Kuznechnoye (; ) is an urban locality (an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

) in the northern part of

Priozersky District Priozersky District () is an administrativeOblast Law #32-oz and municipalLaw #50-oz district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Leningrad Oblast, seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northwest of the oblast and ...

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

, located on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

. Population:

History

The village of Kaarlahti was known since at least the 16th century and belonged interchangeably to Russia and Sweden. Since the middle of the 18th century, it was a part of

Vyborg Governorate Vyborg Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. It was established in 1744 in newly ceded territories from Swedish Empire, Sweden following the Treaty of Åbo and parts of Saint Petersburg Govern ...

, which, in turn, since 1812 was a part of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

as the

Viipuri Province Viipuri Province was a Historical provinces of Finland, historical province of Finland from 1812 to 1945. History The predecessor of the province was Vyborg Governorate, which was established in 1744 from territories ceded by the Swedish Empi ...

. In 1916, the railway station was opened. In 1918, together with the rest of the Viipuri Province, Kaarlahti became a part of independent Finland. After the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, it was reclaimed by the Soviet Union. Kaarlahti became a part of Keksgolmsky District with the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

in Keksgolm which was a part of the

Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Karelian ASSR for short, sometimes referred to as Soviet Karelia, East Karelia or simply Karelia, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union, with its capital in Petr ...

(Karelian ASSR). On March 31, 1940, the Karelian ASSR was transformed into the

Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelo-Finnish SSR), also called Soviet Karelia or simply known as Karelia, was a republic of the Soviet Union. It existed from 31 March 1940 until it was made part of the Russian SFSR on 16 July 1956 ...

. During the Second World War, Kaarlahti was reclaimed by Finland and then again ceded to the Soviet Union. On November 24, 1944, Keksgolmsky District was transferred from Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic to Leningrad Oblast. In the end of 1944 a large

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

and processing plant (now belonging to JSC ''Granit-Kuznechnoye'') was developed, and Kaarlahti started to grow steadily. In 1948, the station was renamed Granitnaya, and the settlement was renamed Kuznetsy, subsequently Kuznechnaya. On January 13, 1949 the settlement was renamed Kuznechnoye. In 1961, it was granted urban-type settlement status.

Economy

Granite Excavation

The economy of the settlement is based on

production. There are several

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

surrounding Kuznechnoye. The granite excavated from Kuznechnoye, during the

Soviet era The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

, has been used to build the St. Petersburg Metro Station and to pave many central streets of the city.

Transportation

Kuznechnoye is also an important station of the Saint Petersburg-Khiytola railroad, being the final destination of many passenger trains coming from

Finlyandsky Rail Terminal St Petersburg–Finlyandsky (), also known as Finland Station () , is a railway station in St. Petersburg, Russia, handling transport to westerly destinations including Helsinki and Vyborg. The station is most famous for having been the l ...

of St. Petersburg (about 3 h 25 min as of 2007) and from

Sortavala Sortavala (; Finnish language, Finnish and ; ), previously known as Serdobol () until 1918, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finland, Finni ...

(about 2 h 45 min as of 2007) and a stop of the St. Petersburg–

Kostomuksha Kostomuksha (; ; ; ) is a town in the northwest of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located from the border with Finland, on the shore of Lake Kontoki. Population: Geography The nearest large cities in Russia are St. Petersburg and ...

trains. Kuznechnoye is connected by road with Melnikovo and also has access to the A129 highway, which connects Saint Petersburg and Sortavala.

Tourism

Kuznechnoye's rocky outskirts are a popular climbing area and tourist destination.

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{Use mdy dates, date=August 2012 Urban-type settlements in Leningrad Oblast Karelian Isthmus