Tourism
The Vologda Oblast boasts its own "Switzerland" - the district of Vytegra which connects the Leningrad Oblast with Onega Lake. Lake Onega (9,890 sq km) situated between Lake Ladoga and the White Sea is the largest lake in the District of Vytegra. The second largest lake in Europe, it is 240 km (150 mi) long with a maximum width of 100 km (60 mi) and a maximum depth of 110 m (360 ft). The lake is located on the heavily glaciated Baltic Shield. Its shores are low and sandy in the south, rocky and indented in the north. It is frozen from November to May. The lake receives the Vytegra and the Volga rivers and drains south-west through the Svir River into Lake Ladoga. Parallel to the southern shore of the lake runs the Onega Canal, 72 km (45 mi) long, which joins the Svir and Vytegra rivers and forms part of the Volgo-Baltic Waterway.
Vytegra has been known since 1710 as a village of Vyangi at the confluence of the Vytegra and the Vyangi Rivers. In 1773 the settlement was transformed into a town of Vytegra. It is a town in the north-western part of the Vologda Oblast, located along the shores of the Vytegra River on Volgo-Baltic Waterway.
The district of Vytegra is situated in a very picturesque place. The spot affords a breath-taking panorama of the soaring forests, pure rivers and lakes, the expanse of still undeveloped fields and green coppices. Its remoteness from the oblast's industrial centre Cherepovets, the networks of rivers and numerous lakes make it possible to turn the district into a centre for tourism. The pure pleasures of the great outdoors increase the number of visitors. The forests contain an abundance of wilderness, wildlife and spectacular beauty.
Next to Onega Lake there is one of the most interesting places on the planet - Atleka - the place where the basins of the Atlantic ocean, the Arctic ocean and the Caspian sea join together. This spot is accessible only for scientists, geologists and small groups of tourists who dare to carry out independent study.
Excursions:
- Walking tour of Vytegra;
- Tour to the Andoma hill, rest on the Onega shore;
- Visit to the Vytegra museum and its affiliates (museum of nature, museum of local lore, museum of water iteneraries of the North);
- Museum of poet Nikolai Klyuev;
- Unique museum ship - B-440, Soviet Foxtrot (641) - class submarine. The Foxtrot class was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union. The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641. The Foxtrot class was completely obsolete by the time the last submarine was launched. The Russian Navy retired its last Foxtrots between 1995 and 2000. The museum ship in Vytegra was opened on December 10, 2005. Numerous visitors flock to the museum from different parts of Russia and abroad.
Vytegra is called a port of five seas. In the reign of Peter the Great the Mariinskaya water system passed through the territory of the district. Now it boasts the Volgo-Baltic Waterway with six sluices.
Itineraries:
- Voyage along Onega Lake visiting the Andoma hill, the Muromsky monastery (settlement of Ust'ye) and a geological monument;
- Voyage along the lakes of the district of Vytegra (10 all in all);
- Trip to Atleka, the place where the basins of the Atlantic ocean, the Arctic ocean and the Caspian sea join together;
- Bus tour "From Mariinskaya Water System to Volgo-Baltic Waterway";
- Bus tour visiting the places where the poet Nikolai Klyuev used to live;
- Voyage along the Tudozero;
- Trip to a reserve located near the Shimozero, a lake that sometimes suddenly disappears together with its fish. It usually happens in winter. In this case the inhabitants of the shores see only a silty bottom and a crater left here and there, through which all the water has gone down. Once in a while (in 2-3 years), the water comes back, very often together with fish. However, some species, such as perch and bream, do not return to these lakes for a long time. The secret of this mystery lies in the nature of Vytegra bowels of the earth. They consist of limestone layers penetrated through with labyrinths of karst cavities, which take in any quantity of water.