Olonets

Olonets is one of the oldest settlements in Karelia. The sites of ancient man, found in the lower reaches of the Olonka River (Lake Ladoga basin), are dated by archaeologists to the 3rd-2nd millennium BC.

At the time of Novgorod independence, Olonets belonged to the lord of Novgorod.

For the first time in written sources Olonets is mentioned in a postscript to the Charter of Novgorod Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich. The charter itself is dated 1137. However, modern historians date the addendum to the XIII centuryand the first mention is considered to be 1228, when Olonets is mentioned in the records of several chronicles.

During the Russian-Swedish wars of the 16th-17th centuries the city was repeatedly ruined.

According to the Stolbovsky peace treaty of 1617 the border with Sweden was 40 km from Olonets pogost. In 1648 for strategic reasons Olonets Christmas pogost was assigned to the treasury. In September of 1649 by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, under the guidance of Prince Feodor Volkonsky and clerk Stepan Elagin "border fortress" Olonets was built in the place of confluence of the rivers Olonka and Megrega, where was the main village of the pogost, known as Tolmachev navolok. Olonets fortress became the core of the town, the administrative center of Zaonezhsky and Lopsky pogosts, an outpost in the fight against the Swedes. The fortress wall (there were 1300 loopholes in the walls) stretched along the river banks for more than 1,5 km and had 19 towers. The tallest - Red Tower - was 32 meters high. In the fortress was built the Trinity Church, granaries, governor's courts and 155 courtyards, in which during attacks of Swedish troops hid neighboring population. The garrison was armed with 31 guns of various calibers and 824 muskets. By the number of towers, length of walls and military equipment the fortress was superior to Arkhangelsk and all Siberian cities, yielding only to Kholmogory.

The city itself becomes the residence of the Olonets Voivode. "That the city was not empty."In the second half of the 17th century, wealthy peasants, engaged in trade and trades, including ironwork, were resettled here from various pogosts of Zaonezhye. In the second half of the seventeenth century, Olonets people were enterprising traders; they even went to Stockholm on their small ships.

In the 1670s, Yakov Streshnev served as governor of Olonets. At that time Olonets became a single commercial, military and administrative center of Karelia.

At the end of the XVII century, Olonets had 726 households.

In August 1700 Peter I declared war on Sweden, the Great Northern War began.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. Olonets continued to be a major trading ("merchant") center.

By early 1702 to the north of Olonets were already iron works, as evidenced by the decree of Peter I to his son A. Butenant of January 5, 1702:

"At the iron works of the foreigner Andrew Butenant von Rosenbusch to pour immediately 100 iron and cast-iron cannons of the best quality, without any defect, with a cannon ball of 12 pounds and 1000 cannon balls, and from Olonets, as he has already been told, to deliver to Novgorod no later than March 1702"..

In the early years of the Northern War, during the campaigns of 1702-1703, Russian troops occupied Ingria.

By 1703 in the vicinity of Olonets, in Lodeynoye Pole on the river Sviri, a military shipyard was built, called Olonets shipyard. Baltic Fleet frigates were built at Olonets shipyard and armed with cannons at Olonets factories. This is reminded by the coat of arms of Olonets, which shows two crossed knipples. Knippel is a specific naval cannon ammunition made of two cannonballs, chained together by a short section of chain.

Mobilization of the population for work and the army, as well as the construction of St. Petersburg contributed to the impoverishment, gradual ruin and desolation of the households of Olonets. In some towns the loss was significant. Pskov, Novgorod, and Kargopol can also be counted among these cities of Northwestern Russia..

In 1707 by order of A. D. Menshikov post stations were established from St. Petersburg to Olonets and somewhat later - to the Petrovsky Armory.

In 1708 was formed Ingermanlandskaya Province, which included Olonets.

In 1712 Olonets was given to the Admiralty.

Since 1719, Peter I began to visit Olonets and was treated at the Olonets Marcial waters. Treatment on the Olonets waters was accompanied by the usual for Peter I activity. Seeing that the treatment by waters in Olonets was going slowly, Peter I said: "I heal the body with the waters, but I heal my subjects with my own examples. In both, I see a very slow healing; however, relying on God, I trust that time will decide everything..

The significance of Olonets - the fortress remained until 1721, when the Swedish border was pushed to the north and the military and strategic importance of the city came to naught.

In 1724 Peter I came to Olonets for the last time for treatment.

In 1727 the Novgorod province was separated from the St. Petersburg province. Olonets again became the administrative and judicial center of Olonets uyezd and in the list of provinces and provinces this uyezd was assigned to the Novgorod province (one of the five provinces of the new province).

In 1741 the Olonets fortress burned in a fire and was never rebuilt.

In 1773, by the decree of Catherine II, Olonets province was created (it consisted of two counties and one district). Olonets was appointed a regional town of Olonets province.

In 1784 it became a district town of Olonets vicegerency (first place went to Petrozavodsk).

With the formation of Olonets province in the late XVIII century, the administrative center moved to Petrozavodsk, and Olonets gradually became a quiet provincial town.

Since 1801, Olonets is a district town of Olonets province.

The abolition of serfdom, carried out in 1861, was followed by the zemstvo reform of 1864, which created the bodies of local self-government - zemstvos.

On October 4, 1880 the chapel in the name of the saint prince Alexander Nevskiy was consecrated by the merchant K.A. Chertov in memory of the miraculous deliverance of the emperor from the hand of the villain.

In 1887 in Olonets County there were seven parishes and the town of Olonets. In Olonets there were 1427 souls.

By January 1, 1896 there were 1496 inhabitants: noblemen - 118, clerical estate - 23, honorary citizens and merchants - 49, petty bourgeoisie - 1037, military estate - 143, Finns - 88, other estates - 38. Orthodox - 1445, dissenters - 1, Catholics - 16, Lutherans - 29, Mohammedans - 5. There are 1 stone and 4 wooden Orthodox churches and 2 chapels. Zemstvo hospital with 12 beds. City school with 70 pupils and female parish school with 27 pupils. 1 stone and 171 wooden houses, 28 shops. Merchant certificates were issued - 12, for petty trade - 16, craft certificates - 4, clerk certificates - 12. Fairs - 2. City land - 7954 tenths. Two almshouses (for 59 beneficiaries), one of them with a shelter for children (for 19 persons). There was also a committee of hospice for the poor and a charity circle. City income 7674 rubles, expenditure 7244 rubles; reserve capital 2400 rubles.

In 1909, on the bridge across the Megra and Olonka was opened Monument in honor of Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolayevich with the top in the form of a double-headed eagle (not preserved).

In 1912, there were 2,058 people living in Olonets.

Revolution, civil war

After the fall of the monarchy in Russia in 1917 began the collapse of the Russian Empire. At the end of 1917 the Grand Duchy of Finland declared independence. During the Civil War in 1918-1920 and the intervention, the northern parishes of Karelia demanded independence from the Soviet Russia.

In 1919 the Bolshevik F.I. Egorov becomes the chairman of the Olonets District Revolutionary Committee and the Olonets Military Commissar. In 1920-1921 he serves as chairman of the Olonets District Committee of the RCP(b).

In 1920 the Bolsheviks finally established Soviet power in Karelia. With the active participation of the Finnish socialist Edvard Gülling and support of Lenin, on June 8, 1920 a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee formed the Karelian Labor Commune from the Karelian populated areas of Olonets and Arkhangelsk provinces..

In 1923, the Karelian Labor Commune was transformed into the Autonomous Karelian Soviet Socialist Republic.

In 1927, Olonets was transformed into a rural settlement.

During the Soviet-Finnish War, September 5, 1941 parts of the Karelian Army of Finland occupied Olonets.

On June 25, 1944 during the Svirsko-Petrozavodskaya offensive, the Karelian Front units entered the town abandoned by the Finnish troops..

On July 7, 1944 Olonets again received the status of the city.