There are more than 500 military-historical objects on the territory of Karelia, which could be successfully used for excursions and tourist destinations thanks to its historical importance and attractive qualities.

Most of these objects belong to the World War II period, they are the part of common history of Russia and Finland.

Working out and developing international military-historical tourist routes give a perspective for both Karelia and Finland. Original fortifications, the remnants of the field fortifications, battlefields, models of military equipment of the war period, memorials and memorable signs could be the objects for excursions along these routes.

During the period of the last years the work on the war history objects popularization and involving these objects into the sphere of tourist activity have been greatly livened up in Karelia.

In some districts (the Suojärvi district, the Pitkäranta district, the Olonets district, the Medvezhjegorsk district and the Kalevala district) interesting excursions have being worked out on the base of the military-historical heritage, the sights are being put in a good condition (buildings and constructions as well as the ground and the vegetation), excursion- and exhibition work has being livened up. Military-historical festivals "Karelian Borders", including reconstruction of the military actions and fights, represented by the amateur military-historical clubs, are becoming more and more popular for tourists. The slogan of these festivals is " By the roads of the Wars of the Past towards the World Peace".

The Museum of the Winter War in Suomussalmi and the memorial The Monument of the Winter War, which is being erected at the moment, are very promising for international military-historical tourism. Taking into account the growing interest of the society to the military-historical objects both in Finland and in Karelia, we consider working out a joint tourist route as a quite real task in the nearest future.

Valentina Markova
Deputy-Director of the State Centre
for the Protection and Managing of Monuments
of the Ministry of Culture, the Republic of Karelia