History of Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia (Russia)

In Petrozavodsk at the end of the 20th century, between the streets of Kuibyshev, Fedosova, Malaya Slobodskaya and Neglinskaya embankments, with the support of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve, on the basis of the surviving buildings of the 19th century, a block of historical buildings of Petrozavodsk began to be created . Currently, this includes five buildings: the Kuchevsky house, the Lazarev house, the chapel of the provincial zemstvo hospital, the building of the provincial zemstvo hospital and the blacksmith shop of the museum-reserve.

In the Zarechny district of Petrozavodsk stands the temple of Alexander Nevsky. The temple was built in 1832 at the Alexander Factory. During the years of Soviet power, it was closed, only in 1993 restoration work began here, and by 2002 the temple was re-consecrated. It is made in the style of late classicism. Near the temple rises a belfry with eight bells.

In addition to the Alexander Cathedral, the city has preserved two more religious monuments – the Catherine Church of 1878 and the Holy Cross Cathedral of 1852.

According to Securitypology.com, Onega embankment is a favorite place of recreation for residents and guests of the city. It consists of two lines. The first line was built in 1994. On it are sculptures donated to the city by foreign sister cities. The Americans presented the steel structure “Fishermen”, the Germans – the sculptural composition “Tübingen Panel”, the Swedes – the sculpture “Wishing Tree”, and the Finns – the composition “Wave of Friendship”. In a small square on the embankment stands a monument to Peter I, which was moved here from Lenin Square. The second line of the embankment runs along the quarter of the historical buildings of Petrozavodsk.

For those who love outdoor activities, Petrozavodsk will be of interest to the water-sports center “Akvatika” and sports and entertainment center “Gorka”. In “Aquatika” visitors are offered the main types of water entertainment, including a water disco, and in “Gorka” there is a ski center. The ski center is open from December to March. There are two ski slopes 200 and 250 m long, equipped with lifts, two snow tubing slopes and an ice rink. All trails are lit. In the ski center there is a rental of ski equipment and snowboards, a cafe and a playground.

68 km from Petrozavodsk in the northern part of Lake Onega, near the Zaonezhsky Peninsula, there is a group of islands – the Kizhi Skerries. The most popular of them is Kizhi Island. All tourists coming to Petrozavodsk are sure to go here. Comets fly from Petrozavodsk to the island in summer, and helicopters fly in winter. In addition, boat cruises are organized from Moscow and St. Petersburg to the islands. Kizhi Island is known throughout the world for its architectural ensemble, which consists of monuments of Russian wooden architecture. Tradition says that all buildings were erected without a single nail, only with the help of an ax. Previously, the Kizhi churchyard was located here, which in the 17th century was surrounded by a wooden wall with towers. In 1945, the Kizhi Pogost was declared a nature reserve, and in 1969, the State Historical, Architectural and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve “Kizhi” was formed on the territory of the Kizhi Skerries (rocky islands).. Now it is an open-air museum of wooden architecture. In 1990, part of the museum – the Kizhi Pogost – was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

80 km south of Petrozavodsk is the so-called “Vepp volost” – the area where the Veps live. Its center is the village of Sheltozero. The Veps people belong to the Baltic branch of the Finno-Ugric language family. They have their own culture, the features of which are now being revealed in the Sheltozero Vepsian Ethnographic Museum. The museum is located in Melnikov’s log house of the early 19th century. Slightly north of Sheltozero is the village of Shoksha, where crimson and red quartzite have been mined since the end of the 18th century. Shoksha quartzite was used for finishing buildings in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

55 km north of Petrozavodsk, on the shores of the Kondopoga Bay of the Onega Sea, is the city of Kondopoga . The first mention of a settlement on the site of the modern city dates back to 1495. However, it became most famous in the 18th century, when deposits of marble were discovered near the nearby village of Tivdia in the town of Belaya Gora. Marble was sent for construction to St. Petersburg. Status of the city of Kondopoga received in 1938. The main attraction of the city is the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of 1774, which stands on the outskirts of the city on a small rocky peninsula. It reaches a height of 42 m. This is a strict church without unnecessary decorations. The Assumption Church is often called the “swan song” of wooden architecture, because by the time it was built, stone construction had come to replace wooden architecture. It became a kind of completion of the era of Russian wooden architecture. Kondopoga is famous for its carillon bells cast in Holland. Carillons are modernized belfries, the bells of which, under computer control, can play various melodies. The most impressive carillon stands at the Ice Palace and is made in the form of an arch 14 m high with 23 bells with a total weight of 500 kg. In 1984, the Kondopoga City Museum of Local Lore was opened in the city. The museum’s collection includes about 2,000 exhibits and includes items from archaeological excavations, samples of Belogorod marble, items of Karelian life, photographs and documents on the history of the city and the region, items and documents from the period of the Great Patriotic War, and a collection of paintings and drawings by Karelian masters.

Not far from Kondopoga is the first Russian balneological and mud resort “Marcial Waters”. It was opened in 1719 by decree of Peter I on the basis of healing ferruginous sulfate-hydrocarbonate sources and sapropel silt sulfide mud from Lake Gabozero. The springs were discovered in 1714, after which Peter I immediately sent people here to check the properties of the water, because at that time mineral springs had already been found in Europe, and the emperor did not want to lag behind the European countries. Peter I himself repeatedly came here for treatment. Today there are 4 springs of mineral water on the territory of the resort. Martial waters are characterized as ferruginous, nitric, hydrocarbonate-sulfate, slightly acidic, slightly mineralized. In addition to iron, the water of marcial springs contains sodium, magnesium, calcium and manganese. Their temperature is +5 degrees. The main therapeutic profile of the resort sanatorium are diseases of the circulatory system, not far from the resort is the museum “Marcial Waters”. On its territory you can see the pavilion over the former source of healing water (19th century), the pavilion over the ore mining site (19th century) and the Church of the Apostle Peter (18th century) with the iconostasis of Peter’s time. The Church of the Apostle Peter is the only surviving building of the first Russian resort.