River Vyg is located in Middle Karelia. It flows out of Verkhotinnoe lake, which is situated on a waterlogged part of Belomoro-Baltic watershed. The river is divided itno three parts: Upper Vyg (135 kms), Vygozero (80 kms) and Lower Vyg (102 kms). After its transformation into a storage basin in 1933, Vygozero lake enlarged twice. Nowadays it covers an area of 1285 square kms – this is the third largest lake in Karelia. There are about 530 islands on the lake, which is a little less than on Ladoga.
Vyg is a famous river, which has already gone down in history of our country. There are numerous galleries of petroglyphs – cultural monuments of ancient people Besovy Sledki and Zalavruga – in the mouth of Lower Vyg. One of the ways of colonization came through here. Upper Vyg became a cradle of Vygoretsia – old believers’ community, which had been a bulwark of …. for more than 150 years. Later through Vygozero and Upper Vyg came a unique Peter’s “Tsar’s path”, along which Peter the Great dragged his frigates from the White Sea to Onego Lake in 1702. Today Vygozero and Lower Vyg are parts of Belomoro-Baltic Canal.
No doubt, the river has a good tourist future but It depends on the development of tourism infrastructure and correct promotion. Belomoro-Baltic Canal is to become a part of international routes cruise through northern seas: North Sea, Barents Sea, White Sea and Baltic Sea.
