Kargopol

Town on the left bank of the Onega River, northwestern Russia; population (1990 est) 12,500. It developed with the salt trade from about the 14th century and has several outstanding 17th-century churches, notably the Church of St Vladimir (1653) and the Blagoveshchenie Church (1682–92). The town gives its name to the hunting and fishing Kargopol culture, which flourished in the area during the late Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.