Kostomuksha

City in the Republic of Karelia, Russia

Kostomuksha

(Russian: Kostomuksha; Karelian: Koštamuš; Finnish: Kostamus) is a city in the north-west of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located 30 kilometers (19 mi) from the border with Finland, on the shores of Lake Kontoki. Population: 29,746 people (according to the 2002 census); [7] 30,432 people (1989 census). [8]

Economics [edit]

Iron Ore Plant (OJSC Karelsky Okatysh Mine

) operates a deposit in Kostomuksha and employs about five thousand people and associated with the mining industry left a huge hole near the plant. Plants for the production of harnesses (AEK LLC) and electronics (Elektrokos LLC) are part of the Finnish company PKC Group Oyj. Other important industries include woodworking and furniture making. The timber processing complex, being developed by Swedwood (an industrial group within IKEA), will include a sawmill, a particleboard factory and a furniture factory.

There is also a railway station, an airport (without regular flights) and a federal highway.

What to do in Kostomuksha

Traditionally for Karelia, Kostomuksha has something for tourists to do.

Fishing.

It is in great demand due to the incredible number of fish-rich lakes. Theoretically, fishing is not allowed everywhere and not always. But local authorities are aware of the level of profit the region receives from the influx of tourists and often make concessions. Even the smallest lake will definitely have a house and a pier where you can rent a boat and fishing equipment. For those who like overnight fishing in Karelia, it is recommended to scout out places in advance where it will be convenient to stay.

Natural attractions

Particularly in demand are trips to natural parks - nature reserves with unique trees that are hundreds of years old or more. For example, the Kalevalsky National Park, which is located in the northwest of Kostomuksha. It covers a huge area of ​​74 thousand hectares. There are many rivers, lakes and unique natural landscapes. The most popular places to visit among guests of Kostomuksha are the river and Lake Kamennye. The area of ​​the lake is almost 100 sq. km, the depth in some places is more than 25 m. On the river, guides take tourists to the “Tsar’s Threshold”, and on the shores of the lake you can admire numerous birds, of which there are over 180 species. During the excursion, experienced guides tell many amazing stories about the Karelian North. From Kostomuksha you can get here by car or by regular bus.

An obligatory place to visit for most tourists is the Porozhistaya River, with its banks covered with large stones characteristic of the region. There are many small lakes nearby.

Ethnic villages

Lovers of national color can visit ethnic villages. There are five of them nearby - Voknavolok, Ponga-guba, Ladv-lake, Toplo-river, Sudn-lake. The largest and most colorful of them is Voknavolok. It is located fifty kilometers from Kostomuksha, on Lake Verkhneye Kuyto. The vast majority of the population are Karelians. The village is the real cradle of the ancient culture of the Karelians and Finns, as well as the birthplace of the legendary epic “Kalevala”. Here you will definitely be shown the main architectural attractions - carved huts, the Temple of Elijah the Prophet, churches and a monument to the famous rune singer Miikali Pertunen.

Everyone can try themselves in national ancient crafts - of course, under the guidance of experienced craftsmen. The first place in demand is occupied by master classes on making trinkets from birch bark.

Festivals.

In Kostomuksha itself, lovers of ethnography and music can visit three annual festivals:

• rock music “Nord Session” - in winter;
• author's song - in the fall;
• chamber art - in summer,

Also, folk festivals that are not tied to time are often held - for example, “Sampo” or “Kanteletar” - with the participation of guests and groups from different countries.

Other entertainment.

Other entertainment includes periodically organized sports competitions, frequent exhibitions of folk art and the widespread sale of souvenirs.

Finally, the monuments of ancient Russian wooden architecture in Kostomuksha itself and nearby villages are extremely unusual, against which tourists are invited to take pictures or shoot videos.

Culture and recreation[edit]

Every summer a chamber music festival is held here, which brings together musicians, orchestras and theater groups from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other regions of Russia. In the summer, the city has more than two months of continuous sunshine, and many residents spend time at their dachas

, usually located on the shores of one of the many lakes in the surrounding area, which also attract anglers due to the large number of fish. As in Finland, saunas are very popular. In winter, skiing and biathlon are popular. Most visitors come from Finland.

Architecture

Since a huge number of buildings - from neat “panels” to kindergartens - were built here by Finns, the architecture of Kostomuksha is very different from typical Soviet architecture. The difference is so noticeable that at one time the famous blogger Varlamov published an extensive photo article about it. Its main theses were the following.

1. The first feeling when entering the city is an elusive understanding that something is wrong with this “post-Soviet” town. The reason for this is a mixture of “USSR 1970s” architecture with buildings and courtyards “a la Finland” that stand out against its background.
2. Finnish houses look like new, although they were built about 40 years ago. This applies to both standard five-story buildings and complexes like the cultural and sports complex.
3. The pedestrian infrastructure is very different, as well as roads with safety islands unusual for small towns.
4. There is a lot of greenery around the houses, and some areas give the feeling of being in Finland.

The modern infrastructure looks no worse - from numerous neat cafes to the brand new Siniranta water park. This place serves as a permanent resting place for miners and their families. The water park is small, but includes:

• beautiful bright swimming pool;
• bathrooms with hydromassage;
• separate pool for children with a fancy slide;
• massage room;
• Turkish hammam;
• Finnish sauna.

Links[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^ abcde Law No. 871-ZRK
2. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). All-Russian population census 2010. Volume 1 [All-Russian Population Census 2010, vol. 1]. All-Russian Population Census 2010 [All-Russian Population Census 2010] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
3. "26. The size of the permanent population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
4. ^ abc Law No. 824-ZRK
5. "On the Calculation of Time". Official Internet portal of legal information
   . June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
6. Post office. Information and computing center of OASU RPO. ( Post office
   ).
   Search for postal service objects ( postal Search for objects
   ) (in Russian)
7. ↑
   Federal State Statistics Service of Russia (May 21, 2004). The population of the Russian Federation as part of federal districts, urban settlements. [Population of Russia, its federal districts, constituent entities of the Federation, districts, urban settlements, rural settlements - administrative centers and rural settlements locations with a population of more than 3,000 people] (XLS). All-Russian Population Census of 2002 [All-Russian Population Census of 2002] (in Russian).
8. All-Union Population Census of 1989 Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Regions and Districts, Territories, Regions, Urban Settlements and Village District Centers [All-Union Population Census of 1989: Current Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Regions and Districts, Territories, Regions , districts, urban settlements and villages performing the functions of district administrative centers]. All-Union Population Census of 1989 [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Institute of Demography of the National Research University: Higher School of Economics [Institute of Demography of the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. 1989 - via Demoscope Weekly
   .

General information

Kostomuksha is the administrative center of the urban settlement of the same name.
The city is not even 30 years old – the date of birth is considered to be 1983. Today, just under 30 thousand residents live here and the population is slowly but increasing. A distinctive feature of Kostomuksha is its location just 30 km from the border with Finland. This is the reason for the location of the Lyttä-Vartius customs post here. Road and rail transport constantly runs through it, which further enlivens the life of the town.

The post appeared here before the city - in 1960, and at first it worked only to pass Finnish workers who helped develop the local iron ore quarry. In the 1990s, the status of the post grew to a full-fledged customs office, and today it handles up to 300 cars per day in both directions.

Map

Kostomuksha: photo from space (Google Maps) Kostomuksha: photo from space (Microsoft Virtual Earth)

a brief description of

The city is located in the north of the West Karelian Upland, 400 km northwest of Petrozavodsk, 30 km from the Russian-Finnish border. Railway station.

International chamber music festivals.

In the vicinity of Kostomuksha there is the Kostomuksha Nature Reserve.

Territory (sq. km): 4046

Information about the city of Kostomuksha on the Russian Wikipedia site

Historical sketch

It emerged in 1977 as a PGT in connection with the construction (in cooperation with Finland) of a mining and processing plant (now JSC Karelsky Okatysh) on the basis of the Kostomuksha iron ore deposit (mined by open pit mining since 1982).

Name after Lake Kostomuksha (aka Kostomuksha). The presence in the hydronym of the element muksha (muksa), apparently meaning “lake,” indicates its ancient Finno-Ugric origin.

City since 04/25/1983

Municipal indicators

Data sources:

1. Regions of Russia. Main characteristics of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation: statistical collection. Goskomstat of Russia. - M:, 2003.

Economy

JSC "Karelian Okatysh"

Main enterprises

FERROUS METALLURGY

OJSC "Karelian Okatysh"
186986, Republic of Karelia, Kostomuksha, st.
Zvezdnaya, 28 Offers:
iron ore, iron ore pellets, non-ferrous castings, crushed stone

FORESTRY, WOOD PROCESSING AND PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY

JSC "Kostomuksha LPH"
186989, Republic of Karelia, Kostomuksha, st.
Stroitelnaya, 7A Offers:
Harvesting and removal of wood

Kostomuksha Sosna LLP (KOS-PIN)

186989, Republic of Karelia, Kostomuksha, post office box 37
Offers:
Production of furniture from solid pine

Culture, science, education

Museum of the history of the plant and the city.

Universities of the city

Kostomuksha branch of Petrozavodsk State University
186930, Republic of Karelia, Kostomuksha, st. Pervomaiskaya, 3 WWW: https://kostomuksha.petrsu.ru/

Kostomuksha branch of the North-Western State Correspondence Technical University

186930, Republic of Karelia, Kostomuksha, st. Kalevala, 13

Museums, galleries, exhibition halls

Kostomuksha City Museum 186989, Republic of Karelia, Kostomuksha, st. Antikainena, 13 Phone(s): (81459) 2-2358

Sport

Almost everything is good with sports in the city.

There is the Siniranta water park, popularly referred to simply as the “pool”. There are three pools in the building: swimming pool, hydromassage pool and children's pool. In general, nothing special, but when the water park was built, according to Olga Snigir, it was as if there was a national holiday in the city. This is because they tried to build a swimming pool in Kostomuksha three times. And it was only on the third that everything worked out.

Rollerblading, cycling and Nordic walking are popular in the city. Fortunately, asphalt and forested areas allow it.

But there is no good stadium in Kostomuksha, one with a modern surface. The residents really, really want him to appear. But for now, alas, children play football on the trampled sand.

As for gyms, it’s mostly men who are lucky. There are several good “gyms” in the city, and one of them is located right in the police building. But women, according to Olga, have nowhere to go: the halls are small and in basements.

— They want to build a biathlon complex here. And the matter is already in progress, but it is flowing somehow sluggishly... - Olga shares her experiences. – But it will definitely be built! In general, it’s prestigious to play sports now. It used to be that if you run in the morning, you are a nerd. And if you drink and smoke, well done. Now everything is exactly the opposite.

Republic of Karelia

Karelia is part of the Russian Federation . The western part of the republic borders on the European power Finland . The length of the section along which our lands coincide with Finnish ones is almost 800 kilometers.

The immediate proximity to this developed Scandinavian country explains why residents of Karelia often visit Finland, and why Finns are most often found among foreigners vacationing in Karelia.

If you look closely at the map, you will notice that Karelia borders several regions, such as:

• In the southern part - from Vologda and Leningrad;
• In the northern part - from Murmansk.

Karelia has its own capital, which is called Petrozavodsk . This city is the largest in the republic.

All important administrative institutions and higher education institutions are located here. The city has a lot of manufacturing companies, as well as cultural and entertainment centers.

This most likely explains why residents from all over Karelia come here to live, study and work. Petrozavodsk is, perhaps, the only city in Karelia in which the population, according to the annual demographic graph, is always at a stage of growth.

Several ethnic groups live in Karelia. The largest of them is the Russian group, more than 507,000 people live here, followed by Karelians - 46,000, and the number of Karelians has been constantly decreasing since 1940. In 1939, more than 109,000 Karelians lived .

Other representatives of ethnic groups, such as Belarusians, Ukrainians, Finns and Vepsians, are represented in even smaller numbers. The most populated place in Karelia is the south of the republic. Whatever one may say, not everyone can live permanently in the cold and cruel conditions of the north.

Today more than 630,000 people live in Karelia. The population density is such that there is an average of three and a half people . Unfortunately, the total population of this northern republic has decreased significantly. So, since 2002, it has decreased by 71,000 people.

live in Karelia than men . The ratio today is:

• 295,000 men;
• 350,000 women.

As mentioned above, the capital of the republic is one of the settlements in which the population growth graph has a positive trend. The second city , which is the third most populous city in Karelia, which is also experiencing population growth, is Kostomuksha .

More than 29,000 inhabitants live here. Above this city there is only Petrozavodsk - 276,000 people and Kondopoga with its 32,000 inhabitants.

Despite the fact that Kondopoga ranks second in terms of population in Karelia, there has recently been a decline in growth.

It seems that in the very next few years, if the situation does not change radically, Kostomuksha will be able to reach second place in terms of population in Karelia. Today we will tell you about this city.

By the way, you can read more about the history of Karelia itself here.

Story

In 1967, a decision was made to design a mining and processing plant. The settlement began to be built in the 1970s in connection with the development of a new iron ore deposit, discovered in 1946. In 1973, an intergovernmental Soviet-Finnish agreement on the construction of a mining and processing plant was signed. In May 1977, an agreement was concluded with JSC Finn-Stroy.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of November 17, 1977, the settlement that grew up during the construction of the mining and processing plant received the status of an urban-type settlement.

In February 1981, a competition was announced to name the city. It was proposed to name the city Kontokki or Kostomuksha - after the names of the villages on the site of which the city was built. It was also supposed to name the city Sampo[5]. The ancient Karelian village of Kostomuksha was located on the shore of Lake Kostomuksha, which is now located on the territory of the Karelsky Okatysh mining and processing plant. Translated from Karelian Kostamus

means revenge, retribution, retribution. The legend about the origin of the name of these words was recorded in 1892 by the Finnish ethnographer and artist Louis Sparre.

In 1982, the first stage of the Kostomuksha mining and processing plant was put into operation, in 1983 - the second, in 1984 - the third and last.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR dated April 25, 1983, Kostomuksha received the status of a city of republican subordination.

Excerpt characterizing Kostomuksha

- Who are you? - I'm an officer. “I would like to see,” said the Russian pleasant and lordly voice. Mavra Kuzminishna unlocked the gate. And a round-faced officer, about eighteen years old, with a face similar to the Rostovs, entered the courtyard. - We left, father. “We deigned to leave at vespers yesterday,” Mavra Kuzmipishna said affectionately. The young officer, standing at the gate, as if hesitant to enter or not to enter, clicked his tongue. “Oh, what a shame!..” he said. - Yesterday I wish... Oh, how sorry!.. Mavra Kuzminishna, meanwhile, carefully and sympathetically examined the familiar features of the Rostov breed in the face of the young man, and the tattered overcoat, and the worn-out boots that he was wearing. - Why did you need a count? – she asked. - Yeah... what to do! - the officer said with annoyance and grabbed the gate, as if intending to leave. He stopped again, undecided. – Do you see? - he suddenly said. “I am a relative of the count, and he has always been very kind to me.” So, you see (he looked at his cloak and boots with a kind and cheerful smile), and he was worn out, and there was no money; so I wanted to ask the count... Mavra Kuzminishna did not let him finish. - You should wait a minute, father. Just a minute,” she said. And as soon as the officer released his hand from the gate, Mavra Kuzminishna turned and with a quick old woman’s step walked into the backyard to her outbuilding. While Mavra Kuzminishna was running to her place, the officer, with his head down and looking at his torn boots, smiling slightly, walked around the yard. “What a pity that I didn’t find my uncle. What a nice old lady! Where did she run? And how can I find out which streets are the closest to catch up with the regiment, which should now approach Rogozhskaya? - the young officer thought at this time. Mavra Kuzminishna, with a frightened and at the same time determined face, carrying a folded checkered handkerchief in her hands, came out from around the corner. Without walking a few steps, she unfolded the handkerchief, took out a white twenty-five-ruble note from it and hastily gave it to the officer. “If their Lordships were at home, it would be known, they would definitely be related, but maybe... now...” Mavra Kuzminishna became shy and confused. But the officer, without refusing and without haste, took the piece of paper and thanked Mavra Kuzminishna. “As if the count were at home,” Mavra Kuzminishna kept saying apologetically. - Christ is with you, father! God bless you,” said Mavra Kuzminishna, bowing and seeing him off. The officer, as if laughing at himself, smiling and shaking his head, ran almost at a trot through the empty streets to catch up with his regiment to the Yauzsky Bridge. And Mavra Kuzminishna stood for a long time with wet eyes in front of the closed gate, thoughtfully shaking her head and feeling an unexpected surge of maternal tenderness and pity for the officer unknown to her. In the unfinished house on Varvarka, below which there was a drinking house, drunken screams and songs were heard. About ten factory workers were sitting on benches near tables in a small dirty room. All of them, drunk, sweaty, with dull eyes, straining and opening their mouths wide, sang some kind of song. They sang separately, with difficulty, with effort, obviously not because they wanted to sing, but only to prove that they were drunk and partying. One of them, a tall, blond fellow in a clear blue scent, stood above them. His face with a thin, straight nose would be beautiful if it were not for his thin, pursed, constantly moving lips and dull, frowning, motionless eyes. He stood over those who were singing, and, apparently imagining something, solemnly and angularly waved his white hand rolled up to the elbow over their heads, the dirty fingers of which he unnaturally tried to spread out. The sleeve of his tunic was constantly falling down, and the fellow diligently rolled it up again with his left hand, as if there was something particularly important in the fact that this white, sinewy, waving arm was certainly bare. In the middle of the song, screams of fighting and blows were heard in the hallway and on the porch. The tall fellow waved his hand. - Sabbath! – he shouted imperiously. - Fight, guys! - And he, without ceasing to roll up his sleeve, went out onto the porch. The factory workers followed him. The factory workers, who were drinking in the tavern that morning under the leadership of a tall fellow, brought skins from the factory to the kisser, and for this they were given wine. The blacksmiths from the neighboring cousins, hearing the noise in the tavern and believing that the tavern was broken, wanted to force their way into it. A fight broke out on the porch. The kisser was fighting with the blacksmith at the door, and while the factory workers were coming out, the blacksmith broke away from the kisser and fell face down on the pavement. Another blacksmith was rushing through the door, leaning on the kisser with his chest. The guy with his sleeve rolled up hit the blacksmith in the face as he was rushing through the door and shouted wildly: “Guys!” They're beating our people! At this time, the first blacksmith rose from the ground and, scratching the blood on his broken face, shouted in a crying voice: “Guard!” Killed!.. Killed a man! Brothers!.. - Oh, fathers, they killed him to death, they killed a man! - the woman squealed as she came out of the neighboring gate. A crowd of people gathered around the bloody blacksmith. “It’s not enough that you robbed people, took off their shirts,” said someone’s voice, turning to the kisser, “why did you kill a person?” Robber! The tall fellow, standing on the porch, looked with dull eyes first at the kisser, then at the blacksmiths, as if wondering who he should fight with now. - Murderer! – he suddenly shouted at the kisser. - Knit it, guys! - Why, I tied up one such and such! - the kisser shouted, waving off the people who attacked him, and, tearing off his hat, he threw it on the ground. As if this action had some mysteriously threatening significance, the factory workers who surrounded the kisser stopped in indecision. “Brother, I know the order very well.” I'll get to the private part. Do you think I won't make it? Nowadays no one is ordered to commit robbery! – the kisser shouted, raising his hat. - And let's go, look! And let's go... look! - the kisser and the tall fellow repeated one after another, and both moved forward along the street together. The bloody blacksmith walked next to them. Factory workers and strangers followed them, talking and shouting. At the corner of Maroseyka, opposite a large house with locked shutters, on which was a sign of a shoemaker, stood with sad faces about twenty shoemakers, thin, exhausted people in dressing gowns and tattered tunics. - He will treat the people properly! - said a thin craftsman with a scraggly beard and frowning eyebrows. - Well, he sucked our blood - and that’s it. He drove us, drove us - all week. And now he brought it to the last end, and left. Seeing the people and the bloody man, the worker who had been speaking fell silent, and all the shoemakers, with hasty curiosity, joined the moving crowd. -Where are the people going? - It is known where, he goes to the authorities. - Well, did our power really not take over? - And you thought how! Look what the people are saying. Questions and answers were heard. The kisser, taking advantage of the increase in the crowd, fell behind the people and returned to his tavern. The tall fellow, not noticing the disappearance of his enemy the kisser, waving his bare arm, did not stop talking, thereby drawing everyone’s attention to himself. The people mostly pressed on him, expecting from him to get a solution to all the questions that occupied them. - Show him order, show him the law, that’s what the authorities are in charge of! Is that what I say, Orthodox? - said the tall fellow, smiling slightly. – He thinks, and there are no authorities? Is it possible without bosses? Otherwise, you never know how to rob them. - What nonsense to say! - responded in the crowd. - Well, then they’ll abandon Moscow! They told you to laugh, but you believed it. You never know how many of our troops are coming. So they let him in! That's what the authorities do. “Listen to what the people are saying,” they said, pointing to the tall fellow. Near the wall of China City, another small group of people surrounded a man in a frieze overcoat holding a paper in his hands. - The decree, the decree is being read! The decree is being read! - was heard in the crowd, and people rushed to the reader. A man in a frieze overcoat was reading a poster dated August 31st. When the crowd surrounded him, he seemed embarrassed, but in response to the demand of the tall fellow who had pushed ahead of him, with a slight trembling in his voice, he began to read the poster from the beginning. “Tomorrow I’m going early to the Most Serene Prince,” he read (the brightening one! - the tall fellow solemnly repeated, smiling with his mouth and frowning his eyebrows), “to talk with him, act and help the troops exterminate the villains; We too will become the spirit of them...” the reader continued and stopped (“Saw?” the little one shouted victoriously. “He will untie you all the distance...”) ... - to eradicate and send these guests to hell; I’ll come back for lunch, and we’ll get down to business, we’ll do it, we’ll finish it, and we’ll get rid of the villains.” The last words were read by the reader in complete silence. The tall fellow sadly lowered his head. It was obvious that no one understood these last words. In particular, the words: “I will come tomorrow for lunch,” apparently even upset both the reader and the listeners. The understanding of the people was in a high mood, and this was too simple and unnecessary understandable; this was the very thing that each of them could say and that therefore a decree emanating from a higher power could not speak. Everyone stood in dejected silence. The tall fellow moved his lips and staggered. “I should ask him!.. That’s what he is?.. Well, he asked!.. But then... He’ll point out...” was suddenly heard in the back rows of the crowd, and everyone’s attention turned to the droshky of the police chief, accompanied by two mounted dragoons. The police chief, who had gone that morning by order of the count to burn the barges and, on the occasion of this order, had rescued a large sum of money that was in his pocket at that moment, seeing a crowd of people moving towards him, ordered the coachman to stop. - What kind of people? - he shouted at the people, scattered and timidly approaching the droshky. - What kind of people? I'm asking you? - repeated the police chief, who did not receive an answer. “They, your honor,” said the clerk in the frieze overcoat, “they, your highness, at the announcement of the most illustrious count, without sparing their lives, wanted to serve, and not like some kind of riot, as said from the most illustrious count...” “The count did not leave, he here, and there will be orders about you,” said the police chief. - Let's go! - he said to the coachman. The crowd stopped, crowding around those who had heard what the authorities said, and looking at the droshky driving away. At that time, the police chief looked around in fear and said something to the coachman, and his horses went faster. - Cheating, guys! Lead to it yourself! - shouted the voice of a tall guy. - Don't let me go, guys! Let him submit the report! Hold it! - voices shouted, and people ran after the droshky. The crowd behind the police chief, talking noisily, headed to the Lubyanka. - Well, the gentlemen and the merchants have left, and that’s why we are lost? Well, we are dogs, or what! – was heard more often in the crowd. On the evening of September 1, after his meeting with Kutuzov, Count Rastopchin, upset and offended by the fact that he was not invited to the military council, that Kutuzov did not pay any attention to his proposal to take part in the defense of the capital, and surprised by the new look that opened up to him in the camp , in which the question of the calm of the capital and its patriotic mood turned out to be not only secondary, but completely unnecessary and insignificant - upset, offended and surprised by all this, Count Rostopchin returned to Moscow. After dinner, the count, without undressing, lay down on the sofa and at one o'clock was awakened by a courier who brought him a letter from Kutuzov. The letter said that since the troops were retreating to the Ryazan road outside Moscow, would the count like to send police officials to lead the troops through the city. This news was not news to Rostopchin. Not only from yesterday’s meeting with Kutuzov on Poklonnaya Hill, but also from the Battle of Borodino itself, when all the generals who came to Moscow unanimously said that another battle could not be fought, and when, with the count’s permission, every night government property and residents were already removing up to half let's leave - Count Rastopchin knew that Moscow would be abandoned; but nevertheless, this news, communicated in the form of a simple note with an order from Kutuzov and received at night, during his first sleep, surprised and irritated the count. Subsequently, explaining his activities during this time, Count Rostopchin wrote several times in his notes that he then had two important goals: De maintenir la tranquillite a Moscow et d'en faire partir les habitants. [Keep calm in Moscow and escort the residents out of it.] If we allow this dual goal, every action of Rostopchin turns out to be impeccable. Why were the Moscow shrine, weapons, cartridges, gunpowder, and grain supplies not taken out? Why were thousands of residents deceived by the fact that Moscow would not be surrendered and ruined? – In order to maintain calm in the capital, Count Rastopchin’s explanation answers. Why were piles of unnecessary papers removed from public places and the Leppich ball and other items? – In order to leave the city empty, Count Rastopchin’s explanation answers. One has only to admit that something threatened the people's peace, and any action becomes justified.

Transport

It’s a pity that it’s impossible to shorten the route to Petrozavodsk through Finland. Traveling to the capital is a problem. Buses run twice a day. They are nocturnal. One leaves at ten in the evening and arrives at half past six, the second starts at three in the morning and arrives, accordingly, a little later. Now

, however, they let in another one - “summer”. In general, people prefer trains. More precisely, they preferred it when they were daily. Now you can go to Kostomuksha by train or come to Petrozavodsk three times a week. At an inconvenient time. One of these trains is direct. The other two go through Suoyarvi, where passengers have to wait almost four hours until the St. Petersburg-Kostomuksha train arrives, to which Petrozavodsk cars are connected. In general, a nightmare and horror.

We experienced one of these transport horrors on our own skin, leaving the city, in the absence of a train, by bus. Without further ado and emotions: the only thing worse in my life than the night flight Kostomuksha - Petrozavodsk was the night trip by bus from Kalevala. Even now, sculpting these lines, I remember and shudder.

By the way, there is no bus station in Kostomuksha. Tickets are sold in private offices. For example, we bought at the Post Office, at the local taxi office.