Peter the Great founded Petrozavodsk in 1703 as a foundry, a place to cast cannon for the war against Sweden, and the name means exactly that, Peter's works. The city has since grown into the capital of the Republic of Karelia, with about a quarter of a million people, and sits on the western shore of Lake Onega, the second largest lake in Europe after Ladoga. The long embankment along the water is the city's best feature, lined with modern sculptures that were donated by twin towns around the world, and in good weather the whole town seems to walk along it.
Onega is more like a sea than a lake. In summer the water is clear and cold, with rocky islets and long horizons, while in winter it freezes into a white plain and the shore shifts with ice. Hydrofoils run in season to Kizhi island, where the astonishing wooden churches stand, including the Transfiguration Church with its twenty-two domes, built without nails according to local tradition. The Kivach waterfall, one of the largest lowland waterfalls in Europe, lies north of the city and is a natural stop on the way to the interior.
The ride along the lake toward Sortavala, on the shore of Lake Ladoga, is a classic north European one. Roads cross low glacial ridges, pine and spruce forests and many small lakes, with granite rock coming through the soil, and the surface is mostly good with some patched sections. The landscape resembles neighbouring Finland, and indeed Karelia was disputed between Finland and Russia and changed hands during the twentieth century, a history written in place names and in abandoned Finnish houses. Traffic is lighter than around Moscow or St Petersburg, though trucks and tour buses slow things in summer.
Petrozavodsk has everything a rider needs, from fuel to repair shops, markets and restaurants serving local fish such as vendace and whitefish, along with the rye-crusted pies called kalitki that are a Karelian tradition. White nights in June make for very long riding days, while the warm months stretch from June to August. Mosquitoes and horseflies can be vicious in July, and autumn colours arrive in September, ahead of an early and hard winter.