The city of Kondopoga is located in the southern part of Karelia, 55 kms away from the capital of the republic - Petrozavodsk, on the picturesque shore of Kondopozshskiy bay of the Onego Lake. It is conveniently connected with Murmansk and Saint Petersburg by a railway and motor systems.
The first record of Kondopoga dates back to 1945. According to the most realistic etymology, the first part of the name “kondo” from Karelian “kondii” means “bear” and the second “poga”, coming from the Karelian “pohja” means “a distant place, the end of a bay, a bight”, so that the whole name means “the bear’s place”. The churchyard became famous in the middle of 18th century, when in the village of Tivdiya were discovered deposits of marble that have more than 30 tints. This marble decorates such buildings in Saint Petersburg as Zimniy, Tavriicheskiy and Mramornyi Palaces, Kazanskiy and Isaac’s Cathedrals, Engineer Castle, halls in Peterhof and Pushkin.
In 1923 a construction of a paper-mill began in Kondopoga. Today this pulp and paper milk is one of the biggest factories in Karelia that produces one third of the total newsprint in Russia.
Among the sights of the city we should mention the Uspenskaya church built in 1774.
The only organ of Karelia is also located in Kondopoga.
In December of 2001 a new Ice Palace, one of the best in the north-west, was opened in the city.
