Podporozhsky District: Taiga Trails and Wooden Churches

Podporozhsky District offers specific nature and culture themes to help you plan your trip: glacial landforms, middle-taiga vegetation, Vepsian village culture and a wooden church dating from 1630. The times given for the routes described also offer practical guidance—from about 30 minutes to a five- to six-hour circular route.

Trails and Planning Your Time

The Ladwinskaya Trail introduces visitors to glacial landforms, middle-taiga vegetation and the Vepsian village of Ladva. A trail in Podporozhsky District also leads to Lake Ladwinskoye. These named themes and destinations give nature and local culture a concrete place in your travel plans.

For shorter time slots, two other trails offer a direct comparison: the Kurbinskaya Trail is 3.2 kilometers long and takes about an hour. The trail to Svyatoy Kamen is 2.4 kilometers long and takes about 30 minutes. This lets you decide whether around half an hour or about an hour fits your day’s plans; the length of each route is also specified.

Churches and Cultural Routes

In Vazhiny stands the wooden Church of the Resurrection, an architectural monument dating from 1630. It is described as a “round” church. Its construction, date and shape make it a distinctive architectural feature of Podporozhsky District, adding another cultural highlight to the area’s nature trails.

A longer cultural tour is the five- to six-hour circular route “Maloye Koltso.” It visits churches and chapels in Vazhiny, Soginitsy, Zaozerye, Posad, Volnavolok and Pidma. Compared with the shorter trail times, it takes considerably longer out of your day. If you plan to take this tour, confirm the current arrangements with the museum agency.

Vepsian Forest Nature Park in Leningrad Oblast

A larger regional natural area, Vepsian Forest Nature Park lies in the far east of Leningrad Oblast. It includes seven nature reserves with particularly strict protection rules. The park has numerous lakes; the largest is Lake Lerinskoye, in the reserve of the same name. The nature park thus offers a distinct perspective on the landscapes of Leningrad Oblast, while the trails and cultural sites mentioned above are specific to Podporozhsky District.

Six routes have been developed in Vepsian Forest Nature Park. Visitors can use them to learn about the region’s flora and nearly untouched taiga, as well as to spot rare bird and animal species. The park’s special features include preserved old spruce and pine forests in the “Vepssky Les” and “Ashchozyorsky” nature reserves. They are important to many organisms that can survive only in forests undisturbed by economic activity.

Wildlife is also part of the nature park’s character: brown bears are relatively numerous there, and wolverines, which are extremely rare in the region, have also been recorded. The Vepsians have traditionally lived in the park. They are a small people of Russia with their own culture and traditions—another cultural point of interest in Leningrad Oblast.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Plotichno, Kirishi District, Tikhvin District, Luga District, Vsevolozhsk District, Volosovo District, Gatchina District, Korsakov District.

For the overview of the wider region: Leningrad Oblast.