Onega, Russia

Onega

Transportation

 

Description of Onega

Onega is a city (since 1780) in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. It is the administrative center of the Onega district. Onega is located in the north-west of the European part of Russia in the Arkhangelsk region at the mouth of the Onega river, 7 km from the Onega Bay of the White Sea, opposite the mouth of the Pongi river.

Most of the city is located on the right bank of the Onega River (which has a width of 800–1100 m here), the smaller part is on the left bank (the villages of Ponga and Legashevskaya Zapan). The city stretches for 7 km along the river, except for the left settlements, it icludes the villages Lesozavod (OLDK), Shalga, Gornyi, Dalniy. The part of the city with predominantly private buildings to the east (upstream) of the modern center is called the Verchovie (Upper River); it has a rectangular layout preserved from pre-revolutionary times, consisting mainly of three avenues parallel to the river and streets crossing them. It is the upper reaches of the historical Onega (together with the present central part, as well as the now inactive left-bank timber mill in the mouth of the Pongi) that most other parts of the city arose or became part of it after 1917.

Kiy Island, located in the White Sea opposite the mouth of the Onega River, is also included in the city.

 

Sights

Trinity Cathedral, ave. Kirov, 110a.
Lazarevskaya Church, st. Volodarsky, 25 (at the cemetery).
Administrative building of the Rusnorvegoles company, emb. Komarova, 2. Wooden building of the early 1920s.
Obelisk to the ship "Perseus", emb. Komarova, opposite d. 4.
Historical and Memorial Museum  , ave. Kirova, 67. Tue–Sat 9:00–17:00, lunch: 13:00–14:00.
House-Museum of A.S. Kuchina, ave. Kirova, 110. Wed–Sun 10:00–18:00, lunch: 13:00–14:00.

 

History of Onega

Some historians identify with Onega the churchyard "on the sea", mentioned as one of the many points for collecting a lesson in the charter of the Novgorod prince Svyatoslav Olgovich, issued in 1137 to the St. Sophia Cathedral on changing fees in favor of the Novgorod diocese. However, other authors identify this graveyard either with Nyonoksa or with Una.

Under the year 1556, “To the mouth of the Onega at the Prechistenka volost Ust-Onega” and “The same land village beyond the Onega to the mouth of the Ponga River” are mentioned. Until the 17th century, Ust-Onega was part of the Turchasovsky camp of the Kargopol district. The status of the city (at first under the name Onega) was given to the settlement in 1780 by the decree of Catherine II, when Onega became the county town of the Onega district.

On July 31, 1918, a detachment of interventionists under the command of Colonel Cudbert John Macy Thornhill captured Onega.

According to the law of the Arkhangelsk region of 2004, the city of regional subordination of Onega was included in the Onega district as a municipal formation (urban settlement) "Onega".

 


Transportation

Getting here

By train
The Belomorsk-Obozerskaya railway passes in the Onega region, but the city itself stands aside from it on a dead end line with a commuter train running from Obozerskaya not every day. This train has an extremely inconvenient schedule and an hour stands at the siding, which is why it spends as much as 4 hours on the road. It is more convenient to go to the Vonguda station on the main line, where there are more options: the long-distance Murmansk-Vologda train running every other day (there are seated cars) or suburban flights twice a day, to the east to Obozerskaya (2 hours) and to the west to Maloshuyka (1.5 hours).

Since September 2020, an electric train (rail bus) has been running from Arkhangelsk, running back and forth six times a week. Departure from the railway station of Arkhangelsk at 19:10 (you can also land at the stations of Smolny Buyan and Isakogorka), from Onega - at night at 02:03. The fare is 676 rubles, a ticket can be bought directly in the car. Travel time: 5 hours.

From Karelia, a long-distance train from Belomorsk takes 6 hours. Suburban trains do not run every day and are not connected.

Station Onega, at the end of Zagorodny Prospekt (3 km from the center). ☎ +7 (81839) 7-15-14. Ticket office: 12:00–14:00, 18:00–19:20. Small train station in the northern part of the city. There is a long-distance ticket office with not the most convenient working hours, and suburban tickets are sold before departure or directly on the train.
Wonguda station (30 km from the city).

By bus
Bus service is reduced to minibuses to Arkhangelsk and a rare suburb. Minibuses operate on pre-order, collecting passengers at addresses; run every half an hour from morning to evening, in Arkhangelsk depart from the hospital or railway station. A relatively up-to-date list of drivers' phone numbers is available here.

Suburban communication is practically non-existent. There is a daily minibus along the Onega tract to the village of Gorodok, the rest of the flights are operated no more than 1-2 times a week.

Bus station, st. Rasskazova, 20. ☎ +7 (81839) 7-14-60.

By car
From Arkhangelsk via Severodvinsk, 210 km. As far as Severodvinsk, asphalt, then a grader, laid through the dense taiga without a single settlement; we pass more or less in any weather, although the quality of the "coverage" can vary greatly depending on the season and the activity of the road services. To the south along the Onega is the same hopeless (but more interesting in terms of sights) grader to Plesetsk (250 km) - the Onega tract.

An irregular car ferry runs through Onega, the departure time of which is determined by the tide schedule and the mood of the ferryman. However, there are still no roads to the west of Onega, so even the most desperate jeepers do not risk driving from here towards Karelia.

On the ship
You are unlikely to be able to arrive in Onega by water, but you can, in principle, sail away from here - motor ships go to the left bank and to Kiy-island, for more details see Surroundings.

Pier, at the end of Oktyabrsky Prospekt.

 

Transport around city

Four city bus routes, of which quite often (every 10-15 minutes during the day) only bus number 1 runs from the bus station on the southern edge of the city to LDK (sawmill and woodworking plant) on the north.

 

Etymology

The city got its name from the Onega River, at the mouth of which it is located. According to the most common opinion, the name of the river goes back to Fin. eno-joki "big river": Prasaam. *εno, kild. jäänn, jān- "big river", Fin. eno "big river, stream, fairway", Karelian. eno "deep place, fairway (in a river)".

 

Geography

Onega is located in the north-west of the European part of Russia in the Arkhangelsk region at the mouth of the Onega River, 7 km from the Onega Bay of the White Sea, opposite the mouth of the Ponga River.

Most of the city is located on the right bank of the Onega River (which here has a width of 800-1100 m), the smaller part is on the left (the villages of Ponga and Legashevskaya Zapan). The city is stretched for 7 km along the river, in addition to the noted left-bank settlements, the settlements Lesozavod (OLDK), Shalga, Gorny, Dalniy stand out in it. The part of the city with predominantly private buildings to the east (up the river) from the modern center is called Verkhovye; it has a rectangular layout that has been preserved since pre-revolutionary times, consisting mainly of three avenues parallel to the river and streets crossing them; It is the Verkhovye that is the historical Onega (together with the current central part, as well as the now inactive left-bank sawmill at the mouth of the Ponga), most of the other parts of the city arose or became part of it after 1917.

Kiy-island, located in the White Sea opposite the mouth of the Onega River, is also included in the city.

 

Climate

The climate is temperate continental with frequent cyclone intrusions and high rainfall; It is characterized by moderately warm summers (from June to August) and moderately mild (for northern latitudes) winters. This is due to the coastal position and the influence of the Atlantic. A stable snow cover forms in mid-November and persists until the third decade of April. The duration of its occurrence in Onega is 150-170 days. The average snow depth is from 20 cm in December to 40–45 cm in the middle of winter, reaching a maximum of 50–60 cm in March.

Average annual air temperature: +2.7 °C
Relative humidity: 79%
Average wind speed: 2.4 m/s

 

Economy

Onega, together with the Onega region, is equated with the regions of the Far North, and is also part of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.

By Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 29, 2014 No. 1398-r “On approval of the list of single-industry towns”, the municipality is included in the category “Single-profile municipalities of the Russian Federation (single-industry towns) with the most difficult socio-economic situation”.

Industry
The basis of the city's economy is the timber industry complex. The city-forming enterprise is a sawmill and woodworking plant (OJSC Onezhsky LDK), the city also has a production and logging association Onegales, which carries out logging in several districts of the Arkhangelsk region.

Previously, a hydrolysis plant operated in the city, producing ethyl alcohol, fodder yeast, and furfural from sawmill waste. In 2016, on the basis of the former hydrolysis plant, a plant for the production of biofuel (pellets) from timber processing waste was launched.

 

Transport

Sea port, railway station, Onega airport.

Onega Seaport was opened in 1781. Navigation from May to early November, attempts were made to navigate year-round using icebreakers. The port is located at the mouth of the Onega and can accommodate ships up to 115 meters long and with a draft of up to 4.5 meters. Due to the shallowness of the Onega Bay, approach channels and fairways 12 miles long are used. The main transported cargo is timber (lumber, round timber, wood chips).

The city is connected by a road built in the 2000s with Severodvinsk, which operates a bus service to Severodvinsk and Arkhangelsk. Bus routes also connect Onega with a number of settlements in the district. There are 4 intercity bus routes. A ferry runs between the main and left-bank parts of the city during navigation, and in winter a road is created on ice.

The abandoned military airfield Vatega is located 13 km east of the city of Onega (the length of the runway is about 3 km).