The Onega Canal is a canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

 that runs along the southern banks of Lake Onega

Lake Onega

Lake Onega is a lake in the north-west European part of Russia, located on the territory of Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga...

 in Vologda Oblast

Vologda

Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...

 and Leningrad Oblast

Leningrad Oblast

Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...

s in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It was built 1818 - 1820 and 1845 - 1852 as a part of Mariinsk Canal System

Volga-Baltic Waterway

The Volga–Baltic Waterway, formerly known as the Mariinsk Canal System , is a series of canals and rivers in Russia which link the Volga River with the Baltic Sea...

, to allow small riverboats to avoid Lake Onega, where storms are frequent and where many boats had perished through the centuries. The canal is 67 km long, and runs between the Vytegra River

Vytegra River

The Vytegra is a river in Vytegorsky District of Vologda Oblast in Russia. It nominally flows out of Lake Matkozero and is a tributary of Lake Onega. It is long, and the area of its basin . The principal tributary if the Tagazhma River ....

 in the east and Svir River

Svir River

Svir is a river in the north-east of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It flows from Lake Onega west to Lake Ladoga, thus connecting the two largest lakes of Europe. It is the largest river flowing into Lake Ladoga....

in the west. It is around 50 meters wide, and lies between 10 meters and 2 km from the shores of the lake. At the mouth of the canal a memorial obelisk has been erected.

The canal is at the present time not navigable.