Kondopoga has a railroad station on the Moscow–Murmansk railroad, some of the largest pulp and paper mills in Eastern Europe, a medical college, and facilities for the manufacture of building materials. Population: 34,863 (2002 Census).
First recorded as early as 1495, Kondopoga retains a rare monument of Russian wooden architecture — the Dormition Church (Успенская церковь), built in 1774. The central column of this church is crowned by a hipped roof, 42 m in total height. The column is based on a central rectangular framework, with adjacent frameworks for the refectory and altar. The altar framework is covered by a traditional wooden roof, called a barrel roof.
2006 ethnic tensions
On the night of 29 August – 30 August two ethnic Russians were killed and several others badly injured by Chechens in the Chayka («Чайка») restaurant, owned by an Azeri.
View from space
On the night of September 1 – 2 September2006, groups of ethnic Russian youths clashed with OMON (Ministry of Internal Affairs special forces) troops and destroyed the Chayka restaurant by setting it on fire. A number of Chechen-owned businesses were also targeted.
On 2 September, two days after the beginning of rioting, there was a mass meeting held at the town hall. A number of Russian nationalists came from Moscow, including leaders of Movement Against Illegal Immigration, and organized a rally calling on the government to forcibly resettle all people from the Caucasus, especially ethnic Chechens, from the town.
