Вестник МГТУ, 2021, Т. 24, № 2.

Вестник МГТУ. 2021. Т. 24, № 2. С. 214-227. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21443/1560-9278-2021-24-2-214-227 Introduction The history of developing different types of marble discovered in the Ruskeala field is widely highlighted in literature, and is repeated in many publications and on several dozen websites1 (Севергин, 1805; Sobolevsky, 1839; Борисов, 1949; Сементовский, 1998; Беликов и др., 1998; Зискинд, 1989; Осколков, 1991). The place with the outcrops of beautiful marbles was discovered by Samuel Alopeus, and then in 1765, at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, began to be developed as an industrial quarry. In those days, five quarries were laid on the chosen area, where marble of several varieties was quarried with the help of gunpowder charges in small workings. It was divided according to its colors - ash gray, gray- green, white with gray veins and white-blue-gray. Up to five hundred inhabitants of the surrounding villages were engaged in the excavation and transportation of stone. Fig. 1. View of the nineteenth century quarry - the upper photo. Below - an underground marble development in Ruskeala in the middle of the XX century is represented (Mining Road, 2014) Рис. 1. Фото вверху - вид на карьер XIX в., внизу - подземная мраморная выработка в Рускеале середины ХХ в. (Mining Road, 2014) The widespread use of Ruskeala marble in the historic buildings of Saint Petersburg and its suburbs has brought this stone great fame. Isaac’s Cathedral, revered by some experts as a museum of stone, has been completely faced with Ruskeala marble; it was also used to line the floors of the Kazan Cathedral, to make the windowsills of the Hermitage and frame the windows of the Marble Palace and the frontage of the Mikhailovsky Castle. In the middle of the twentieth century, Ruskeala marble was used to face the underground stations of the St. Petersburg Metro "Primorskaya" and "Ladozhskaya", where it is now available for careful study, because, unlike the open areas, where marble was used for exterior decoration and has largely decayed and lost its polishing over the past time, in these stations the walls have been preserved, demonstrating the beautiful stone texture. In 1846, sawing and grinding plants using water-powered devices were put into operation; after that, the number of workers employed in breakdowns reached eight hundred people. From 1939 to 1947 the quarry did not work. Production at the marble and lime plant was resumed in 1947 and operated on a small scale until the early 1990s. In 1998, the main quarry of Ruskeala marble was accepted into state protection as a cultural heritage site. In 2004, Kolmas Karelia LTD carried out measures to develop and improve the "Main" quarry: fences, stairs and bridges were installed, trails were erected, a parking lot was organized, the territory of the park and the Marble Lake area was cleared of debris. 1 "Рускеала". Горный парк : сайт. URL: https://ruskeala.ru/about ; Карьер мраморных ломок в пос. Рускеала // Объекты историко-культурного наследия Карелии : сайт. URL: http://monuments.karelia.ru/napravlenija-dejatel- nosti/populjarizacija/est-takoj-pamjatnik/kar-er-mramornyh-lomok-v-pos-ruskeala/. 215