Onega Lake

Lake Onega is a huge freshwater body of water in northwestern Russia. On the European continent, it is surpassed in area only by the neighboring Lake Ladoga. Three quarters of the vast water surface of Onega with its intricately rugged shoreline and islands have gone to Karelia. The remaining part is located on the territory of the Leningrad and Vologda regions. Travelers are attracted here by the ancient history of the region, the austere beauty of northern nature, the romance of summer white nights and the sparks of the northern lights that stream across the sky at the beginning of winter.

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Video: Onega Lake

Contents

Highlights

‘ Karelia Petrozavodsk, industrial and administrative centers of the lakeside districts – Kondopoga and Medvezhegorsk. Small villages and settlements are scattered along the coast, most of them located in the south and west.

In recent decades, Prionezhye has turned from a remote “bear corner” into a popular tourist region. The beauties of untouched Karelian nature, biosphere reserves, historical and cultural monuments, ancient monasteries – all these treasures of Onega attract more and more travelers here. Guests find here excellent opportunities for active recreation – canoeing and sailing, rafting on the lake’s turbulent tributaries. You can go on a trip on an off-road vehicle through the inaccessible places of the Onega coast, go hiking or prefer fishing.

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In the vicinity of Lake Onega there are sanatoriums, hotels and tourist bases, you can stay in cottages or in the private sector.

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‘ Sosnovets Islandhttps://trevaladvisor.com/img%img/Onezhskoe-ozeroreterte/Petrozavodskaya-guba.jpg” alt=””/>‘ Petrozavodskaya guba

History of Lake Onega

Traces of the first settlements found on the shores of Lake Onega date back to the 4th millennium BC. Petroglyphs – rock carvings created by peoples who lived here about 4-6 thousand years ago – were discovered on the eastern shore. Several petroglyphs scratched in the rocks were first noticed by geologists from the University of Dorpat, who studied local rocks in the middle of the XIX century. Today, 24 groups of drawings are known on the 20-kilometer stretch, and scientists have documented a total of 1100 figures of people, animals, fish and birds. Among them are mysterious signs that cannot be deciphered.

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A large complex of archaeological monuments was revealed during the construction of navigable canals near the village of Povenets, Medvezhegorsk district.

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‘ Veliky Novgorod. Fish and forest animals, fur and honey, resin and wood for building ships were extracted here. Novgorod trading ships sailed along the Prionezhskie rivers to Ladoga and went to the Baltic, reached the shores of the White Sea.

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In the early 18th century, rich ore deposits were discovered in the vicinity of Lake Onega. Peter the Great founded here the city of Petrozavodsk, which grew up around iron foundries and smelting facilities. By Peter’s decree began and large-scale work on the laying of navigable canals, culminating 250 years later in the creation of a grandiose waterway from the White and Baltic seas to the Volga.

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During the Great Patriotic War, many hydraulic structures in the Onega Lake area were destroyed. The way from the Baltic to the southern regions of Russia was restored already in the first post-war decades.

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Industry developed rapidly in the cities and towns of the Prionezhye region, utilizing the mineral resources and inexhaustible forest resources of the region. Since the 21st century, the economic balance of the lake region has increasingly shifted to the development of the tourist industry, and polluting industries have been phased out.

‘ The shore of Lake Onega. Voznesene
‘ Islands of the lake

Geography and Nature

Lake Onega was formed at the same time as Ladoga due to radical climatic changes in Northern Europe. Huge basins were filled with meltwater from an ancient glacier that retreated far to the north about 12,000 years ago. The coastline of the reservoir, cut by many bays, coves and fjords, totals 1280 kilometers, and the water mirror of Onega has spilled over 9700 km².

.https://trevaladvisor.com/” alt=””/>‘ Lake Onega in winter

Protected areas

At the mouth of the Svir River, on the right bank, the Nizhnesvirsky Reserve is located. It has 41,000 hectares under its protection, and part of the lake water area is also included in the protection zone. Beavers, gray geese, cranes, storks, waterfowl nesting here, almost destroyed by hunters and poachers, have reappeared in this area, in the coastal thickets of streams and rivers feeding Onega. And in total on the protected area in 2018, Russian ecologists counted 256 species of birds, 44 species of various animals.

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‘ Russia’s huge Vodlozersky National Park, with its rich flora and fauna, was created in 1991. Its landscapes include about a hundred lakes. The protected area extends over 468,000 hectares, with about a third of the park’s territory located in the Republic of Karelia and the rest in neighboring Arkhangelsk Oblast. Systematic archaeological research has revealed traces of Mesolithic settlements here.

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Interestingly, the area of forests included in the territory of the park exceeds the total area of all forest lands in foreign Europe. Specialists of the park back in the early 90’s developed their own system of ecotourism and for the first time offered such “green travel” to Russians. In 2001, UNESCO experts awarded this national park the prestigious status of biosphere reserve.

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Sights of Onega Lake

The main attraction of Lake Onega is the complex of monastery buildings on the island of Kizhi, where there are 89 stone and wooden structures erected between the 15th and 19th centuries. Some of them were brought from other islands. For example, an old village blacksmith’s shop was brought from the island of Suisar, it was added to the exposition of the open-air museum. Orthodox monasteries operate here, the whole territory of the island is under the jurisdiction of the State Historical-Architectural and Ethnographic Reserve. Since 1990 the ensemble of wooden constructions of the Kizhi Pogost of the XVIII-XIX centuries has been included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Some objects of the museum are located on the nearby islands, and boat excursions are organized to them.

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‘ Kizhi
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‘ cities of Russia, because it is known according to chronicle reports since the XIV century. The patriarchal atmosphere is created by wooden manors on the central streets. In the Pudozh area rock paintings of ancient inhabitants of Prionezhye, created about 6 thousand years ago, have been discovered.

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‘ Memorial in Sandarmokhe
‘ Pudozh

In Kondopoga, listen to the musical shimmers of 23 bronze bells suspended from an arched carillon. Not so long ago in this town you could admire a rare monument of Russian wooden architecture – the Church of the Assumption, built on the shore of the lake in 1774. The hipped roof of the church, topped with a bronze cross, rose to 42 meters. Unfortunately, in the summer of 2018 there was a fire in the church, the fire destroyed the building. Now local local historians are discussing the possibility of its restoration, because all the architectural details of the church are fixed on numerous videos and photos.

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On the island of Maly Kolgostrov, belonging to the Vodlozero National Park, preserved log structures Ilyinsky pogost XVIII-XIX centuries – a beautiful church, bell tower, outbuildings. Now there is a men’s monastery there. On Sundays monks serve divine liturgy. On these days to listen to the sermon and solemn chants here comes especially many pilgrims and tourists.

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Near the village of Storozhno in the Volkhov district at 76 meters rises the tower of the Storozhensky lighthouse, built on a high stone promontory at the beginning of the last century. Flashes of its bright beams can be seen by navigators of ships at a distance of 22 nautical miles. A spiral staircase of 399 steep steps leads to the top of the tower. Among similar constructions this lighthouse is the second highest in Russia.

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Interesting sights are located in Petrozavodsk.

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‘ Ilyinsky pogost on the island of Malyy Kolgostrov
‘ Lighthouse in the village of Storozhno

Beaches

Locals joke that on the beaches of Lake Onega in July they don’t swim yet, and in August they don’t swim anymore. Nevertheless, in summer on the shores of the lake you can see quite a few beachgoers. The water, warmed up in shallow waters up to +18 °С, is considered quite comfortable for swimming here.

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‘ Beach in Petrozavodsk
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One of the best beaches in Petrozavodsk you will find on Onezhskaya embankment, opposite the Ferris wheel. Here is clean, annually sprinkled sand. True, there are no sun beds or changing rooms.

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Not a bad beach is near the sanatorium “White Keys”. At 16 km from the city is equipped with a beach Lososinnoye. Near the shore is shallow, the water warms up well. You can get there by bus or cab.

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A secluded sandy beach with a gentle bottom is located near the village of Matkachi in the Prionezhsky district. Motorists will easily find on the coast and other suitable places for swimming and picnics. Be sure to bring a mosquito repellent, insects are especially active during the weather days.

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‘ Matkachi.

Active vacation

Rafting enthusiasts, horseback riding fans, mountaineers, mushroom hunters, and, of course, gambling fishermen go to Lake Onega for impressions.

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‘ Petrozavodsk, from where you will be taken to the islands or to a quiet corner of the vast coast, providing you with tackle and necessary equipment. Famous fishing will be organized for you at numerous campgrounds built along the shores of the lake and on the islands. Well organized service for visiting fishermen on the territory of the Vodlozero National Park.

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In Onega Lake there are all kinds of fish species typical for Karelia, and there are about fifty of them. The desired catch will be sterlet, stud, catfish, pike, pike, yaz. A weighty burbot is an honorable trophy. But there are also long-established “aliens” in the lake. Few people know that back in Soviet times ichthyologists brought here trout from Lake Sevan in Armenia. Omul from Lake Baikal also feels at home here.

In the third decade of July, the Onega Sailing Regatta is held in the waters of the lake. In multi-day competitions, cruising yachts cover up to 500 nautical miles. In 2018, 40 sailing yachts participated in the competition. Yacht captains from anywhere in the country can join this open Russian championship. In addition, the Onega Regatta includes youth rowing dinghy competitions, spectacular demonstration races along the embankment of Petrozavodsk, watched by thousands of tourists and citizens. The regatta is accompanied by an entertaining coastal program, last year during the days of yachtsmen’s competitions the capital of Karelia hosted the music festival “Big Gathering on Onego”.

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‘ Onega Sailing Regatta
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Kitchen

‘ Petrozavodsk, but true gourmets looking for the real taste of Karelia in authentic dishes will find them in the lakeside villages where descendants of indigenous peoples – Finns, Veps and Karelians – live. Here, as hundreds of years ago, food is cooked in wood stoves, all dishes are “with smoke”. And on a glacier in the cellar every housewife has a delicious cold home-made stock and a barrel with berry morsels or bread kvass.

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Try, for example, an unusual Karelian winter soup from dried fish trifle. There is a recipe for even more exotic Vepsian soup from sour fish with pine buds. This dish is flavored with rye flour, chicken eggs are beaten into a bowl, and milk is added. In summer Karelian housewives make soup from whitefish or other delicacy fresh catch. Local mushroom soups, baked turnips are very tasty. Instead of bread they offer rye pie filled with fish, barley groats, mashed potatoes. For the second course you will be served pancakes with baked fish caviar under lingonberry sauce, and as an appetizer – salted salty salmonberries. Dessert will be berries, oatmeal kissel and hot herbal tea.

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Where to stay

A good choice of hotels of all categories is offered to tourists in Petrozavodsk.

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‘ “Onego”, the cost of accommodation – from 1665 rubles per room per day. Here is offered and a double room of the class “luxury”, for it you will have to pay 3600 rubles. In the local motel “Uyut” you can stay for 1800 rubles per day. In the “Guest House on Transportnaya” for a room ask 1200 rubles.

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In Medvezhegorsk budget tourists should pay attention to the hotel “Onezhskaya”, the cost of accommodation – from 900 rubles per room. More comfortable accommodation is offered by the hotel “Provence” – from 2500 rubles. In the picturesque environs of the city guests will find “Chelmuzhskaya Estate” with the cost of a room from 9000 rubles per day.

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On the shores of Lake Onega and on the islands are many small campgrounds that offer cozy log cabins, boat rentals and equipment for fishing.

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Travelers who prefer ecotourism, on the territory of the national park “Vodlozersky” await 80 locations with guest houses, bathhouses, equipped kitchens and barbecues in the open air. Many of them have berths for boats, others are located in a picturesque forest. The park is closed to outside cars, but there is private transportation for excursions to remote corners of the reserve.

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Transportation

‘ Petrozavodsk to the reserves are sent by motorboats, to the islands tourists are delivered by pleasure boats. The cost of an excursion, for example, to the island of Kizhi – from 3450 rubles per person. Along the coast operate regular and sightseeing bus routes, on the island of Kizhi helicopters fly, and in the national park “Vodlozero” can be reached on the ship “Comet” or An-2 airplane.

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Excursion routes to various attractions of Lake Onega are also available in Kondopoga.

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The main transportation hub on Lake Onega is the city of Petrozavodsk. Here there is an airport, railway and bus stations, passenger river port. Read about how to get to Petrozavodsk from Moscow and St. Petersburg in detail here.

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