Historic Route as a Guide

The tourist route “Puteshestvie iz Gromovo v Sakkola” was established in Gromovo. The route as described is 7 km long and ends in Gromovo at the foundation of a former Lutheran church. The stated ways to travel it were on foot, by bicycle, by car, or by public transport. Check the current route conditions before setting out. When choosing a destination, what matters most is whether you want to include a historically significant stay in your plans.

A total of five information boards were installed in Gromovo and Novinka. They offered brief descriptions of the stops, links to full texts, and geolocations. The brief description, full text, and location reference thus provided different levels of information.

Gromovo and the Name Sakkola

Gromovo was called Sakkola until 1948; Sakkola is also the Finnish name of the place. The route’s name uses this designation and makes the historical trace of the name visible in the travel itinerary. Gromovo is home to a historic site where a Finnish church stood from the 7th to the 20th century. The fourth and last church in Sakkola was built in 1781 and burned down in the summer of 1941 during hostilities. The year 1948, by contrast, marks the end of the name Sakkola for Gromovo; the church building and the change of name are therefore separate historical reference points.

The route and the traces of history answer different questions: the route description identifies a specific endpoint, while the details about the name and church place the site’s historical context in time.

Leningrad Oblast: Regional Natural and Cultural Context

The following regional examples are in Leningrad Oblast. The Vepsian Forest Nature Park lies in the far east of the oblast. It includes seven nature reserves with particularly strict protection rules and numerous lakes; the largest is Lake Lerinskoe, in the reserve of the same name. Among the park’s special values are preserved old spruce and pine forests in the “Vepsskiy les” and “Ashchozyorskiy” reserves. They are important for numerous organisms that can survive only in forests undisturbed by economic activity.

The Vepsians, a small people of Russia with their own culture and traditions, have traditionally lived in the Vepsian Forest Nature Park. Brown bears are found there in considerable numbers; the wolverine, which is extremely rare in the region, has also been recorded.

Another distinct cultural site in Leningrad Oblast is Koporye Fortress. It is a museum and a monument of Old Russian stone architecture. It has been preserved in its present form since the 16th century; parts of the masonry date from the 13th century. A visit without a guide is possible using the multimedia guide “Koporskaya krepost 2.0”; confirm its availability when planning your visit. Climbing the walls and towers is prohibited because they are in an emergency condition.

The Ladva Trail in Leningrad Oblast also leads to glacially shaped terrain, middle-taiga vegetation, and the Vepsian village of Ladva; it also leads to Lake Ladva in Podporozhye District.

Discover more destinations: Solovyovo, Udaltsovo, Vesnino, Orekhovo

Go to the regional travel overview: Priozerskiy District.