In the town of Zalavruga, located 400 km north of Petrozavodsk, tens of thousands of tourists come every year to see the White Sea petroglyphs - rock paintings more than five thousand years old. The drawings, of which there are now about two thousand, were discovered in 1926 by the scientist and writer Alexander Litseyskiy, including scenes of hunting moose, bear and whales, ritual and military subjects, as well as the first image of a person on skis known in Europe. The drawings are arranged in groups, the most interesting and largest cluster is located just in Zalavruga: most of the tourists come here, including thanks to the forest, but passable road. Recently, the White Sea and Onega petroglyphs were included in the preliminary UNESCO World Heritage List.
This year it became known that the federal budget will allocate money for the reconstruction of the road from the Kola highway to Zalavruga and the creation of a tourist infrastructure, including a bridge over the Kisly Pudas river, an eco-route, a hotel, a cafe and a visitor center. Thus, they plan to increase the flow of tourists tenfold, bringing the place in popularity closer to the marble quarries of Ruskeala - one of the main attractions of Karelia.
The concept of the tourist complex was prepared by Evgeny Taev, who once held the post of chief architect of Petrozavodsk,
the author of the National Theater and the Puppet Theater of Karelia, as well as the molecule fountain and galleries of twin cities.
It is proposed to locate a single volume of the tourist complex on a flat area on the bank of the Kisly Pudas channel. From the side of the parking, tourists are greeted by a visitor center with a museum exposition, an area for selling souvenirs and administration offices in the mezzanine. Further, the curvature of the building forms a small square with an open terrace of the restaurant and the entrance to the hotel. The extended hotel building with 40 rooms is turned towards the river and is separated from the public area due to the building's configuration. All three parts of the complex are united by a complex broken roof, as well as the cladding material - wooden slats and laconic metal inserts.
-
zooming 1/3 Zalavruga. Architectural concept of the development of the archaeological complex "White Sea Petroglyphs" © Evgeny Taeva Architectural Workshop
-
zooming 2/3 Tourist center with hotel, restaurant and visitor center in the area of the Kisly Pudas channel. Zalavruga. Architectural concept of the development of the archaeological complex "White Sea Petroglyphs" © Evgeny Taeva Architectural Workshop
-
zooming 3/3 Tourist center with hotel, restaurant and visitor center in the area of the Kisly Pudas channel. Zalavruga. Architectural concept of the development of the archaeological complex "White Sea Petroglyphs" © Evgeny Taeva Architectural Workshop
The materials are really friendly with respect to the natural environment, however, like the general image of the tourist complex, they are too neutral in relation to the unique attraction for which it is being created. Most likely, as in the case of Ruskeala, after the implementation of such a "globalist" concept, the place will not make the same deep impression as before.
The bank of the channel will also be ennobled: here you can have a picnic or rent a boat. The wooden bridge over Kisly Pudas, about 50 meters long, is a spatial farm without supports - it will withstand both pedestrians and technical transport to service the archaeological complex. Behind the bridge begins a circular walking route about one and a half kilometers long, which unites the places of accumulation of rock paintings - "Zalavruga", "Zolotets", "Erpin Pudas" and "Besovy Sledki". Two more new objects on this route are the gazebo and the caretaker's house, which, according to the author's idea, should resemble “two stones lying on the rocky landscape of Zalavruga”.
-
zooming 1/5 Bridge across the Kisly Pudas channel. Zalavruga. Architectural concept of the development of the archaeological complex "White Sea Petroglyphs" © Evgeny Taeva Architectural Workshop
-
zooming 2/5 Bridge across the Kisly Pudas channel. Zalavruga. Architectural concept of the development of the archaeological complex "White Sea Petroglyphs" © Evgeny Taeva Architectural Workshop
-
zooming 3/5 Pedestrian walkways on the territory of the monument. Zalavruga. Architectural concept of the development of the archaeological complex "White Sea Petroglyphs" © Evgeny Taeva Architectural Workshop
-
zooming 4/5 Renovation of the caretaker's house and a new gazebo on the territory of the monument. Zalavruga. Architectural concept of the development of the archaeological complex "White Sea Petroglyphs" © Evgeny Taeva Architectural Workshop
-
zooming 5/5 Gazebo on the hiking trail. Zalavruga. Architectural concept of the development of the archaeological complex "White Sea Petroglyphs" © Evgeny Taeva Architectural Workshop
