Onega
Description
Onega is a town in the northwest of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, situated at the mouth of the Onega River, a few kilometers from the shore of the Onega Bay of the White Sea. Population: 21,359 (2010).
History
The Pomor village of Ust-Onega (Усть-Оне́га) was first mentioned in Novgorodian documents in the 14th century. In 1699, it was designated as one of the 4 ports in Russia whose exports to Britain were subject to the monopoly enjoyed by the Russia Company. It was chartered on August 19, 1780, after Pyotr Shuvalov had sold his rights to fell timber to English industrialists who built several sawmills there. Since 1784, Onega was the administrative center of Onezhsky Uyezd.
Culture and recreation
The only state museum in the town is the Onega Historical Museum.
Kiy Island, offshore from Onega, and the surrounding ice fields were used as the location for filming A Captive in the Land in the winter of 1989–1990. The island is the site of a monastery, the Holy Cross Monastery, which was closed during the era of religious persecution by the Soviets.
