Petrozavodsk (Russian: Петрозаводск; Karelian, Vepsian and Finnish: Petroskoi)[11] is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some 27 kilometers (17 mi). The population of the city is 280,890 as of 2022.[12]

Petrozavodsk
Петрозаводск
Other transcription(s)
 • KarelianPetroskoi
Petrozavodsk Bay, National Library of Karelia, Music Theater, Monument to Peter I, Church of Exaltation of Holy Cross on Zaretskoe Cemetery, Roundabout on the embankment of Lake Onega, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Main post office, Railway station
Petrozavodsk Bay, National Library of Karelia, Music Theater, Monument to Peter I, Church of Exaltation of Holy Cross on Zaretskoe Cemetery, Roundabout on the embankment of Lake Onega, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Main post office, Railway station
Flag
Coat of arms
Location of Petrozavodsk
Map
Petrozavodsk is located in Russia
Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk
Location of Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk is located in Karelia
Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk (Karelia)
Coordinates: 61°47′N 34°20′E / 61.783°N 34.333°E / 61.783; 34.333
CountryRussia
Federal subjectRepublic of Karelia[2]
Founded1703
City status sinceMarch 21, 1777
Government
 • BodyCity Council
 • MayorInna Kolykhmatova[3]
Area
 • Total135 km2 (52 sq mi)
Elevation
60 m (200 ft)
Population
 • Total261,987
 • Estimate 
(2018)[6]
279,190 (+6.6%)
 • Rank71st in 2010
 • Density1,900/km2 (5,000/sq mi)
 • Subordinated tocity of republic significance of Petrozavodsk[1]
 • Capital ofRepublic of Karelia[1]
 • Capital ofcity of republic significance of Petrozavodsk,[1] Prionezhsky District[1]
 • Urban okrugPetrozavodsky Urban Okrug[7]
 • Capital ofPetrozavodsky Urban Okrug,[7] Prionezhsky Municipal District[8]
Time zoneUTC+3 (UTC+03:00 Edit this on Wikidata[9])
Postal code(s)[10]
185000–185003, 185005, 185007, 185009–185016, 185019, 185023, 185026, 185028, 185030–185035, 185700, 185890, 185899, 185910, 185960–185963, 185965, 185970, 185980–185983, 185985
Dialing code(s)+7 8142
OKTMO ID86701000001
City DayLast Saturday of June
Websitewww.petrozavodsk-mo.ru

Etymology

edit

The name of the city is a combination of words Peter (Peter the Great) and zavod (meaning factory).

It was previously known as Shuysky Zavod (1703–1704) and Petrovskaya Sloboda (1704–1777), which was the first name of the city related to Peter the Great. It was renamed to Petrozavodsk after Catherine the Great granted the settlement the status of a city.[13]

An ancient Swedish name was Onegaborg, known from a map from 1592 of the Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius, and hence translated to Finnish as Äänislinna, a name used during the occupation of Eastern Karelia by Finnish forces during the Continuation War (1941–1944) in the context of World War II.

History

edit
 
A church in Petrozavodsk, as photographed ca. 1912 by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky

Archeological discoveries in the urban area indicate the presence of a settlement as far back as seven thousand years ago, and during the Middle Ages the site of modern city was marked by several lakeside villages. Within the city limits, the district of Solomennoje appears in surviving records dating back to the sixteenth century, and a map produced by the Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius at the end of that century places a settlement here called Onegaborg on the site of modern Petrozavodsk.[14]

On 11 September 1703, Prince Menshikov founded the settlement of Petrovskaya Sloboda ("Petrine Sloboda"). He did so at the behest of Tsar Peter the Great, who needed a new iron foundry to manufacture cannons and anchors for the Baltic Fleet at the time of the Great Northern War (1700–1721). At first the foundry used the name Shuysky zavod (literally, "factory at the Shuya River"), but a decade later it became Petrovsky zavod ("Petrine factory"), after the name of the reigning monarch.[11] From this form the present name of the city derives.

By 1717, Petrovskaya Sloboda had grown into the largest settlement in Karelia, with about 3,500 inhabitants, a timber fort, a covered market, and miniature palaces of the Tsar and Menshikov. The town's best-known landmark became the wooden church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which was rebuilt in 1772 and renovated in 1789. The church retained its original iconostasis until this relic of the Tsar Peter the Great's reign was destroyed by fire on October 30, 1924.

After Peter's death, Petrovskaya Sloboda became depopulated and the factory declined. It closed down in 1734, although foreign industrialists maintained copper factories in the vicinity.

The industry revived in 1773 when Catherine the Great established a new iron foundry upstream the Lososinka River. Designed to provide cannons for the ongoing Russo-Turkish Wars, the foundry was named Alexandrovsky, after Alexander Nevsky, who was considered a patron saint of the region. The factory was modernized and expanded under supervision of Charles Gascoigne in 1787–96. Local pundits claim that the first railway in the world (чугунный колесопровод) was inaugurated for industrial uses of the Alexandrovsky foundry in 1788.

 
Round Square in central Petrozavodsk

During Catherine's municipal reform of 1777, Petrovskaya Sloboda was incorporated as a town, whereupon its name was changed to Petrozavodsk. A new Neoclassical city center was then built, focused on the newly planned Round Square. In 1784 Petrozavodsk was large enough to supplant Olonets as the administrative center of the region. Although Emperor Paul abolished Olonets Governorate, it was revived as a separate guberniya in 1801, with Petrozavodsk as its administrative center.

During the Finnish occupation in the Continuation war (1941–1944), the city was styled as Äänislinna (or Ääneslinna), rather than the traditional Petroskoi. This name was a literal translation of Onegaborg, the name of a settlement marked on a 16th-century map by Abraham Ortelius near the present-day city, Ääninen being the Finnish toponym for Lake Onega. On 14 October 1941, occupation authorities opened the first concentration camp. By the liberation of Petrozavodsk there were 11 concentration camps.[15]

In 1977, Petrozavodsk was the epicenter of what is called the Petrozavodsk phenomenon.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
189713,000—    
192625,989+99.9%
193969,723+168.3%
1959135,256+94.0%
1970184,481+36.4%
1979234,103+26.9%
1989269,485+15.1%
2002266,160−1.2%
2010261,987−1.6%
2021234,897−10.3%
Source: Census data

Administrative and municipal status

edit

Petrozavodsk is the capital of the republic and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Prionezhsky District,[1] even though it is not a part of it.[2] As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of republic significance of Petrozavodsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the administrative divisions of the Republic of Karelia.[1] As a municipal division, the city of republic significance of Petrozavodsk is incorporated as Petrozavodsky Urban Okrug.[7]

Politics

edit
 
The administration and the Petrozavodsk council occupy the building at 2 Lenin Prospect

The Petrozavodsk city council is a representative body of the city district, consisting of 28 deputies elected for five years according to a mixed system - 14 by party lists and 14 by single-member constituencies. The current membership was elected in the elections on 19 September 2021. On 7 October 2021, Nadezhda Dreyzis (United Russia) was elected Chairman of the City Council.

Landmarks

edit
 
The Petrozavodsk State University

Petrozavodsk is distinguished among other towns of North Russia by its Neoclassical architectural heritage, which includes the Round Square (1775, reconstructed in 1789 and 1839) and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (consecrated in 1832). Among the town's landmarks are the outdoor statues of Peter I (bronze and granite, Ippolit Monighetti, 1873), Gavrila Derzhavin (a Russian poet who was the governor of Olonets in the 18th century), and Alexander Nevsky (erected outside Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in 2010).

The city has a fine frontage on the Gulf of Petrozavodsk. The modern embankment, inaugurated in 1994, displays an assortment of Karelian granites and marbles. It is lined with extravagant postmodernist sculptures presented by sister cities of Petrozavodsk from around the world. There is also a birch copse, where the first church of Petrozavodsk was built in 1703.

Petrozavodsk is home to the Karelia Philharmonic Orchestra (1933), the Karelian Musical Theater (1955, statuary by Sergey Konenkov), National Library of Karelia (1959), Finnish-speaking National Theatre of Karelia (1965), Petrozavodsk State University, a conservatory, a city museum founded in 1871, and a branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

One of the city's central landmarks is Lenin Square, an oval space with a large Soviet-era statue of Lenin in the center. The square is especially notable for English-speaking visitors because it is also called "round square" - an oxymoron in English, but not in Russian (kruglaya ploshad).

Suburbs

edit
 
Aerial view of Petrozavodsk

The village of Shoksha near Petrozavodsk contains a quarry of red and pink quartzite (Shoksha quartzite) which was used in construction of Saint Isaac's Cathedral and Lenin Mausoleum, among many other notable structures. There are also other quarries in the region excavating road aggregates (Goloday Gora – gabbro-diabase) near Derevyanka.

The suburb of Martsialnye Vody is the oldest spa in Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1714 and visited by the Tsar on four occasions. Its name means "The Waters of Mars" in Russian. Although Peter's palace at Martsialnye Vody has not survived, there is a museum devoted to the spa's history.

From Petrozavodsk Harbor, a hydrofoil service of "KareliaFlot" company carries people to the island of Kizhi, a World Heritage Site with an outdoor museum of ancient wooden architecture.

Transportation

edit
 
Petrozavodsk Airport

Automobile

edit

The distance to Moscow is 1010 km, St. Petersburg - 412 km, the distance to Finland along the route of the international highway «Blue Highway» does not exceed 350 km. The federal highway  E105   R 21 «Kola» (St. Petersburg — Murmansk — Norway) passes through the city. In addition, Petrozavodsk is the beginning of a number of roads of regional significance:   A 133 Petrozavodsk — Suoyarvi and R19 Petrozavodsk — VoznesenyeOshtinsky Pogost.

Railway

edit

Petrozavodsk station is a major junction of railway lines (to Saint Petersburg, Murmansk, Sortavala, Kostomuksha).[16]

 
Petrozavodsk Railway Station

Railway transportation is carried out by the Oktyabrskaya Railway (a branch of JSC Russian Railways). As part of the investment program of JSC «RZD» in 2005, a section of the Idel — Petrozavodsk — Svir railway was electrified.[17] Branded train of the Oktyabrskaya Railway № 17/18 «Karelia» (Petrozavodsk—Moscow).[18] Other trains of local formation are «Kalevala» (Petrozavodsk — St. Petersburg) and «Petrozavodsk - Kostomuksha». On December 28, 2012, the trial movement of the Petrozavodsk — Joensuu train began.[19]

Suburban rail transportation is carried out by the «North-Western Suburban Passenger Company».[20]

Trolleybus

edit

The start date of regular trolleybus traffic is September 5, 1961.[21] As of November 2009, 110 trolleybuses were in operation in the city (5 more are under conservation).[22]

 
Urban public transport

Petrozavodsk trolleybus system has 5 operating routes as of June 2022. The length of the trolleybus contact network in single-track terms is 95.5 kilometers. The fare is 38 rubles (from January 1, 2023).[23] In 2022, the purchase of new trolleybuses began.[24]

Autobus

edit

On May 9, 1915, bus traffic was opened in Petrozavodsk.[citation needed] Initially, a five-seater car, which belonged to A.V. Timofeeva, acted as a bus.[vague] The state bus fleet in Petrozavodsk appeared in 1921 (the future Convoy No. 1126).[citation needed] The bus in Petrozavodsk is still operating now.[when?]

Airport

edit

Geography

edit

Climate

edit

Under the Köppen climate classification, Petrozavodsk experiences a humid continental climate (Dfb) bordering on a subarctic climate (Dfc) and unlike other localities in Russia on its latitude, temperatures are relatively mild for the latitude. This is due to the influence of the milder oceanic and maritime air masses reaching the city from the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea, especially in winter and the moderating effect of the nearby lakes. The alternation of milder and colder air masses causes rapid changes in temperatures, especially during the cool half of the year. Winters, though long and cold, are mild for the high latitude, while summers are short and warm. The city experiences an average of 161 frost days per year, which is still less than places further east at the same latitude. The lake influence is stronger in summer, where Petrozavodsk has quite low diurnal temperature variation with mild nights for its latitude. Summer is moderately warm, autumn starts with clear but usually cool weather in the first half of September. Precipitation averages 611 millimetres or 24.06 inches annually.

Climate data for Petrozavodsk (1991–2020, extremes 1816–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 5.5
(41.9)
7.3
(45.1)
15.5
(59.9)
24.2
(75.6)
33.0
(91.4)
34.3
(93.7)
33.9
(93.0)
32.4
(90.3)
28.5
(83.3)
21.3
(70.3)
11.1
(52.0)
9.4
(48.9)
33.9
(93.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −5.7
(21.7)
−5.2
(22.6)
0.0
(32.0)
6.7
(44.1)
13.8
(56.8)
18.8
(65.8)
21.5
(70.7)
19.3
(66.7)
13.6
(56.5)
6.4
(43.5)
0.2
(32.4)
−3.3
(26.1)
7.2
(45.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) −8.4
(16.9)
−8.2
(17.2)
−3.5
(25.7)
2.5
(36.5)
8.9
(48.0)
14.1
(57.4)
17.1
(62.8)
15.0
(59.0)
10.0
(50.0)
3.8
(38.8)
−1.9
(28.6)
−5.6
(21.9)
3.7
(38.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −11.4
(11.5)
−11.4
(11.5)
−6.9
(19.6)
−1.3
(29.7)
4.1
(39.4)
9.4
(48.9)
12.7
(54.9)
11.1
(52.0)
6.8
(44.2)
1.5
(34.7)
−4.1
(24.6)
−8.1
(17.4)
0.2
(32.4)
Record low °C (°F) −41.6
(−42.9)
−39.3
(−38.7)
−30.0
(−22.0)
−19.3
(−2.7)
−9.8
(14.4)
−2.6
(27.3)
−0.1
(31.8)
−1.7
(28.9)
−5.0
(23.0)
−13.4
(7.9)
−27.5
(−17.5)
−36.8
(−34.2)
−41.6
(−42.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 38
(1.5)
29
(1.1)
31
(1.2)
32
(1.3)
48
(1.9)
61
(2.4)
82
(3.2)
81
(3.2)
59
(2.3)
56
(2.2)
51
(2.0)
44
(1.7)
612
(24.1)
Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) 16
(6.3)
21
(8.3)
22
(8.7)
5
(2.0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
5
(2.0)
11
(4.3)
22
(8.7)
Average rainy days 4 3 6 11 16 18 18 18 20 19 11 6 150
Average snowy days 26 24 20 10 4 0.3 0 0 1 8 20 27 140
Average relative humidity (%) 87 85 80 70 66 71 75 80 84 86 89 89 80
Mean monthly sunshine hours 18.2 53.5 135.5 192.4 271.5 285.1 286.9 226.2 131.8 59.7 18.1 5.2 1,684.1
Source 1: Погода и Климат[25]
Source 2: NOAA[26]

Notable people

edit

Twin towns – sister cities

edit
 
Yachting in Petrozavodsk
 
Petrozavodsk Music Theater building
 
Music festival in Petrozavodsk

Petrozavodsk is twinned with:[27]

edit

In the American television series The Sopranos, Tony Soprano's mistress, Irina Peltsin, is from Petrozavodsk.

The capture of the city by the Finnish army, and its looting, is depicted in the Finnish movie, The Unknown Soldier.

See also

edit

References

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Law #871-ZRK
  2. ^ a b Constitution of the Republic of Karelia
  3. ^ Vladimir Lyubarsky
  4. ^ Петрозаводск. Официальный сайт (in Russian). Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  5. ^ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
  6. ^ "26. Численность постоянного населения Российской Федерации по муниципальным образованиям на 1 января 2018 года". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Law #824-ZRK
  8. ^ Law #825-ZRK
  9. ^ "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  10. ^ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
  11. ^ a b "Petrozavodsk – Slovar sovremennih geografitšeskih nazvanii 2008". Geografitšeskaja entsiklopedija (in Russian). Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "ЧИСЛЕННОСТЬ ПОСТОЯННОГО НАСЕЛЕНИЯ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ ПО МУНИЦИПАЛЬНЫМ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯМ на 1 января 2022 года". Федеральная служба государственной статистики. January 1, 2022. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  13. ^ "Petrozavodsk city, Russia". RussiaTrek. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  14. ^ "Петрозаводск - это... Что такое Петрозаводск?". Словари и энциклопедии на Академике. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  15. ^ Веригин С. Г. Карелия в годы военных испытаний: Политическое и социально-экономическое положение Советской Карелии в период Второй мировой войны 1939—1945 гг. — Петрозаводск: Изд-во ПетрГУ, 2009. — 544 с.
  16. ^ Города России: Энциклопедия / Под редакцией Г. М. Лаппо. — М.: Научное издательство «Большая Российская энциклопедия», 2003. — Репр. изд. — 560 с.: ил., карты.
  17. ^ ОАО «РЖД»
  18. ^ "Карелия официально. Фирменный поезд № 17/18 сообщением Петрозаводск — Москва отметил своё двадцатилетие" (in Russian). Archived from the original on April 22, 2018.
  19. ^ "Первый поезд до Йоэнсуу отправился с вокзала в Петрозаводске". Карелинформ (in Russian). December 29, 2012. Archived from the original on January 7, 2013.
  20. ^ "ОАО СЗППК" (in Russian). Archived from the original on February 26, 2011.
  21. ^ "Троллейбусное управление Петрозаводска. Официальный сайт. Историческая хронология" (in Russian).[dead link]
  22. ^ "Городской Электротранспорт. Совмещённый трамвайно-троллейбусный сайт" (in Russian).[dead link]
  23. ^ "Стоимость проездных билетов". ptzgortrans.ru/ (in Russian). June 4, 2023.
  24. ^ "Петрозаводск закупит еще пять новых троллейбусов". karelinform.ru (in Russian).
  25. ^ "Climate Petrozavodsk". Pogoda.ru.net. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  26. ^ "Petrozavodsk 1991–2020". NOAA. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  27. ^ "Города-побратимы". petrozavodsk-mo.ru (in Russian). Petrozavodsk. Archived from the original on February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  28. ^ Official Website of the Municipality of Ejmiatsin

Sources

edit
  • Верховный Совет Карельской АССР. №473-ЗРК 30 мая 1978 г. «Конституция Республики Карелия», в ред. Закона №1314-ЗРК от 16 июля 2009 г «О внесении изменений в Конституцию Республики Карелия». Опубликован: отдельной брошюрой. (Supreme Soviet of the Karelian ASSR. #473-ZRK May 30, 1978 Constitution of the Republic of Karelia, as amended by the Law #1314-ZRK of July 16, 2009 On Amending the Constitution of the Republic of Karelia. ).
  • Законодательное Собрание Республики Карелия. Закон №871-ЗРК от 29 апреля 2005 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Республики Карелия», в ред. Закона №1895-ЗРK от 2 июня 2015 г. «О внесении изменения статью 9 Закона Республики Карелия "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Республики Карелия"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: газета "Карелия", №48, 7 мая 2005 г. (Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia. Law #871-ZRK of April 29, 2005 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of Karelia, as amended by the Law #1895-ZRK of June 2, 2015 On Amending Article 9 of the Law of the Republic of Karelia "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Republic of Karelia". Effective as of the official publication date.).
  • Законодательное Собрание Республики Карелия. Закон №824-ЗРК от 1 декабря 2004 г. «О наделении городских поселений статусом городского округа», в ред. Закона №1548-ЗРK от 3 ноября 2011 г «О внесении изменения в статью 2 Закона Республики Карелия "О наделении городских поселений статусом городского округа"». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: газета "Карелия", №139, 9 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia. Law #824-ZRK of December 1, 2004 On Granting Urban Okrug Status to Urban Settlements, as amended by the Law #1548-ZRK of November 3, 2011 On Amending Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Karelia "On Granting Urban Okrug Status to Urban Settlements". Effective as of the day which is ten days after the day of the official publication.).
  • Законодательное Собрание Республики Карелия. Закон №825-ЗРК от 1 декабря 2004 г. «О муниципальных районах в Республике Карелия», в ред. Закона №1694-ЗРK от 2 апреля 2013 г. «О преобразовании муниципальных образований "Нюхчинское сельское поселение" и "Сумпосадское сельское поселение" Беломорского муниципального района и внесении изменений в некоторые законодательные акты Республики Карелия». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: газета "Карелия", №141, 16 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia. Law #825-ZRK of December 1, 2004 On the Municipal Districts in the Republic of Karelia, as amended by the Law #1694-ZRK of April 2, 2013 On the Transformation of the Municipal Formations of "Nyukhchinskoye Rural Settlement" and "Sumposadskoye Rural Settlement" of Belomorsky Municipal District of the Republic of Karelia and on Amending Various Legislative Acts of the Republic of Karelia. Effective as of the day which is ten days after the day of the official publication.).
edit