Sortavala
| Sortavala (English) Сортавала (Russian) Sortavala (Karelian) |
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.svg) Location of the Republic of Karelia in Russia |
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 Sortavala
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| Administrative status (as of June 2008) | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Republic of Karelia |
| Administratively subordinated to | town of republic significance of Sortavala |
| Administrative center of | town of republic significance of Sortavala |
| Municipal status (as of November 2011) | |
| Municipal district | Sortavalsky Municipal District |
| Urban settlement | Sortavalskoye Urban Settlement |
| Administrative center of | Sortavalsky Municipal District, Sortavalskoye Urban Settlement |
| Statistics | |
| Population (2010 Census) | 19,235 inhabitants |
| Time zone | MSK (UTC+03:00) |
| First mentioned | 1582 |
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Sortavala (till 1918 Serdobol; Russian: Со́ртавала; Finnish and Karelian: Sortavala; Swedish: Sordavala) is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga. Population: 19,235 (2010 Census);21,131 (2002 Census);22,579 (1989 Census).
The district of Sortavala was first recorded in Swedish documents dating to 1468. Russian documents first mention it as Serdovol or Serdobol in 1500. It was ceded to Sweden after the Ingrian War.
With the 1721 Treaty of Nystad, the settlement was joined to Russia along with the rest of Old Finland and was given the Russian name Serdobol. It became known for its marble and granite quarries which provided materials necessary for construction of imperial palaces in St. Petersburg and its neighborhood. In 1812, along with the rest of Viipuri Province, it was joined to the newly formed Grand Duchy of Finland.
In 1917, the town remained a part of independent Finland. It suffered extensively from mass Soviet bombardment during the Winter War, and through the Moscow Peace Treaty Finland was forced to cede the town to the Soviet Union. All of the population of the town was evacuated for the first time. Like the rest of Finnish Karelia, Sortavala was retaken by Finland during 1941–1944 (the period of the Continuation War) and most evacuees returned to rebuild their homes. However, after the armistice of 1944, the Finns were evacuated again and the town was ceded back empty of population. After the war, the town was resettled by the Slavic population.
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Wikipedia