PETROZAVODSK, a town of Russia, capital of the government of Olonetz, lies on the western shore of Lake Onega, 300 miles to the north-east of St Petersburg. The small river Lososinka divides it into two parts,—the town proper and the iron-works. Two cathedrals built towards the end of last century, two lyceums for boys and girls, a mining school, an ecclesiastical seminary, and several primary schools are the chief public buildings and institutions. The Government cannon-foundry can turn out annually more than 5000 tons of pig-iron, and the same weight of guns, gun-carriages, and ammunition, but its actual production is subject to great fluctuations. Within the district there are a few private iron-works as well as important sawmills. The inhabitants engage in agriculture and fishing, and there is some trade with St Petersburg,—timber, fish, and furs being exported in exchange for corn, groceries, and manufactured wares. The population (11,027 in 1865) was 11,970 in 1881.

Peter I., who was the first to give attention to the mineral resources of Olonetz, founded an iron-work, Petrovskii Zavod, on the Lososinka river, in 1703; the “zavod” prepared guns and arms, and within its walls a small palace and a churclι were built for the czar. The iron-work continued in operation for only twenty-four years; a copper-work, and subsequently a private iron-work, founded by Frenchmen, had no better success. The Government cannonfoundry was instituted in 1774; the settlement that sprang up was called Petrovsk, and received municipal institutions in 1777. Petrozavodsk became capital of the government of Olonetz in 1802.