Cities of Karelia: a list with a brief description

Karelia is a surprisingly beautiful land that has long become a desirable place of pilgrimage for many tourists from all over the world. They are attracted not only by magnificent landscapes and crystal lakes, but also by architecture, as well as the sights of cities, unique and homely. Let's talk about them.

Major cities of Karelia: list

In total there are 13 cities in Karelia with a relatively low population density. The list is headed by the capital of the region - Petrozavodsk, located on the shore of Onega Lake and occupying 135 square meters. Km. The history of Petrozavodsk begins long before 1777, when a small village became a city. The heyday came from the time of Peter the Great, by the decree of which on the bank of Onega was built a weapons factory. Picturesque lakes in the city, an abundance of museums, including the famous Kizhi Island, art galleries make the city amazing and unique. Here the most tempting tourist routes begin. The population of the Karelian capital is 277.1 thousand people

The second largest city (31.2 thousand people) is the rather young city of Kondopoga (1938), located not far from the capital. Mention of the first settlements in these places dates from the 15th century, and from the 40s of the 20th century marble deposits were discovered here. A special flavor of the city is given by unusual belfries - Dutch bells-carillons.

Cities of Karelia

The list will continue Kostomuksha - a city with a population of 29.5 thousand people, formed in 1983 on the site of an old village with the same name. It is located Kostomuksha on the shore of Kostomuksha Lake, and the mining enterprise Karelsky Okatysh became the town-forming enterprise.

Another city, which arose in 1943 and forms the Segezha urban settlement, is Segezha with a population of 27,500. Its location is Lake Vygozero, 267 km from Petrozavodsk.

Beautiful and attractive small, but remarkable cities of Karelia, whose list will be presented below:

• Sortalava, included in the list of historical cities of Russia, was founded in 1632. Number - 18,7 thousand people. Sortalava is the second largest tourist center after the capital of the republic. This is the starting point of water routes to the famous Valaam.

• Medvezhyegorsk - a city with a population of 14.5 thousand people, located 152 km from Petrozavodsk, was formed as a settlement of railroad builders to the gulfs of the Barents Sea. The city was recognized in 1938.

• Ancient Kem, located on the river Kemi and founded in 1785, and the former municipality of Marfa Boretskaya, a former parish, donated in 1450 to the Solovetsky Monastery. Today the population of the town is 11.8 thousand people.

Small Cities

The smallest entities are the following cities in Karelia (list):

• Pitkäranta (1940) - a settlement with 10.7 thousand inhabitants;

• Belomorsk (1938) - 10.1 thousand people;

• Suojärvi (1940) - 9.1 thousand people;

• Pudozh (1785) - 9.2 thousand people;

• Olonets (1649) - 8,2 thousand people;

• Lahdenpohja (1945) - 7,5 thousand people.

The cities of Karelia, the list of which we have presented, are unique and amazing. All of them, both old and newly emerged, leave a remarkable mark on the soul and force them to return to Karelia again and again.