Povenets lies at the northern end of Lake Onega, where a long bay narrows toward the start of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. It is a small settlement of about two and a half thousand people, set among low hills and forest, and it has an air of waiting. The name refers to a place where the road ends and the water begins, and the town has been a stopping point on routes north since the sixteenth century, when Russian settlers and merchants began using the river and lake system to reach the White Sea.
The canal that begins here is one of the most remarkable and grim achievements of the Soviet era. Built between 1931 and 1933, it connects Lake Onega to the White Sea, a distance of about two hundred and twenty kilometers, using rivers, lakes and a series of locks. Most of the digging was done by prisoners of the Gulag, using hand tools, and tens of thousands died. The first lock in the staircase lies near Povenets, and it can be seen from the road. The canal opened a route for ships between the Baltic and the White Sea, though its shallow depth limited its use, and it later became part of the national story of industrial achievement, with its human cost long concealed.
The riding around Povenets is quiet and attractive. The roads follow lakes and rivers, passing through spruce and birch forest, with open views over the water in many places. The surfaces are reasonable on the main roads, with some patches of gravel on the side tracks, and the bends are gentle. In summer, the light lasts well into the night. Mosquitoes and flies can be intense in the warm months, so a net or good repellent is advisable. Autumn is calm and golden.
Services are limited, and fuel is best bought in Medvezhyegorsk or Petrozavodsk before you come. The village has a small shop and a few simple places to eat or sleep, and you can find fresh fish in season. Pindushi, a larger settlement about fourteen kilometers away, has more.
Visit the lock if you can, and look at the water level and the stone. It is a place to reflect on what it cost to build.