Lake Ilmen

Lake Ilmen is a freshwater body of water in northwestern European Russia. It belongs to the Baltic Sea basin and is one of the largest on the European continent. The lake is located in the Novgorod region, 500 km northwest of Moscow and 200 km south of St. Petersburg. The chronicle city of Veliky Novgorod is located 6 km north of the lake, on the bank of the Volkhov River, and another ancient city, Staraya Russa, is situated in the south. Many villages surrounding Lake Ilmen preserve the centuries-old history. In the immediate vicinity of the lake is one of the oldest and most revered in Russia Orthodox monasteries – St. George’s Monastery.

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Video: Fishing on Lake Ilmen

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General Information

Legends associate the name of the lake with the name of the princess Ilmera, sister of the legendary princes Sloven and Rus. Lake Ilmen was once part of an ancient trade waterway linking the Scandinavian countries with Byzantium. This transcontinental route is known from Old Russian chronicles as the way “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”

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Among lovers of outdoor activities, the lake is famous for its excellent fishing. There are four dozen species of fish. For those wishing to fish in the surrounding villages built guest bases, where you can rent tackle and other necessary equipment.

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Getting to the abundant fish lake region is convenient via Novgorod or Staraya Russa – ancient cities famous for their historical sights.

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History of Lake Ilmen

Not much is known about the ancient inhabitants of the lake shore. We can judge about their origin by historical names of local landscape objects – toponyms. In these words linguists see elements inherent in the vocabulary of several ethnic groups – Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Scandinavian, Germanic and Slavic. They are reflected in the names of rivers: Msta, Veriazha, Mshaga, Polist, Pola.

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In the Middle Ages Ilmen belonged to the Novgorod land, the lake was used by merchants’ trading rooks, and vivid legends about them have been preserved in people’s memory. Novgorodians called their vast lake a sea. Legends populated the depths of Lake Ilmen with supernatural creatures with a violent temper, which caused bad weather, floods, storms, sinking ships. Tales claim that merchants, wishing to pacify the underwater king, threw barrels of gold and chests full of valuable goods into the turbulent lake. To this day, romantics believe in these legends and try to find treasures at the bottom of the lake. Novgorod legends about the adventures of Sadko, a poor guslar who became rich by trading with overseas countries and married the daughter of the sea king, inspired the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to create a famous opera (1897), which entered the treasury of world musical culture.

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At the end of the XV century, Lake Ilmen with all Novgorod lands was within the borders of the Moscow state. In 1611-1617 the region was invaded by Sweden, but Russian troops expelled the invaders.

In Russia’s modern history, the Ilmen Lake is the most important part of the country’s history.

In Russia’s modern history, the lake’s surroundings became the scene of fierce battles with Hitler’s occupiers. To the southeast of Lake Ilmen in 1942, the Red Army surrounded and destroyed a large grouping of German troops. This operation in the military history of the Great Patriotic War is known as “Demyanovsky pocket”. The nearby Staraya Russa carries the title of the City of Military Glory.

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Geography and climate

Lake Ilmen is the result of an ancient glacier. The water body is located in a vast but shallow depression measuring approximately 45 x 35 km. The area of the water surface is subject to significant fluctuations – from 730 km² in dry seasons to 2090 km² during spring floods. The maximum depth of the lake varies between 2.3-5.8 meters, but in its hollow there are some ponds up to 10 meters deep. The shallowness of the lake and frequent gusty winds are the reason for the strong excitement of the water, often turning into a real storm, generating two-meter waves.

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One of the large delta-shaped bays of Lake Ilmen, like the arrow of a compass, points exactly to the north. At the tip of this bay, at the source of the Volkhov River, since ancient times stands Veliky Novgorod. On the southern shore, at the confluence of the rivers Porusya and Polist, after 30 km flowing into Ilmen Lake, is another ancient city – Staraya Russa.

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The surface of the lake is located 18 m above the level of the neighboring Baltic Sea. There are 52 rivers flowing into Ilmen, and the largest outflow from this body of water is the Volkhov River, carrying its waters northward to Lake Ladoga. Through the Volkhov and Ladoga, the Neva River, which flows into the Gulf of Finland, from Veliky Novgorod to the Baltic Sea.

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The rivers carry a lot of silt and peat, so the water in Ilmen is murky, with a yellowish tint, and the bottom is muddy. Meanwhile, the water here never stagnates: it is carried out by the Volkhov, and the lake is renewed by tributaries several times a year.

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The lake’s surroundings are low-lying, only in the northeast 30-60 m high ridge of hills, characteristic of the Priilmenskaya lowland. These are long moraines of boulders and clay – traces of the glacier that melted about 15 thousand years ago. Familiar to the eye clearly delineated shores on Lake Ilmen few, the edges of its water mirror are lost in the wide estuaries of flowing rivers, in overgrown reeds and shrubs marshes, in numerous bays, small lakes.

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Winter air temperature in the region ranges from -12 °C to -6 °C. The surface of the lake is ice-covered from November to April. In May the air warms up to +12…+17 °С, in June-August – to +20…+21 °С. During this period, the bulk of tourists from other regions of Russia come to Lake Ilmen.

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Beaches

The swampy shores of the lake and the viscous bottom do not dispose to swimming, but there are sandy areas of the coast. These wild beaches are not equipped in any way, but they attract with their pristine beauty. To get to them from the nearby settlements is far away, the Novgorodians themselves in the summer swim in the Volkhov River, on a well-equipped city beach.

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Almost deserted sandy beaches on the shores of Lake Ilmen can be found near the Perynsk skete, near the villages of Ilmen, Sergovo and Ondvor. A good pebble beach is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the village of Korostyn, which is 30 km from Staraya Russa. The swimming season on the lake lasts about 90 days, from June to August. The water is rather cool, it warms up to the temperature not higher than +19…+20 °С. On Ilmen often storms, the water is quite muddy with bottom silt.

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Vacation on water

The waters of Lake Ilmen are rich in fish. Its ecosystem, fed by dozens of rivers and streams, is extremely diverse. Fishing, one of the most popular pastimes around the lake, thrives here. Skilled fishermen brag about the meter-long pikes and weighty bream caught on sport spinning. Beginners are satisfied with redfin and topwater caught with a float rod. The most desirable trophies are catfish, eel, burbot and snapper. Locals say that the best place to hunt for these delicacy fish is the area of the water area adjacent to the outflow of the Volkhov River from the lake. Perch and pike are hunted by boat farther from the shore. The rivers Lovy and Veronda abound with pikeperch. In smaller rivulets, such as the Ipen, there are bleak, roach, yaz, gouster and chekhon. These tasty fish bite perfectly on baits during night fishing. During the day on the western shores of the lake after baiting you can for an hour or two catch a bucket of yazya for evening soup.

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Good on Lake Ilmen and winter fishing, especially a lot of fishermen gather on the ice near the holes in early spring, when the frost recedes. In December-February on the mormyshka perfectly catches perch, in March-April the main catch is bream caught on a troller.

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Going fishing, you should bring a supply of firewood, otherwise you will not see soup with smoke – to find kindling on the shores of the lake is impossible; everything that could burn, has long been burned in the fires of previous generations of fishermen. Another necessary item is a bottle of insect repellent, as you will have to fight clouds of mosquitoes, gadflies and small bites.

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Recreational boats do not ply the lake. Dangerous squalls, coming suddenly and raising a steep wave, dangerous for small fleets, and bigger boats risk running aground in shallow water. In Novgorod, however, you can take a boat trip on the full-flowing Volkhov and take a look at Lake Ilmen from the river’s mouth.

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Shopping

The villages surrounding Lake Ilmen have long been home to artels of professional fishermen. Popular Ilmen souvenirs are a variety of fish products and authentic fish delicacies, which are skillfully prepared here according to the ancient recipe. Among them are balik, pressed caviar, salted, smoked and dried fish.

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Where to stay

In the vicinity of Lake Ilmen built several recreation centers, focused on tourists who came to fish. Here you can rent equipment for the season: fishing gear, boats, ATVs, ice drills, skis and motorized snowmobiles. Bases have a limited number of rooms or separate guest houses, we recommend booking accommodation in advance. The cost of accommodation – from 600 rubles per day. By agreement with the base for you will send a car to the railway station or bus station.

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One of the most popular bases is located in the village of Vzvad, which is in the lower reaches of the Lovov River, near the shore of the lake. In a large wooden log cabin equipped with double rooms. There is no restaurant here, the guests have a self-service kitchen at their disposal. For self-cooking there is an oven, barbecue, necessary utensils and accessories. For an additional fee your fish trophies will be cleaned and cooked by a guest chef.

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How to get there

The most convenient way to travel to Lake Ilmen is to get to Veliky Novgorod by train or bus, and from there travel to your chosen location on the coast by bus or cab. The bus station is located on Oktyabrskaya Street, get on one of the buses going to the villages of Yerunovo, Sergovo, Kozynevo. The cost of a ticket – 68 rubles, travel time – about half an hour.

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From Moscow, the train to Veliky Novgorod departs daily from the platform of Kursk station at 21:55, to the destination arrives at 06:24. Ticket price – from 1435 rubles.

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From St. Petersburg to Veliky Novgorod can be reached by direct company train “Lastochka” from Moskovsky railway station. The morning flight departs at 07:26, evening – at 19:32. Travel time is 2 hours. 50 min. The ticket price is from 677 rubles. In the afternoon you can take the train “St. Petersburg – Kaliningrad”. The train departs from Vitebsk station at 12:26 and arrives in Veliky Novgorod at 15:38. Ticket price – from 870 rubles. Check the train schedule on the website Tutu.ru.

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Convenient bus service to Veliky Novgorod is established from St. Petersburg. From the bus station at the Obvodny Kanal metro station, buses leave for Novgorod about every hour. The first flight takes passengers at 07:10, the last one – at 23:00. Several buses depart from the parking lot at the metro station “Moskovskaya”. Travel time – 3 hours, fare – from 525 rubles.

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To the settlements located on the southern side of Lake Ilmen, it is convenient to get from Staraya Russa. From the bus station of Veliky Novgorod to this city there are daily buses. Travel time is 1 h. 25 min, the fare – from 275 rubles.

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You can get to Lake Ilmen by car. Depending on the route chosen, the distance from Moscow to Veliky Novgorod will be from 530 to 700 km, travel time – 8-10 hours. The way lies through the cities of Tver, Torzhok, Valdai. It is convenient to drive along the highway M10 “Russia”.

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From St. Petersburg to Veliky Novgorod on the highway 197 km to the south. Travel time is about 3 hours.

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You can rent a car directly in Veliky Novgorod. Auto rental points are located on Pskovskaya Street, 13 (Auto rental), on Alexander Korsunov Avenue, 23-A (Avto-Rent), on Dvortsovaya Street, 2 (BiBiTravel). The cost of renting a small car – from 2500 rubles per day.

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