Povenets (Karelian. Poventsa) is a urban-type
settlement in the Medvezhiegorsk district of the Republic of
Karelia, the administrative center of the Povenetsky urban
settlement. The city is located on the shore of the Povenets Bay of
Lake Onega, at the confluence of the Povenchanka River, 26 km east
of the Medvezhya Gora railway station (on the St.
Petersburg-Murmansk line).
The starting point of the
White
Sea-Baltic Canal (in the area of the settlement is the “Povenets
Staircase” of seven locks). The village is connected by roads to
Medvezhiegorsk and Pudozh.
Remains of the blast furnace of the Povenets ironworks
Museum of
the White Sea-Baltic Canal
Memorial sign to those who died innocently
on the construction of the White Sea Canal in 1931-1933 (near the second
lock)
Memorial burial "Common grave of Soviet soldiers" who died
during the Great Patriotic War (9th km of the Povenets-Pudozh highway).
About 4 thousand soldiers of the 32nd Army of the Karelian Front were
buried in a mass grave. In 1959, a monument was erected on the grave - a
sculptural group (a warrior and a woman with a child).
Near Povenets,
on the road to Medvezhyegorsk - the memorial cemetery of the victims of
the repressions of the 1930s Sandarmokh (over 9 thousand people were
shot here)
Monument of military glory at the line of defense of the
Soviet troops. In 1976, a monument was erected on the eastern outskirts
of Povenets - a 76-mm divisional gun ZIS-3.
Temple in the name of St.
Nicholas the Wonderworker (2003)
The area was first inhabited during the Mesolithic era. One of the
largest concentrations of archaeological monuments in Karelia
(Voynavolok, Povenchanka, Povenetskaya, Orovnavolok, Sandarmokh, etc.)
is located in the Povenets region.
At the beginning of the 15th
century, the Povenchanka River, the lands and the forest around it
became the property of Ivan Vodnikov. In the second half of the 15th
century, his heirs sold the property to the Vyazhitsky Monastery. Soon,
10 kilometers north of Lake Onega near Volozero (modern 7th lock of the
White Sea-Baltic Canal), a single-yard village of the same name arose.
Around 1530, the Vyazhitsky Monastery moved the monastery courtyard from
Tolvui to the mouth of the Povenchanka River. Nearby there were several
repairs. For the first time, Povenets is mentioned in the Scribe Book of
the Zaonezhsky churchyards of the Obonezhskaya Pyatina of 1563. In the
16th-17th centuries, the “path of pilgrims” ran through Povenets to the
Solovetsky Monastery, the settlement was a trading settlement.
In
the second half of the 16th century, under Ivan the Terrible, two
customs yards were set up, which were mentioned for the first time in
the Scribal Book of the Zaonezhskaya half of the Obonezhskaya Pyatina of
1582/83. In the occupation fund of the archive of the city of Stockholm,
one of the oldest customs books of the Russian North, “The Povenets
Customs Book”, dating back to 1612, has been preserved. The Povenets
customs ceased to exist during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna.
In 1702, Povenets became the final destination of the Sovereign's Road
(a water-carriage route, which during the Northern War in just eight
days brought warships to Lake Onega, with the help of which the Russian
army later took the Swedish fortresses of Kexholm and Noteburg). In
1703, Peter I founded an iron foundry in Povenets (cannons, swords and
rigging were made for the young Russian fleet); the plant worked on
local ore. Already in 1736, like other Olonets factories, the Povenets
factory was closed.
Around 1600, a wooden tented Peter and Paul
Church was erected in Povenets, rebuilt and expanded in 1761. Near the
ruins of the factory in 1902, in memory of the stay of Peter I in
Povenets, a local merchant Ya. P. Belov erected a wooden chapel in the
name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (not preserved). On the
opposite side of the river stood the old Holy Cross Chapel, destroyed
during the Civil War. On the territory of the modern park of culture in
1908-09. The New Peter and Paul Cathedral, destroyed during the Second
World War, was opened.
At the end of the 18th century, there were
62 courtyards in Povenets. Since 1782, Povenets has been a district town
(Povenets district of the Olonets vicegerency), in 1796-1799 - a
settlement as part of the Kemsky district of the Arkhangelsk province,
in 1800-1801. a provincial town of the Olonets district of the Novgorod
province, since 1802 - a county town of the Olonets province
In
the 19th century, Povenets was a place of exile.
From May 1919 to
February 1920 it was under the occupation of the Anglo-American
invaders, was the administrative center of the white Olonets province,
the seat of its chief.
In 1927, due to the transition to district
division, Povenets ceased to be the center of the county and at the same
time lost the status of the city, becoming a rural settlement. From
August 29, 1927 to April 20, 1930 - the center of the Povenets region.
In 1931-1933, it was the center for the construction of the White
Sea-Baltic Canal, thanks to which a ship repair plant appeared.
It has had the status of an urban-type settlement since 1938.
During the Great Patriotic War, the retreating Red Army men blew up the
dam of the reservoir, and the water shaft washed away the hydraulic
structures and buildings of Povenets. After the war, the village was
rebuilt.