Strike a trail through nature-rich Karelia

Photo: Graham Simmons

When the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote his celebrated Karelia Suite, little did he realise that his beloved country would after World War II lose a huge chunk of its eastern province of Karelia to Russia. Maybe his composition should have been called “Karelia Bittersuite”.

But times change. The recent opening of a new border between Imatra in Finnish Karelia and Svetogorsk in Russian Karelia  is widely seen as a window of hope, for the first time allowing easy movement between the “two Karelias”. Could this be the start of a new “Karelia Sweet”?

Follow a trail through this nature-blessed region, from Ilomantsi in North Karelia down through South Karelia to the city of Vyborg in Russian Karelia (aka Eastern Karelia). This trail highlights some of the astonishing cultural treasures of Karelia, from the rich Russian Orthodox heritage of the north to the sylvan lakescapes of the countryside.

The northern Karelian town of Ilomantsi is home to an outstanding showcase of Karelian culture, the Parppeinvaara Centre. In the centre’s Museum of the Kantele, take in a live performance of this beautiful zither-like instrument – it has to be said that strings never sounded more like celestial bells.