Petrozavodsk

The coat of arms of Petrozavodsk

Petrozavodsk Drama Theater building.

Petrozavodsk, 1915

The flag of Petrozavodsk

Petrozavodsk (Russian: Петрозаводск, Karelian/Vepsian/Finnish: Petroskoi) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of the Republic of Karelia. The city has a population of around 280,170 people.

History

Evidence shows that people have lived in the Petrozavodsk region since seven thousand years ago. At the end of the sixteenth century, there was a settlement in the region that was named Onegaborg.

During the Finnish occupation of Petrozavodsk, the city was named Äänislinna (or Ääneslinna). The city was retaken by the Soviet army on 28 June 1944. The Finns set up concentration camps in the city for people of non-Finnic ethnicity. In total, six camps were set up; which in total held 23,984 civilians of Russian ethnicity.

In 1977, the Petrozavodsk phenomenon occurred. This was an incident where a glowing object showered the city with many rays. Many people now believe that it was caused by the launch of the Soviet satellite Kosmos 955.

The Petrozavodsk State University is located in the city. The university is made up of 9 faculties and 6 institutes, and was founded on 1 September 1940.

There are many popular landmarks in Petrozavodsk. One of them is "Lenin Square," which is an oval space with a large Vladimir Lenin statue in the center. The suburb of Martsialnye Vody is the oldest spa in Russia. It was founded in 1714 by Peter the Great. Petrozavodsk is home to the Karelia Philharmonic Orchestra, the Karelian Musical Theater, the National Library of Karelia, the National Theatre of Karelia and a branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, Petrozavodsk experiences a subarctic climate. However, the city has much milder temperatures than other cities in that climate. This is mainly because of the city's position next to the Baltic Sea. The average annual temperature is 3.1 °C. Temperatures in winter range from 0 to -15 °C, in summer from +5 to +25 °C. The record high temperature was 33.9 °C (93.0 °F), and the record low temperature was −41.6 °C (−42.9 °F).

Other websites

• Official website of Petrozavodsk Archived 2007-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Official website of Petrozavodsk Archived 2020-10-12 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
• Unofficial website of Petrozavodsk Archived 2020-10-20 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
• Official website of the Board of Culture of Petrozavodsky Urban Okrug (in Russian)
• Kizhi Museum