According to the data of the State Committee for Sports and Tourism of Karelia, last year the republic was visited by about 1 million 200 thousand tourists (despite the fact that the population of the region is slightly less than 800 thousand). Only a third of the guests visited traditional Valaam and Kizhi, moving in transit to Solovki. Most of them are lovers of ecological tourism, fanatics of virgin nature and untrodden paths. Their number may increase in summer.
Let us recall the route of Andersen's Gerda to the palaces of the Snow Queen and the historical homeland of Santa Claus - snowy Lapland. Unfortunately, the economic prosperity of Finland tempered the romantic glory of the land of the Lapps, and the commercialization of the village of Santa Claus has completely deprived Lapland of its fabulous splendor. No sorcerers and shamans will live near a mummed merry fellow in a red caftan and crowds of idle onlookers with cameras waiting for their turn to take pictures in an embrace with him. Now neighboring Karelia is ready to pick up the fallen banner of the "magic land".
The expedition of the International Academy of Megascience announced the discovery of several wooden pagan idols in the deep taiga, apparently, the last monuments of pagan pro-religion preserved in Russia. The serious scientific world reacted with some skepticism to the statement of the expedition activists - the fact is that the "Academy" is engaged in research in areas that are usually called pseudo-scientific. The enthusiasts were not embarrassed by this, and as proof of their discovery, they brought photographs of pagan idols. True, the members of the expedition, which included biologists, historians, and culturologists of the north of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, did not name the exact location of the idols.
“We conducted our research on the territory of the Belomorsky and Kemsky districts,” says Alexei Popov, vice president of the International Academy of Mega Science. - These places are poorly explored, the nearest village is 80 kilometers away, but there are legends among local residents that as early as the 19th century, their ancestors went to the taiga to worship idols. We decided to check the reliability of the legends, since our main principle is not to treat folklore as just a fiction, and, focusing on the exact signs indicated in the legends, we went to idols. Wooden statues, standing half an hour's walk from each other, and, moreover, completely different, represent a unique open-air museum."
The only thing that brings together the found idols is the time of their manufacture. Judging by the structure of the tree, they are about 150 years old. At that time, despite the already rooted Christianity, elements of paganism ("witchcraft") were still quite widespread in Karelia. Near two of the found idols, half-decayed "remains" of their predecessors were found.
Finding the idols was only the first step. “After looking at the map and checking the compass path,” Aleksey Popov told “NI”, “we were surprised to notice that the chain of idols stretches in one direction, practically in a straight line, to Lake Karma. Why? What for? What mystery lurks on the shores of the lake? In a month we are going on a new expedition and maybe we will get an answer. But we do not want to announce the whereabouts of the idols for fear of their safety. The state structures have too little funds to protect those historical monuments that already exist. If anyone wants to see the idols, we will take those who wish to them …"
SERGEY KHOROSHAVIN
