Visiting Karelia normally means visiting the most famous tourist sights of Karelia. One of them is the second large waterfall in Europe called Kivach. The height of Kivach amounts to 10.7 meters and it’s situated on the Suna River in the Kondopoga district. The natural reserve of the same name was established in 1931.
There is a beautiful legend about Kivach origination. People say that long time ago two sisters – Suna and Shuya - lived in Karelia. Sisters never fell apart and run together all day long. But once Suna got tired and stopped to take some rest. She fell asleep while her sister went on running. When Suna woke up she was quite surprised because Shuya had gone far away. So Suna decided to catch her sister up and broke the rock. On this place Kivach waterfall appeared.
Usually people associate Kivach with one of the well-known Russian poet Gavrila Derzhavin (1743-1816) who served as a governor of Olonets and wrote the poem «Waterfall» devoted to Kivach.
One of the most eminent visitors of the waterfall was the emperor Alexander II. In 1868 he visited Kivach and before his arrival a pavilion, the house for the night lodging and the bridge through the Suna River were built.
At the end of the 30s the waterfall began to be used for the needs of Kondopozhskaya hydroelectric power station and since then Kivach lost its wideness and became much more calmer and only in spring high waters come back here. But even without its former wideness Kivach is still beautiful.
Kivach is 60 km from Petrozavodsk and it takes less than two hours to reach it. This wonderful place has about 30-40 thousand tourists annually. There is a museum which has an exhibition including stuffed animals, insects and different handicrafts.
Karelians know that visiting Kivach is some kind of tourist tradition. If you are in Karelia, follow it!
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