Several years ago I visited Karelia and one of the most memorable excursions was a trip to the Kivach Nature Reserve. On the territory of the reserve are the following objects: Kivach waterfall, an arboretum, Museum of Nature. Undoubtedly, the most interesting object is the waterfall.
The Kivach waterfall is the second largest plain waterfall in Europe (after the Rhine River). Its height is 11 meters and it falls from several ledges.
In the Karelian epos there is a legend about the origin of the waterfall: two tributaries of the Onega Lake - the Suna and Shuya rivers, which originate in the north of Suojarvi and flow into the Onega Lake - their own sisters. They did not want to leave, and spent a long time beside them. Suna gave her sister a more comfortable and calm channel, and when tired, stopped to rest and fell asleep. Shuya, without waiting for her, went ahead. After waking up, Suna rushed to catch up with Shuyu, not understanding the road and knocking everything in its path.
She pierced the rocks in several places and there were formed the waterfalls of Girvas, Port-Threshold and Kivach.
Finally, Suna was tired, lost hope of catching up with her sister and after Kivach calmly flowed to Onega Lake.
The most famous visitor to the waterfall was Emperor Alexander II. Here he visited in 1868. On the occasion of his arrival, a good road was laid, a bridge was built across the river Suna and a small house for rest.
And the status of the reserve these lands received June 11, 1931. and this is one of the smallest reserves in the territory of the Russian Federation - its size is only 12x14 km. Tourists are allowed to stroll only in the excursion zone of the reserve.
Thank you all for your attention, comments and supervision!
P.S.:To translate the text into English, I used Google translator. I am sorry for possible mistakes
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