Sordavala

Sordavala, also known as Sortavala or Serdobol, stands at the northern end of Lake Ladoga among the islands and inlets of its rugged shore. The district appears in Swedish documents in 1468 and in Russian records in 1500. Its position linked the Karelian communities of the northern shore with the lake and the routes beyond it. After the Ingrian War the district passed to Sweden. The Treaty of Nystad in 1721 returned it to Russia, and the town became known as Serdobol. Its marble and granite quarries supplied stone for imperial building projects in St Petersburg and its surroundings. In 1812, with the rest of Viipuri Province, it became part of the Grand Duchy of Finland.