Petrozavodsk

The history of the town of Petrozavodsk, a contemporary of Saint Petersburg, dates back to 1703 when Peter the Great ordered to build an iron foundry and cannon factory on the shores of Onega Lake. In the 18th century there for the first time in Europe thin-walled cast-iron cannons and wedge gates, balls and shells, anchors, steam engines and all kinds of machines were produced. Skilled craftsmen created the masterpieces of art castings that magnified the contemporaries. At present, Petrozavodsk is the capital of Karelia and the industrial, cultural and scientific center of the Northwestern Region. The city with a population of about 280,000 inhabitants occupies the territory of 121 square kilometers. Petrozavodsk boasts favorable geographic location not far from the main Russian cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg (1091 and 412 km respectively) and about 350 km away from EU border (Finland).