How many rivers flow into Lake Onega. Lake Onega (Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Region, Vologda Region)

not without reason Karelia dignified by the edge blue lakes. After all, there are over 60 thousand of them. It so happened that of the two largest such reservoirs - Onega And Lake Ladoga, throughout history seem to compete with each other in their superiority. Yes, Lake Onega both in depth and area are twice as shallow, but its waters, into which more than 1150 rivers flow (in comparison: only 35 rivers flow into Ladoga), wash 1650 islands (which is 2.5 times more, unlike Ladoga). Even in terms of water quality, Onego plugs into his belt, what is there Ladoga, Baikal itself!
The shores in the northern part of the lake are elevated, densely covered with forests and rather strongly indented by bays, capes, bays, cliffs, while in the southern half they are low, mostly swampy.
Basically, on Onego storms are frequent, when the waves reach a height of over 2 meters, but there are exceptions with breezes and calm in the summer months.

History of Lake Onega

Lake Onega belongs to the Baltic Sea basin and is located in the southeastern part of Karelia, similar in shape to some kind of monster, stretching either claws or tentacles in the form of bays to the north.
In this connection, the lake was given such a name, until today it has not been established. However, there are several versions of its origin. According to the first, aniz in Finnish means "significant", which corresponds to the impressive size of the reservoir, because it is not in vain that it is listed as the second largest in Europe. According to another version, from the Sami "onego" is translated as sand, i.e. "lake with a sandy bottom". Another suggestion is "low plain" (a lake formed in a lowland) or a variant from Finnish - "sound", explained by the echo reflected from the rocks prevailing in these places.
The Finns used to call Onego "smoking lake" because of the frequent and thick fogs over the reservoir.
Basin Lake Onega It was formed as a result of the activity of the glacier in the place of failures of the earth's crust, therefore great depths are characteristic here, reaching their maximum of 130 meters.

Islands

The main part of the islands is concentrated in the northern and northeastern parts of Onega.
Zaonezhie- most large peninsula on the lake. This area is included in the UNESCO heritage list as unique territory the only one in all of Europe. On the islands and shores of Zaonezhie there are many interesting objects: villages, famous and not so famous, with old huts, churches, chapels. Among travelers Zaonezhie is nicknamed "Russian Rome". On the Kizhi chernozems, vegetation grows diverse and unique for other islands. So every 100 meters, one type of forest is replaced by another.
One of these islands is pearl of Lake Onega and Zaonezhye, the visiting card of Karelia - a whole museum that has concentrated masterpieces wooden architecture under open sky, famous throughout the world - Kizhi.
In the 10th century, the history of the island began, when the local lands, inhabited by Finnish tribes - the Korela and the whole (from which the Vepsians and Karelians originated), gradually began to master the Novgorodians. This mixture of two nationalities left its mark on the formation of the culture of the island (which affected the local dialect, examples of architecture, epics).

Another specially protected part belongs to the Kizhi Museum-Reserve - the Kizhi Skerries, which are a labyrinth of numerous islands of various shapes and sizes: from large to very tiny. Some are covered with tall grass meadows, some are dense forests, on some there are inland lakes, on others there are swamps.

to the most valuable natural objects Kizhi skerries include:

Inland lakes and swamps on Klimetsky Island are a stop and rest place for swans and geese, as well as a nesting place for cranes. Here you can see rare species of insectivorous plants.

Volkostrov Island one kilometer north of Kizhi Island. These are rocks, famous for the production of Volkostrovsky amethysts and overgrown with meadows, and in the center of the object there is a grass swamp with a number of rare plants of the republic. Viewed only on special routes.

Radkolye Island- a rocky island, therefore the soil cover is very rocky, and therefore it is impossible to find a forest here, except that birches and pines grow in small groups, and rare plant species for this region, as well as native plant species, are of particular interest.

Lelikovo Island long overgrown with grass to the waist, a few houses with tiny windows. And at the very beginning of the 19th century, there were over 280 inhabitants and 90 households. The bulk of the population were Novgorodians, who fled from the oppression of their boyars. Their main occupation was farming. Therefore, there are no forests here, since the trees were cut clean to create arable land.
The church in the name of the Holy Forerunner was built by the local merchant Kleerov. The whole object fell into disrepair, the iconostasis was completely plundered. And even though the church is not a masterpiece, it is a legacy from our ancestors. A hundred-year-old two-story stone house, in which the founder of the shrine lived, has survived to this day.

There is a sacred grove near the village of Podjelniki. Around the local chapel, ancient fir trees are concentrated, the maximum diameter of the trunks of which reaches a meter.
The wooden chapel of Praskeva Pyatnitsa and Varlaam Khutynsky (1750) is not active, the iconostasis has not been preserved. It consists of two rectangular log cabins placed close to each other. The wider one is a canopy with a porch, the narrower one is the actual chapel. A hexagonal bell tower rises above the vestibule. The tent of the belfry is supported by pillars and ends with onion cupolas. Both log cabins are covered with a gable roof. On the south side of the chapel there is a bench for rest, where you will have the opportunity to breathe in the aroma of freshly cut hay and wild rosemary, see how cloudberries and cranberries ripen in the swamp nearby.

Thermokarst sinkholes in the central part of Kizhi Island (100 meters west of the village of Yamka) illustrate the full picture of how the landscape was formed. When the glacier melted, rivers with melt water formed in its thickness. Sand and gravel absorbed blocks of ice, which subsequently melted and formed caves, the vaults of which were so unsteady that when they collapsed, they formed funnels.

Deer Island

12 km east of the island of Kizhi, with an area of ​​just over 1 sq. km., is an archaeological monument of the republic, since limestone deposits formed by the remains of sponges, mosses, corals and blue-green algae dating back more than 2 billion years have been preserved here. In the 17th century, limestone was mined on the island, during which a burial ground with the bones of an ancient person was discovered, presumably considered an ancestor, standing at the origins of the formation of the Sami people, as well as numerous hunting and fishing tools, jewelry.

The village of Suisar, Prionezhsky district (50 km from Petrozavodsk), founded in the 16th century, has preserved its original historical layout and the remains of a relic spruce grove. But the local old forge was transported to the island of Kizhi and is now presented in the form of its exhibit. Now Suisar is an integral part of the yacht regatta, which is held annually in Onega lake

"Sovereign Road"

The exact location of the path was not recorded in historical sources. It stretched through swampy forests, from the village of Nyukhcha in the White Sea to Povenets in Lake Onega, with the aim of secretly leaving the troops of Peter I to the Swedish fortress of Noteburg, in order to win back and return to Russia the banks of the Neva and access to Baltic coast. The road is 260 km long. was laid out in 14 days and overcome on foot by battalions in 8 days, which in history is a complete paradox.

A couple of kilometers from Pegrema Village, Medvezhyegorsk district, surrounded by pine forest- the complex of the same name is located, which nature so carefully hid in thick grass, was opened to the public thanks to a fire: boulders in the form of human figures, animal figures "Duck", "Frog", which served as idols for worshiping the souls of the dead, circles-amulets made of boulders lined with snail. Burials of an ancient man were found on the territory of the monument

Klimetsky Island is the largest on the way to Kizhi Island (7 km from the reserve) with a length of 30 km. These places became famous by local storytellers in various legends and epics. In addition, Klimetsky gained particular fame, perhaps, as the most mysterious, shrouded in many inexplicable stories: the vibration of the earth under his feet, an oppressive buzz that causes terrible headaches, the disappearance of people in one place and the appearance of a completely different one, memory lapses and much more.

On the same island you can see the ruins and in some places preserved frescoes of the Klimets monastery (16th century). According to legend, the Novgorod merchant Klim was caught by a storm during the next trade route, and praying for salvation, he promised the Almighty to build a monastery on this place. Soon deserts appeared on the island. After this incident, Klim spent the rest of his life in seclusion in a holy monastery. Despite the dilapidation of the object, the atmosphere here is peaceful.

international memorial cemetery Sandarmokh, Medvezhyegorsk district, highway A119 to Povenets, 12 km. from Medvezhyegorsk.
The place in the 30s of the 20th century was used as a shooting and burial place for the victims of Stalinist repressions (there are about 7 thousand people of 60 nationalities). Basically, these were prisoners of the White Sea-Baltic Canal and the Solovetsky camps.
In the nearby chapel there is a book that lists the names of the executed people. Birds do not sing here, there are no traces of animals. Now there are steles and crosses.

Places of petroglyphs - The eastern shores of Lake Onega are mainly represented by rocky capes that store monuments of the stone chronicle - petroglyphs, represented by signs, drawings of animals, birds and conveying the consciousness of those people who lived here in the era of millennia BC. Until now, the meaning of many has not been unraveled by scientists.

Cape Besov Nos is the richest in petroglyphs. Of this abundance, the most famous drawing is in the form of a demon over 2 meters in length. A lighthouse that is no longer active rises on the cape. 200 meters to the east of the cape, there is a rocky island "Besikha", which is a pair of the cape. It is worth noting that the Devil's nose is listed as a landmark in the Onega regatta.

Cape Peri Nos is located one kilometer north of Besov Cape. Of all the petroglyphs located in the Onega complex, half is located on this cape. Some of the petroglyphs are at the bottom of the lake. The edges of the cape are strongly indented by seven capes of various sizes with rock carvings near the water, between which bays and bays are concentrated.

West Bank

Shoksha- an old Vepsian village, 60 km. from Petrozavodsk. The history of the village began with the extraction and processing of crimson quartzite in it. This is the only deposit of royal and time-tested stone. It was used in the decoration of the Kazan Cathedral, the Mausoleum, the Winter Palace, and was also supplied to France for Napoleon's tombstone.
16 km from Shoksha you will see the ruins of one of the oldest in Karelia, the Annunciation Iono-Yashezersky monastery (the village of Sheltozero, surrounded by forest lambushka lakes), already mentioned in the sources during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The desert was founded by a student of Alexander Svirsky - Jonah. Now the monastery is being restored.

Kolgostrov is one of the largest islands in Lake Onega, with an area of ​​about 7 sq. km. interesting object on the rock "Bell" is located in the southwestern part of the island - a "ringing stone" in the form of a boulder, when hitting the upper part of which with a small cobblestone, the stone makes a melodic sound, reminiscent of the ringing of a church bell.

Where to stay

Recreation away from civilization on the shores of the most picturesque Lake Onega can be not only serene, but also comfortable housing, each version of which is equipped with all the amenities of modern life. From the variety offered, any guest will find a place to their liking and taste.
At the recreation center "Zaonego.Ru" there are cottages with a high level of comfort (7 km from the object), a house with amenities in the Kizhi skerries area. Services: hunting (1000 rubles / person / day), fishing (500 rubles / 8 hours), boat trips (from 700 rubles / day), excursions (from 2000 rubles), sauna, barbecue.
Tourist base "Senoval" (village of Garnitsy, 7 km from Kizhi), guest houses with sauna, kitchen, smokehouse and barbecue, shop 3 km. The cost of living is from 2800 rubles per day.
Tourist base "Big Medveditsa" (M18, 27th km from Medvezhyegorsk), guest complex for 2 people. - from 1800, VIP-cottage - from 3000, cottage for a fisherman for 6 people - from 4200 rubles / day.

Fishing

IN Onega lake there are about 50 species of fish, among them: pike, perch, bream, pike perch, catfish, burbot, sterlet and even salmon and trout. Such diversity is determined by the complexity of the bottom topography due to alternating depressions and elevations of depths, which creates favorable conditions for its expansion.
The most common type of fishing that even a beginner can master is trolling (using a powered boat), which can also use a downrigger to catch deep sea fish. Spinning fishing is also used - throwing a bait into the water, which then begins to slowly pull up, simulating movement towards the shore.

Fishing pier, Kvartsitny village (70 km from Petrozavodsk). Services: boats, echo sounders, barbecue, smokehouse. Renting a boat for 4-5 people for 8 hours will cost about 10 thousand rubles, including the cost of fuel and fishing tackle.

Country club "Silver Onega". Services: licenses for salmon fishing - 500 rubles, instructor, tackle, storage of the catch - 50 rubles / piece / day. A boat for 3 people for 5 hours will be 12,000, a catamaran for 6 people for the same time - 15,000 rubles.

White nights in Karelia are considered one of the attractions of this region, and compared to St. Petersburg, they are longer here, starting from May holidays and ending in August. This phenomenon is of particular interest to lovers of picturesque landscapes, when all nature is filled with magical colors. At this time of day it is quite light, almost like daytime. It was during this period that lovers extreme species rest annually gathers at the White Nights rally.

Discover your corner in Lake Onega! Enjoy the silence Karelian nature and the beauty of local landscapes, get an unforgettable experience of a great holiday!

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The second largest lake in Europe after Ladoga. Refers to the Baltic Sea basin of the Atlantic Ocean.

The area of ​​the lake without islands is 9690 km², and with islands - 9720 km²; the volume of water mass - 285 km³; length from south to north - 245 km, maximum width - 91.6 km. Average depth- 30 m, and the maximum - 127 m.

The cities of Petrozavodsk, Kondopoga and Medvezhyegorsk are located on the shores of Lake Onega. About 50 rivers flow into Lake Onega, and only one flows out - the Svir.

Etymology

In early Russian written monuments it is mentioned as Onego. The origin of the name is unknown. Probably the ancient, Dauphine origin of the name of the lake.

There are several versions of the origin of the name:

• Academician A. M. Sjogren produces the name of the lake from Fin. ääni - sound voice, hence - " sounding ("noisy") lake".
• A. L. Pogodin deciphers this toponym from the Saami. agne- "sand" + jegge- low plain.
• Professor, Doctor of Philology I. I. Mullonen believes that the name of the lake could come from the Saami. ane and Baltic-Finnish anine/aniz, which means "large, significant."

Physical and geographical characteristics

History of formation

The basin of Lake Onega of glacial-tectonic origin. In the Paleozoic (300-400 million years ago), the entire territory of the modern basin of Lake Onega was covered by a shelf sea in the vicinity of the ancient Baltic continent, which was also located in equatorial latitudes.

Sedimentary deposits of that time - sandstones, sands, clays, limestones - cover the crystalline basement, consisting of granites, gneisses and diabases, with a thick layer (over 200 m).

The modern relief was formed as a result of the activity of the ice sheet (the last, Valdai glaciation, ended about 12 thousand years ago). After the retreat of the glacier, the Littorina Sea was formed, the level of which was 7-9 m higher than the current level of the Baltic Sea.

Coasts, bottom topography and hydrography

The area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe mirror of Lake Onega is 9.7 thousand km² (without islands), the length is 245 km, the width is about 90 km. northern shores rocky, strongly indented, southern - mostly low, undivided.

In the northern part, numerous lips protrude deeply into the mainland, elongated like claws of cancer. Here, far into the lake, the huge peninsula of Zaonezhye protrudes, to the south of which lies Bolshoi Klimenetsky Island.

To the west of them is the deepest (up to 100 m or more) part of the lake - Bolshoye Onego with Kondopoga bays (with depths up to 78 m), Ilem-Gorskaya (42 m), Lizhemskaya (82 m) and Unitskaya (44 m). Petrozavodsk Onego with its bays extends to the south-west of the Big Onego Petrozavodsk Bay and small Yalguba and Pinguba.

To the east of Zaonezhye, a bay stretched to the north, Northern part which is called Povenetsky, and the southern - Zaonezhsky Bay. Deep areas alternate here with shoals and groups of islands, which divide the bay into several parts. The southernmost of these sites is Small Onego with depths of 40-50 m. There are many stones near the shores of the lake.

The average depth of the lake is 31 m, maximum depth in the deepest northern part of the lake it reaches 127 m. The average depth in the central part is 50-60 m, closer to the south the bottom rises to 20-30 m. Lake Onega is characterized by numerous pronounced rises and falls of the bottom. In the northern part of the lake there are many troughs, alternating with high bottom rises, forming banks, on which industrial trawlers often fish. Much of the bottom is covered with silt. Typical forms are luds (shallow stony shoals), selgas (deep-water elevations of the bottom with stony and sandy soils, in the southern part of the lake), underwater ridges and ridges, as well as depressions and pits. Such a relief creates favorable conditions for the life of fish.

The regime of Lake Onega is characterized by a spring rise in water, which lasts 1.5-2 months, with an annual water level amplitude of up to 0.9-1 m. The flow from the lake is regulated by the Verkhnesvirskaya hydroelectric power station. Rivers bring up to 74% of the incoming part of the water balance (15.6 km³ per year), 25% falls on precipitation. 84% of the expenditure part of the water balance falls on the runoff from the lake along the Svir River (an average of 17.6 km³ per year), 16% - on evaporation from the water surface. The highest water levels of the lake are in June - August, the lowest - in March - April. There are frequent unrest, storm waves reach up to 2.5 m in height. The lake freezes in the central part in mid-January, in the coastal part and in the bays - in late November - December. At the end of April, the mouths of the tributaries are opened, the open part of the lake - in May. The water in the open deep parts of the lake is transparent, with visibility up to 7-8 m. In the bays it is slightly less, up to one meter or less. The water is fresh, with a mineralization of 10 mg/l.

The basin area of ​​Lake Onega is 66,284 km².

About 50 rivers flow into the lake, at least 110 tributaries, most of which are small rivers and streams, including Korovya, Gimrek, Rybreka, Sheltozerka, Yani, Shoksha, Petruchey, Merozlov, Vantik, Bolshaya Uya, Uyka, Derevyanka, Orzega, Neluxa, Stone stream, Lososinka, Neglinka, Tomitsa, Shuya, Padas , Nyuchkina, Dogmoruchey, Anga, Syalnaga, Suna, Chapa, Chebinka, Vikshrechka, Listiga, Unica, Small Pigma, Matkozero, Vozhmarikha, Pizhey, Lelrechka, Sudma, Tambitsa, Kaley, Tsarevka, Makushikha, Vichka, Lumbushka, Pindushka, Belomorsko- Baltic Canal, North Izhmuksa, South Izhmuksa, Arzhem, Vozritsa, Neleksa, Shoivan, Nemina, Lukdozhma, Kodacha, Pyalma, Pudozh, Tuba, Yalganda, Oravruchey, Chazhva, Somba, Vodla, Andoma, Vytegra, Megra, Pertruchey, Oshta, Puinzha .

Only one river flows out - the Svir.

It connects the lake with the White Sea, and through the Volga-Baltic waterway - with the Volga River, the Caspian and Black Seas. With the creation of the Verkhnesvirskaya hydroelectric power station, it became a reservoir (area 9950 km²).

The total number of islands in Lake Onega reaches 1650, and their area is 224 km². One of famous islands on the lake is the island of Kizhi, on which the museum-reserve of the same name is located with wooden churches built in the 18th century: Spaso-Preobrazhensky and Pokrovsky. Most large island- Big Klimenetsky (147 km²). There are several settlements on it, there is a school. Other islands: Bolshoy Lelikovsky, Suysari.

Flora and fauna

The low shores of Lake Onega are swamped and flooded when the water level rises. On the shores of the lake and on its islands, in reed and reed thickets, ducks, geese and swans nest. The coastal area is covered with dense taiga forests in a virgin state.

Lake Onega is distinguished by a significant variety of fish and aquatic invertebrates, including a significant number of relics of the Ice Age. In the lake there are sterlet, lake salmon, lake trout, brook trout, ludnaya char, pit char, vendace, vendace-kilets, whitefish, grayling, smelt, pike, roach, dace, silver bream, bream, sabrefish, golden carp, char, loach , catfish, eel, pike perch, perch, ruff, Onega slingshot, sculpin, burbot, river and stream lamprey. In total, 47 species and varieties of fish belonging to 13 families and 34 species are found in Lake Onega.

Ecological state

Behind recent times the impact on the ecosystem of Lake Onega grew rapidly, especially in terms of pollution. The greatest pressure is experienced by the northwestern and northern parts of the lake, where the Petrozavodsk, Kondopoga and Medvezhyegorsk industrial centers are located. 80% of the population and more than 90% of the industrial potential of the basin are concentrated here.

Accounted pollution from three industrial hubs is about 190 million m³ of sewage and drainage water and 150 thousand tons of emissions into the atmosphere per year. The volume of technogenic wastewater in the Onega Lake basin is about 315 million m³ per year, of which 46% is industrial and economic, 25% is storm water and 16% is drainage and reclamation water. The intake of biogenic elements into the lake is: phosphorus - 810 tons, total nitrogen - 17 thousand tons per year, and 280 tons of phosphorus and 11.8 thousand tons of nitrogen are taken out of the lake with the waters of the Svir River, that is, 68% of phosphorus is accumulated in the lake and 31% nitrogen.

The fleet and motor boats (about 8000 units) with exhaust gases, discharges from cooling systems, leaks pollute the aquatic environment mainly with oil products (about 830 tons per navigation), phenols (0.5 tons), lead (0.1 tons), sulfur oxides , nitrogen and carbon.

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Helpful information

Lake Onega
Onego
Veps. Anine
Karelian. Oniegu
fin. Ääninen, Äänisjärvi

Tourism resources

Cities

The city of Petrozavodsk is the capital of the Republic of Karelia and the most Big city located on the shores of Lake Onega. Founded in 1703 by Peter I. On the territory of Petrozavodsk is a large number of monuments of architecture. The most famous of them are: The architectural ensemble of the Round Square of the end of the 18th century, the building of the former provincial male gymnasium built in 1790, architectural ensemble Karl Marx Avenue of the 1950-1960s, the embankment of Lake Onega with a large number of sculptures - gifts from sister cities and others.

Kondopoga has been known since 1495. The main attraction of the city is the Assumption Church, a monument of wooden architecture of Lake Onega. The church was erected in 1774. Its height is 42 meters, which makes it one of the tallest wooden churches Russian North. The city has two carillons of 23 and 18 bells, Ice Palace for 1850 seats and the Palace of Arts with an organ hall.

Medvezhyegorsk was founded in 1916. Since 1931 - the capital of the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. 15 km from Medvezhyegorsk is Sandarmokh - the place of mass executions of the NKVD and the burial places of prisoners who worked on the canal.

Kizhi Island

The main attraction of the lake is the island of Kizhi with the eponymous State Historical, Architectural and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve. There are 89 monuments on its territory. wooden architecture XV-XX centuries. The center of the island is the architectural ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost of the 18th century, consisting of the twenty-two-domed summer church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the nine-domed winter church of the Intercession of the Virgin and the hipped bell tower. In 1990, Kizhi Pogost was included in the List world heritage UNESCO.

Onega petroglyphs

Onega petroglyphs are located on the eastern coast of Lake Onega. They date back to the 4th-2nd millennium BC. e. Petroglyphs are scattered in scattered groups on the rocks of capes Besov Nos, Kladovets, Gazhiy, Peri Nos and on Gury Island. In general, the Onega petroglyphs cover a section of the lake shore 20.5 km long and has approximately 1200 figures and signs.

Economic importance

The cities of Petrozavodsk, Kondopoga, Medvezhyegorsk, and the urban-type settlement of Povenets are located on the shores of Lake Onega. The lake is navigable, it is part of the waterway, which is part of the Volga-Baltic waterway and the White Sea-Baltic Canal, connecting the basins of the Baltic, Caspian and northern seas.

Through the system of canals and rivers, cargoes from Petrozavodsk can be sent to any countries of the coastal sea zone: from Germany to Iran. Along the southern shore of the lake, from the Svir River to the Vytegra River, the Onega Shipping Canal was dug. Cargo turnover on Lake Onega is 10-12 million tons.

According to the White Sea-Onega Shipping Company (BOP), total number ship calls for navigation is 10.3 thousand (1992). On the shores of Lake Onega there are 2 ports (Petrozavodsk and Medvezhyegorsk), 5 marinas (Kondopoga, Povenets, Shala, Vytegra, Voznesenye) and 41 stopping points.

Regular passenger traffic there is no lake, but regularly several times a day during navigation along the routes Petrozavodsk - Kizhi and Petrozavodsk - Velikaya Guba there are tourist boats and "meteors". Besides, passenger ships go along the route Petrozavodsk - Shala.

Since 1972, in the waters of Lake Onega, annually at the end of July, the largest in Russia "Onega sailing regatta" is held - the open championship of Russia in sailing among cruising yachts.

Fishing is developed in the lake. The following 17 species are of the most important commercial importance: vendace, smelt, whitefish, burbot, pike perch, roach, ruff, perch, bream, pike, salmon and char; smaller - ide, grayling, dace, bleak and crucian carp.

Its area with the islands, according to Strelbitsky, is 9751.1 km2

Lake Onega is elongated along the north-north-west line and its greatest length between the Black Sands in the south and the mouth of the Kumsa in the north reaches 220 km, and the greatest width from Logm Lake to the Pudozhsky churchyard is 86 km. The height of the lake is about 45 m. According to the nature of the structure, Lake Onega can be divided into two parts by a line running from Petrozavodsk to the mouth of the Vodla River. The entire southern part of the lake is one vast basin with a slightly winding coastline, while the northern part has the character of skerries: here the lake branches into many narrow and long bays, maintaining a general direction from north-northwest to south-southeast. This nature of the shores significantly increases the length of the coastline of the lake, reaching up to 1,280 kilometers.

The shores of Lake Onega are mostly elevated. In its northern and western parts are covered, the southern part of the banks is low and especially near the mouth of the Vytegra River. East coast sandy in the southern and middle parts, formed by the deposits of the lake itself; three terraces can be traced inland here; further north East Coast the lake becomes elevated and is composed of solid. The nature of the structure of the northwestern part of the lake, with its narrow bays, elongated from the northwest to the southeast and separated by the same narrow and long ridges, serves as one of the confirmations of the spread of an extensive cover here during the ice age.

Lake Onega in Medvezhyegorsk

Lake Onega receives a number of tributaries, of which the most significant flow into it from the southeast and east - these are the Vodla, Andoma and Vytegra rivers. Taking, in addition, many more rivers and streams that serve as the sources of a whole mass of lakes surrounding Lake Onega, the latter forms an extensive water basin, occupying up to 58,328 square meters. kilometers. The only source of all this mass of water is the Svir River, which flows out of the southwestern end of the lake and flows into Ladoga, entering, together with the latter, into the system of the Neva river basin. Lake Onega, occupying an intermediate position between and, could play a big role in the inland waterway between and, if there was a navigable connection with the latter.

Coastline differs sharply in character in its southern and northern parts. As already mentioned above, in the first part the coasts are slightly indented and there are no deeply protruding bays. On the contrary, the northern and northeastern parts of the lake are replete with bays, and, just as it is seen in Ladoga. A particularly large tortuosity of the coastline begins at Petrozavodsk and ends at Povenets. All the most significant bays are located along this stretch of the coast; of these, the most notable are the following six:

To the north-west of Petrozavodsk, a vast bay of the same name stretches, which, together with Lake Logmo, which forms its continuation, reaches 17 km. length; at the entrance it has about 7 km. width; near the entrance there are several islands from the south and from the north.

Further north is a large bay Kondopazhskaya, extending deep into the mainland for 30 km. The width of the entrance is about 7 km, but it narrows to 5 km. the island of Suisari. Like the Petrozavodsk Bay, Kondopazhskaya Bay also has lakes as its continuation, stretched in that direction. IN western part lips flows into the Suna River, on which famous waterfall Kivach.

Lizhma Bay- a narrow and long bay, jutting out into the mainland for 35 kilometers; its width at the entrance is about 5 km., in some places it narrows to several hundred meters between the islands, of which there are quite a lot. The river Lizhma flows into it.

Unitskaya Bay, up to 45 km long. and a width of 6 km. up to several hundred meters. Guba is occupied by a whole archipelago of islands.

Guba Velikaya, jutting out for 20 kilometers into the Zaonezhie peninsula; the width at the entrance to the bay reaches 9-10 km. Several islands are located in the southwestern wider part.

Povenets Bay- this is the name of the entire north-eastern part of the lake, separating the Zaonezhie peninsula from the mainland. Its greatest width is opposite the city of Povenets, where it reaches 20 km. Three more very narrow and long bays (up to 20 km long, 2 km wide and less) separate from this bay, extending far into the northeastern part of the Zaonezhie peninsula.

Peninsulas and islands. Due to the long and narrow bays of the northwestern part of the lake, there is no shortage of peninsulas, of which the most significant lies between the Unitskaya Bay and the Povenetsky Bay. Its length, counting from the top of the Unitskaya Bay, is up to 70 km, and its maximum width is up to 32 km. The width of the isthmus connecting it with the mainland is about 10 km. In addition to the Great Bay and three others that separate from the Povenets Bay, the interior of the peninsula is cut by several more narrow and long lakes stretched parallel to all the bays of this part of the lake.

There are many islands, but they are all located in its northern part: the largest of them is Klimetsky, at the southeastern tip of Zaonezhye. It is about 24 km long. and about 7 km wide. Of the others are remarkable: Kizh, Kerk, Deer, Sennogubsky, Suisari. Some islands, especially Klimets, are quite densely populated.

Onega lake. Great Guba

According to the works, the line is 21 meters deep, following, in general, quite close to the outline of the shores, and is significantly removed from them at the southwestern tip of the lake. Then this line completely leaves aside: the Unitskaya Bay, the strait between the island of Klimetsky and Zaonezhie, the Velikaya Bay and the middle part of the Povenets Bay. Inside this isobath, in the northern part of the southern, wide half of the lake, a vast area is occupied by a basin with depths of 9–12 meters, in the middle of which there are several places with depths reaching 14.2–14.5 meters.

The greatest depths are found north of the line Petrozavodsk - the mouth of the Vodla River. Here is the greatest depth of 124 m. And further to the north there are several more depressions with depths of 111, 115.5 and even 132.5 meters. These depths are located between Zaonezhie and the mainland. It should be noted that all with the greatest depths, both in the northern and southern parts of the lake, are elongated along the direction characteristic of Lake Onega from the north-north-west to the south-south-east. Then significant depths are still found in the northernmost tip of the Povenets Bay, where they reach up to 92.4 meters.

Water level and current. The correct annual fluctuations in the level of Lake Onega are insignificant: the largest level difference measured so far (in 20 years) is 1.8 meters. These studies did not show the existence of any regular currents in the lake. In the middle, pelagic part, they depend on the direction of the blowers, taking on a constant character of the current only at the mouths of the rivers flowing into the lake and against the mouth of the Svir River - the source of the lake.

Opening and freezing. There are very few observations on this issue: at Ascension, the average opening occurs on May 5, at Petrozavodsk, too, and freezing at Ascension on December 22, at Petrozavodsk on November 26. The average number of days of ice-free surface for the first point is 231, for the second - 205. In winter, the lake is covered with a continuous ice cover, along which there is communication across the lake. The duration of navigation is, of course, somewhat less than the number of ice-free days.

The average depth of the lake is 31 m, the maximum depth in the deepest northern part of the lake reaches 127 m. The average depth in the central part is 50-60 m, closer to the south the bottom rises to 20-30 m. bottom depressions. In the northern part of the lake there are many troughs, alternating with high bottom rises, forming banks, on which industrial trawlers often fish. Much of the bottom is covered with silt. Typical forms are luds (shallow stony shoals), selgas (deep-water elevations of the bottom with stony and sandy soils, in the southern part of the lake), underwater ridges and ridges, as well as depressions and pits. Such a relief creates favorable conditions for the life of fish. The regime of Lake Onega is characterized by a spring rise in water, which lasts 1.5-2 months, with an annual water level amplitude of up to 0.9-1 m. The flow from the lake is regulated by the Verkhnesvirskaya hydroelectric power station. Rivers bring up to 74% of the incoming part of the water balance (15.6 km 3 per year), 25% falls on precipitation. 84% of the expenditure part of the water balance falls on the runoff from the lake along the Svir River (an average of 17.6 km 3 per year), 16% - on evaporation from the water surface. The highest water levels of the lake are in June - August, the lowest - in March - April. There are frequent unrest, storm waves reach up to 2.5 m in height. The lake freezes in the central part in mid-January, in the coastal part and in the bays - in late November - December. At the end of April, the mouths of the tributaries are opened, the open part of the lake - in May. The water in the open deep parts of the lake is transparent, with visibility up to 7-8 m. In the bays it is slightly less, up to one meter or less. The water is fresh, with a mineralization of 10 mg/l.

Among the forests, rocks and swamps of Karelia, a large lake of a completely unusual shape has spread its vast expanses of water. Like an unknown monster, it stretched its tentacles-gulfs far to the north; one of them in its shape resembles a trunk, the other - a powerful claw of a huge cancer. This is Lake Onega, or Onego, as the Russians called it from time immemorial, the second largest freshwater lake in Europe.

It is said that in the Old Finnish language the word "onego" means "smoking lake", and this name appeared due to frequent fogs in the area. However, some geographers do not agree with this and believe that the name passed to the lake from the river flowing to the east of it (or, conversely, the river took its name from the lake). Onego is also called the younger sister of the great Ladoga. And although it is two times smaller, it is almost a good fifty kilometers longer. It is curious to find out: why do lake scientists consider these giant reservoirs of Europe to be sisters?

For this, it turns out, there are serious reasons. The giant lakes are related not only by the fact that they are the largest on the continent and are located close to each other. The main thing is that they were born almost simultaneously after the retreat of the last glaciers. Large depressions, the bottoms of which are occupied by the Ladoga and Onega lakes, existed even in preglacial times. They arose in ancient geological epochs during shifts and faults in the earth's crust. Glaciers, which repeatedly advanced from the north to the territory of Europe, smoothed out, or, as they say, “ploughed out”, the bottom of the lake basins, made them more even.

The southern and northern parts of Lake Onega differ sharply from each other, especially in the structure and outline of the shores. The southern part of the lake is a vast stretch, the Central Lake Onega. Most of the lake waters are concentrated in it, and the depth here is significant - in some places 100-110 meters. The shores are varied - rocky, sandy, swampy. Completely different shores in the northern part of the lake. Here it is divided into two bays - Big and Small Lake Onega. Crashing into the southern tip of the Baltic Crystalline Shield, they stretched far to the north.

The eastern bay from the Small Lake Onega stretches northward to the city of Medvezhyegorsk and in that area is called Povenetsky. From him, the city of Povenets got its name, where one of the most important artificial waterways of our country begins - the White Sea-Baltic Canal, which connected the Volga with the White Sea. Big Lake Onega is divided into bays, which are called here bays. There are three of them - Kondopozhskaya, Ilem-Gorskaya and Lizhemskaya. The shores of bays are very indented. They are covered with forest, rocky and often break off directly to the water with sheer cliffs.

Numerous small bays are separated by headlands. The ends of the capes seem to have been crushed by someone with a giant hammer, and therefore stone placers, or, in the local language, luds, formed here in abundance. When they rage strong winds, the moons protrude from the water. Between large bays there is a vast peninsula of Zaonezhie - the land of forests, rocks, swamps and ancient legends.

Lake Onega is rich in islands. There are more than one and a half thousand of them. Covered with dense forests, with shores indented with bays and bays, the islands give the lake a peculiar charm and picturesqueness. This was noted by the writer M. M. Prishvin: “The islands seemed to rise above the water and hung in the air, as it seems here in very calm weather ...” Indeed, the islands seem to be “hanging”, because in clear weather they are, as if in a mirror are reflected in the flat surface of the lake.

The largest among the islands are Klimetsky, Bolshoy Lelikovsky, Suysari. There are wild, uninhabited islands where a human foot rarely sets foot, and there are those that are famous and known to the whole world, such as Kizhi, a nature reserve famous for its wooden monuments of folk architecture, or South Deer, the burial place of the ancient inhabitants of this region. Numerous large and small rivers replenish Lake Onega with their waters.

Among them are Shuya, Suna, Vodla, Andoma, Vytegra. Some of them are stormy, with rapids and waterfalls, others are quiet and calm. The position of its level depends on how much water the rivers bring to the basin of the lake. In the spring, during the melting of snow, the tributaries become high-water, intensely feed the lake. Its level rises until the end of June. The snow reserves in the basins will run out - the river flow will drop sharply, the lake level will begin to gradually decrease.

Summer in Prionezhye is cool, breezes often blow. During the day they blow from the lake to land, and at night - into reverse direction. The lake is rarely calm - only on quiet summer white nights. Lake Onega is amazingly beautiful with its severe northern beauty, especially when its motionless surface is painted with pinkish reflections of the morning dawn. Autumn is a rainy time, with winds, storms, frosts. Storms rage frequently. They swoop in suddenly, uplift big waves, break the rafts of the forest, drive logs to the shores. Uncomfortable at this time on the lake.

From November to mid-April, a cold winter reigns in Prionezhye with snowstorms and snowstorms, frosts reach -30-40 degrees. At the beginning of winter, first of all, shallow bays and bays in the northern part of the lake, sheltered from gusts of wind, are covered with ice. The freeze-up gradually spreads to the south, covering all new parts of the lake. Central Lake Onega does not freeze for a long time. In a large mass of its waters there is still a lot of heat, and the winds that walk over the lake help to fight the freeze-up, breaking up the freezing areas.

Only in mid-January, frost conquers the water element, calms it down, dresses it with ice armor. Under the ice cover, Lake Onega sleeps until the beginning of spring. In May, the ice melts.

beautiful northern nature Prionezhie. This is a truly forested region with rich timber resources. Long-staple Karelian spruce grows here, from which excellent quality paper is produced, beautiful furniture, famous all over the world, is made from the famous Karelian birch. There are protected groves here, which Peter the Great bequeathed to his descendants. Moose, bears, wolves, wild boars, lynx, marten, otter, and squirrel are found in the dense Onega forests. The local reservoirs have become the second home of the North American muskrat. There are a great many birds here, including waterfowl; only about 200 species. The owner of the forest jungle is the royal capercaillie.

Forests of Prionezhie - a huge natural berry plantation, where all kinds of berries are presented in abundance northern edge- cranberries, strawberries, cranberries, cloudberries, blueberries, raspberries, currants, blueberries. Lake Onega is also famous for its fish wealth. It is inhabited by all kinds of fish typical for the lakes of Karelia. Perch, whitefish, grayling, smelt, vendace, roach are the most common fish, they can be found in any lake nook. Lamprey is found, for spawning it rises up the tributaries of the lake. Valuable commercial fish live here - salmon and trout.

By the way, the trout was not found in the lake before. She is a gift from Sevan, a guest from sunny Armenia. From there, millions of eggs of this fish were delivered by plane. The famous Sevan trout (ishkhan) took root, and Lake Onega became its second homeland. The Baikal omul also settled here. The lake has always played an important role in human life. It is sung in ancient epic works and in ancient legends. For thousands of years, man has created here original culture, whose material traces have survived to our time.

In one of the most famous museums in the world - the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg - you can see exhibits that tell about the culture and art of the ancient inhabitants of our Motherland. In the center of one of the halls is a huge dark red stone slab; its polished surface is dotted with images of deer, swans, fish, people; here you can see some mysterious signs, in the form of circles and lines. This granite block is a part of Lake Onega. It was broken out on the rocky cape Peri Nos and brought to the Hermitage for public viewing. The exhibit weighs tens of tons.

The drawings carved on the rock, which was brought from the shore of Lake Onega, are about four thousand years old. Neolithic man lived in many parts of the European North. He, obviously, was not very afraid of the winter cold, as evidenced by the remains of ancient settlement sites, found even on the shores of the White and Barents Seas. The collected information enabled scientists to map the settlement of Neolithic man. It clearly shows that in some places the settlements are closely grouped, forming, as it were, peculiar "cities" or densely populated areas.

These include sections of the middle course of the Sukhona River, the shores of the Beloye, Bozhe, Lachi, Onega lakes, the coast of the Onega Peninsula and the Kandalaksha Bay. And yet, of all such places, the shores of Lake Onega were the most inhabited.

The ancient Onega Lake obviously played a special role in the life of Neolithic man. It was here that two of the greatest monuments of antiquity were discovered: the Onega sanctuary and City of dead- Oleneostrovsky burial ground. Several rocky capes jut out into the lake from the eastern shore. Some of them are poorly marked and do not have names, but five other capes are the most famous. These are Karetsky Nos, Peri Nos, Besov Nos, Kladovets and Nazhy Nos. The capes are composed of a dark red layer of granite. Over the centuries, the wind and waves have polished the surface of the coastal rocks, it has become even and smooth. On the rocks, right next to the water, one can see some images carved on the surface of granite. They are invisible and somewhat reminiscent of children's drawings. There are many primitive images of men, deer, birds, frogs, lizards, boats, tools.

The drawings are arranged in groups and singly. Often there are episodes of hunting and fishing. There are images of fantastic animals and birds, and next to them are drawings of real animals. These are petroglyphs (ancient rock paintings), creations of artists of the Stone Age, for which polished coastal rocks served as a canvas, and a flint chisel served as a brush. About six hundred such petroglyphs were discovered on the shores of Lake Onega. Especially a lot of them, and the most diverse, is located on Cape Besov Nos. locals They called these drawings "demonic traces." The area of ​​rock carvings was a natural temple of the ancients, where religious rites and ceremonies were performed. Ancient people were adherents of the cosmic cult, especially the cult of the Sun, as evidenced by the numerous images of this luminary. The ancient inhabitants of the Onega coast had not only a sanctuary for performing religious rites, but also a family tomb where the dead were buried. It is known in the scientific world as the Oleneostrovsky burial ground and is located on the South Deer Island. Curious how the burial took place.

A hole was dug to a depth of about one and a half meters. Its bottom was abundantly sprinkled with red ocher. She was identified with fire and was supposed to scare away the demons of evil. Together with the deceased, objects that belonged to him during his lifetime, including stone axes and knives, spears and arrows, were placed in the pit. Various stone and bone amulets have been found - figures of people and animals; they were the owner's friends: they were supposed to protect from danger, illness, the evil eye, help in hunting and fishing.

Lake Onega has long since faithfully served man. He built a dwelling on the banks, hunted in the coastal forests, and fished in its waters. But the importance of the lake has increased even more in our era, when the paths leading to the near and distant seas cross - the White, Baltic, Caspian, Azov and Black. Three great waterways lead from Lake Onega to the north, west and south; The White Sea-Baltic Canal connects it with the White Sea, and the Volga-Balt (as the Volga-Baltic Waterway is called) - with by the Baltic Sea and Volga. Passenger liners, motor ships, boats glide through its expanses of water and, like giant snow-white birds, “meteors” and “rockets” rush.

On the shores of the lake there are several dozen ports and marinas, and among them the largest are Petrozavodsk, Kondopoga, Medvezhyegorsk, Povenets. Millions of tons of cargo and tens of thousands of passengers are annually transported across the lake. Vessels coming from the Volga or the Baltic to the North cross Lake Onega and approach the city of Povenets. This is where the lake path ends. Then they go along an artificial waterway - the White Sea-Baltic Canal. Lake Onega is located in the center of another waterway - the Volga-Balta. This path starts from the shores of the Baltic Sea, from St. Petersburg, goes along the Neva, the Ladoga canals, the Svir, Lake Onega and the Volga-Baltic Canal.

That's how great is the role of Lake Onega, which lies at the crossroads of large waterways, which are of great national economic importance! This does not exhaust the value of the lake; there are many industries that widely use it Natural resources and, above all, fish resources.

Did you know that pearls are found on the coast of Lake Onega? In the mouth sections of some tributaries, there is a bivalve mollusk, which forms small mother-of-pearl balls ranging in size from a millet grain to a large pea. It takes a lot of work for pearl divers to find among the shells on the silted bottom of the river one in which the treasured pearl has grown. The waters of Lake Onega are used to supply settlements and industrial enterprises - timber processing plants, shipyards, machine-building plants, pulp and paper mills. The coast of the lake is a natural pantry of a wonderful stone.

Multi-color building materials are mined here: red, pink, white and other shades of marble, black and greenish diabase, the famous Shoksha raspberry-colored quartzite, red, dark red and gray granite. A museum-reserve of wooden architecture has been created on the island of Kizhi, where many monuments of folk art have been collected. There is something to see, something to be sincerely surprised at the famous Onega Lake. Everything here is unusual - both ancient rock paintings, and immortal creations of Russian architects of past centuries, and monumental monuments modern era- settlements that arose from the ashes of conflagrations after the Great Patriotic War - and completely new cities created in recent years.

No wonder Lake Onega attracts thousands of visitors from around the world to its shores.