is still a mountain and having risen from 120 meters above sea level (the usual height of the relief for South Karelia) to 460, you can't help but rejoice at the views opening into the distance, in the edge of the swamps it is not so often possible to view the horizon.