In one ofNestor's chronicles from the 12th century a lake called "the Great Nevo" is mentioned, a clear link to theNeva River and possibly further toFinnishnevo 'sea' orneva 'bog, quagmire'.[3]
AncientNorse sagas and Hanseatic treaties both mention a city made of lakes namedOld NorseAldeigja orAldoga.[4] Since the beginning of the 14th century this hydronym was commonly known asLadoga. According to T. N. Jackson, it can be taken "almost for granted that the name of Ladoga first referred to the river, then the city, and only then the lake". Therefore, he considers the primary hydronym Ladoga to originate in the eponymous inflow to the lower reaches of theVolkhov River whose earlyFinnic name wasAlodejoki (corresponding to modernFinnish:Alojen joki) 'river of the lowlands'.[3]
The Germanic toponym (Aldeigja ~Aldoga) was soon borrowed by the Slavic population and transformed by means of the Old East Slavic metathesisald- → lad- toOld East Slavic:Ладога. The Old Norse intermediary word between Finnish and Old East Slavic word is fully supported by archeology, since the Scandinavians first appeared in Ladoga in the early 750s, that is, a couple of decades before theSlavs.[5]
Other hypotheses about the origin of the name derive it fromKarelian:aalto 'wave' andKarelian:aaltokas 'wavy', or from the Russian dialectal word алодь, meaning 'open lake, extensive water field'.[6]Eugene Helimski by contrast, offers a Germanic etymology. In his opinion, the primary name of the lake wasOld Norse: *Aldauga 'old source', associated to the open sea, in contrast to the name of theNeva River (flowing from Lake Ladoga) which would derive from the Germanic expression for 'the new'. Through the intermediate form*Aldaugja,Old Norse:Aldeigja came about, referring tothe city of Ladoga.[7]
The lake has an average surface area of 17,891 km2 (excluding the islands), slightly larger thanKuwait. Its north-to-south length is 219 km and its average width is 83 km; the average depth is 47 m, although it reaches a maximum of 230 m in the north-western part. Basin area: 276,000 km2, volume: 837 km3[8] (earlier estimated as 908 km3). There are around 660 islands, with a total area of about 435 km2. Ladoga is, on average, 5 m above sea level.[9] Most of the islands, including the famousValaam archipelago,Kilpola andKonevets, are situated in the northwest of the lake.
The basin of Lake Ladoga includes about 50,000 lakes and 3,500 rivers longer than 10 km. About 85% of the water inflow is due to tributaries, 13% is due toprecipitation, and 2% is due to underground waters.
Deglaciation following theWeichselian glaciation took place in the Lake Ladoga basin between 12,500 and 11,500radiocarbon years BP. Lake Ladoga was initially part of theBaltic Ice Lake (70–80 m. above presentsea level), a historicalfreshwater stage ofBaltic Sea. It is possible, though not certain, that Ladoga was isolated from it duringregression of the subsequentYoldia Seabrackish stage (10,200–9,500 BP). The isolation threshold should be atHeinjoki to the east ofVyborg, where theBaltic Sea and Ladoga were connected by a strait or a river outlet at least until the formation of the River Neva, and possibly even much later, until the 12th century AD or so.[13][14]
At 9,500 BP,Lake Onega, previously draining into theWhite Sea, started emptying into Ladoga via theRiver Svir. Between 9,500 and 9,100 BP, during the transgression ofAncylus Lake, the next freshwater stage of the Baltic, Ladoga certainly became part of it, even if they hadn't been connected immediately before. During the Ancylus Lake subsequent regression, around 8,800 BP Ladoga became isolated.[15]
Ladoga slowlytransgressed in its southern part due to uplift of theBaltic Shield in the north. It has been hypothesized, but not proven, that waters of theLitorina Sea, the next brackish-water stage of the Baltic, occasionally invaded Ladoga between 7,000 and 5,000 BP. Around 5,000 BP the waters of theSaimaa Lake penetratedSalpausselkä and formed a new outlet,River Vuoksi, entering Lake Ladoga in the northwestern corner and raising its level by 1–2 m.[16]
TheRiver Neva originated when the Ladoga waters at last broke through the threshold at Porogi into the lower portions ofIzhora River, then a tributary of theGulf of Finland, between 4,000 and 2,000 BP. Dating of some sediments in the northwestern part of Lake Ladoga suggests it happened at 3,100radiocarbon years BP (3,410–3,250 calendar years BP).[17]
Map of the Baltic-White Sea region during theLast Interglacial (115-130,000 years ago), showing Lake Ladoga as part of a marine passageway between the Baltic and White Seas
Lake Ladoga as part of theBaltic Ice Lake (between 11200 and 10500 yr BP). The light blue line marks the margin of the ice sheet by 13300 cal yr BP.
Lake Ladoga as part of theAncylus Lake (between 9300 and 9200 yr BP). The dark green line marks the southern shoreline of Lake Ladoga during theYoldia stage of the Baltic basin.
The Ladoga is rich with fish. Forty-eight forms (species and infra specific taxa) of fish have been encountered in the lake, includingroach,carp bream,zander,European perch,ruffe, endemic variety ofsmelt, two varieties ofCoregonus albula (vendace), eight varieties ofCoregonus lavaretus, a number of otherSalmonidae as well as, albeit rarely, endangeredAtlantic sturgeon (formerly confused withEuropean sea sturgeon). Commercial fishing was once a major industry but has been hurt by overfishing. After the war, between 1945 and 1954, the total annual catch increased and reached a maximum of 4,900 tonnes. However, unbalanced fishery led to the drastic decrease of catch in 1955–1963, sometimes to 1,600 tonnes per year.Trawling has been forbidden in Lake Ladoga since 1956 and some other restrictions were imposed. The situation gradually recovered, and in 1971–1990 the catch ranged between 4,900 and 6,900 tonnes per year, about the same level as the total catch in 1938.[18] Fish farms and recreational fishing are developing.[19]
During theRusso-Swedish War of 1656–1658, the Swedes deployed several armed vessels (called Lodja) on lake Ladoga to combat the Russians though no large sea battles were fought.[22]
The ancientValaam Monastery was founded on the island ofValaam, the largest in Lake Ladoga, abandoned between 1611 and 1715, restored in the 18th century, and evacuated to Finland during theWinter War in 1940. In 1989 the monastic activities in the Valaam were resumed. Other historic cloisters in the vicinity are theKonevets Monastery, which sits on theKonevets island, and theAlexander-Svirsky Monastery, which preserves samples ofmedieval Muscovite architecture.
During theIngrian War, a fraction of the Ladoga coast was occupied by Sweden. In 1617, by theTreaty of Stolbovo, the northern and western coast was ceded by Russia to Sweden. In 1721, after theGreat Northern War, it was restitutioned to Russia by theTreaty of Nystad. In the 18th century, theLadoga Canal was built to bypass the lake which was prone to winds and storms that destroyed hundreds of cargo ships.[23]
Later, from around 1812–1940 the lake was shared between Finland and Russia. According to the conditions of the 1920Tartu Peace Treaty militarization of the lake was severely restricted. However, both Soviet Russia and Finland had flotillas in Ladoga (see alsoFinnish Ladoga Naval Detachment). After theWinter War (1939–40) according to theMoscow Peace Treaty, Ladoga, previously shared with Finland, became an internal basin of the Soviet Union.
During World War II not only Finnish and Soviet, but also German and Italian vessels operated there (see alsoNaval Detachment K andRegia Marina). Under these circumstances, during much of theSiege of Leningrad (1941–44), Lake Ladoga provided the only access to the besieged city as a section of the eastern shore remained in Soviet hands. Supplies were transported intoLeningrad with trucks on winter roads over the ice, the "Road of Life", and by boat in the summer. After World War II, Finland lost theKarelia region again to the USSR, and all Finnish citizens wereevacuated from the ceded territory. Ladoga became an internal Soviet basin once again. The northern shore,Ladoga Karelia with the town ofSortavala, is now part of theRepublic of Karelia. The western shore,Karelian Isthmus, became part ofLeningrad Oblast.
^Saarnisto, Matti; Grönlund, Tuulikki; Ekman, Ilpo (1995-01-01). "Lateglacial of Lake Onega — Contribution to the history of the eastern Baltic basin".Quaternary International.27 (Supplement C):111–120.Bibcode:1995QuInt..27..111S.doi:10.1016/1040-6182(95)00068-T.
^Saarnisto, Matti (1970). The Late Weichselian and Flandrian history of the Saimaa Lake complex.Societas Scientiarium Fennicae. Commentationes Physico-Mathematicae 37.
^Englund, Peter (2000).Den oövervinnerlige: om den svenska stormaktstiden och en man i dess mitt (in Swedish). Stockholm: Atlantis. p. 649.ISBN978-91-7486-999-6.
^Нежиховский Р.А. Река Нева. 3-е изд. Leningrad: Гидрометеоиздат, 1973. P. 158.
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