The visit center of the Belomorsky Petroglyphs Museum to be completed this year

In Karelia, it is planned to complete the construction of the visit center of the museum "Belomorsky Petroglyphs" this year. The new facility is expected to become an important tourist attraction. This is reported by the official portal of the republic.

"Minister of Economic Development Oleg Ermolaev reported to the head of Karelia that the builders are working on schedule and will complete the construction of the facility this year. Starting next year, the modern visitor center will begin to receive tourists. In addition, mass cultural events and scientific conferences will be held here," the message says.

The visit center of the Petroglyph Museum in Belomorsk is located on the tourist route of the famous archaeological complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The project includes a cafe with 150 seats, a conference hall, a 40-room hotel, and a museum exhibition hall. There are parking areas for passenger cars and a temporary parking lot for tourist buses.

A new bridge to the archaeological monument "Petroglyphs of Zalavruga" was built next to the visitor center.

"The new facility will become an important point of attraction for the Karelian and Russian Arctic, will contribute to the development of tourism in Karelia, as well as infrastructure in the Belomorsky District, and will attract new investments. About 100 new jobs will be created for residents here," Head of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov said during a visit to the construction site, as quoted by the portal.

According to him, it is also planned to implement a similar project in Pudozha on the Onega petroglyphs.

Petroglyphs are monuments of rock art, a unique source of information about the life of an ancient man. In Karelia, they are located in very picturesque places - near the White Sea and on the east coast of Lake Onega.

Petroglyphs of Karelia belong to the Neolithic era - according to scientists, they are at least 6.5-7 thousand years old. These monuments have been recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Site as an outstanding example of the vanished civilization of Northern Fennoscandia.

There are about 3.5 thousand White Sea petroglyphs - mostly images of boats, people, animals and their tracks, as well as scenes of hunting elk, deer or beluga. You can often find images of skiers.