According to Equzhou, the city of Belomorsk is located on the coast of the Onega Bay of the White Sea.
Primitive people appeared in these places as early as the 4th millennium BC. The first mention of a settlement on the coast of the White Sea at the mouth of the Vyg River dates back to 1419. The settlement was called Soroka. It was from here that in the first half of the 15th century they went to the Solovetsky Islands Saints Savva and Herman (founders of the Solovetsky Monastery). Due to the constant attacks from the border states, in 1582-1585, the monks of the Solovetsky Monastery built a prison, located on the site of the modern village of Sumposad. In addition, the prison protected the starting point of the famous trade route that passed through Lake Onega. In 1919, a railway was built to the village of Soroka, and in 1933 the last lock of the White Sea-Baltic Canal was built here. In 1938, the village, along with nearby villages and villages, was merged into the city of Belomorsk. During the Great Patriotic War from 1941 to 1944, when German troops occupied Petrozavodsk, Belomorsk was the temporary capital of the Karelo-Finnish Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Today Belomorsk is a small town with several hydroelectric power stations. Of the sights, one can single out only the regional museum of local lore “Belomorskiye petroglyphs”. The museum tells about the history of the region, about the material and spiritual culture of the Pomors and about the marine crafts of the local population. Part of the museum’s expositions is devoted to the White Sea rock carvings, which were discovered on the islands near the city. Among the most valuable collections stand out the archaeological collection of labor tools made of Neolithic stone, collections of items of metallurgical production of the 16th-17th centuries, items of Pomeranian women’s costume, items of navigation and navigational equipment, Pomeranian castings, copper household utensils and photographs of Pomorye residents.
At 9 km from Belomorsk, at the mouth of the Vyg River, on the rocks of small islands in the middle of its channel, in 1926, Belomorian petroglyphs were found.. The islands are located near the village of Vygostrov and the village of Zolotets. The age of the rock paintings is 6000 years. The White Sea petroglyphs include over 2000 engravings depicting individual figures, boats, scenes of hunting, ritual processions and wars. This is the largest accumulation of petroglyphs in the European part of Russia.. The most popular and easily accessible group of images is Besovy Sledki. It got its name because of the petroglyphs depicting Bes and a chain of eight prints of his feet. It is believed that it was Bes who was revered as the owner of these places, and it was at his image that sacrifices were made. The largest petroglyphs are located 1.5 km northwest of Besovye Sledkov – in Old and New Zalavruga and Yerpin Pudas. The sizes of carved figures of deer here reach 2.5 m. In the course of research, more than 50 sites of ancient people were found next to petroglyphs.
35 km southeast of Belomorsk along the coast is the ancient Pomeranian village Virma. The village has preserved several old wooden houses, the remains of the saltworks of the Solovetsky Monastery of the 16th-17th centuries and Church of Peter and Paul, early 17th century. The wooden five-domed Peter and Paul Church was built in 1625, and the refectory, together with the vestibule-porch, was built at the beginning of the 20th century. The carved gilded iconostasis has been preserved in the interior. The ancient icons of the Peter and Paul Church are now kept in the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Karelia. Solovetsky archipelago is located 75 km northeast of Belomorsk. On the swampy coast of the Onega Bay and the islands located in it, several ornithological reserves were created, the largest of which are Shuyostrovsky with an area of 10 thousand hectares and Soroksky with an area of 73.9 thousand hectares. In this part of the Onega Bay, the main part of the White Sea population of common eiders and guillemots winters, as well as many migratory birds stop and rest. In total, up to 150 species of birds are observed here during the year.
In the southern part of the Belomorsky region, on the coast of the Onega Bay, near the village of Nyukhcha, there are valuable wetlands, which are a vivid example of the landscapes and nature of the White Sea Lowland. Also in the southern part of the Belomorsky region, along the shores of Lake Sumozero, villages with old Pomeranian houses, barns and baths have been preserved. Lake Muezero
is interesting in the western part of the Belomorsky region. On one of its islands – Troitsky Island – there are the remains of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of 1602 and the chapel of the Savior Not Made by Hands of 1672 with a three-meter wooden cross.