Lake Ladoga territory. Ladoga became an internal Soviet basin once again. The northern shore, Ladoga Karelia with the town of Sortavala, is now part of the Republic of Karelia. The western shore, Karelian Isthmus, became part of Leningrad Oblast. Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga ( or ; [earlier in Finnish "Nevajärvi"]; ; ) is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake entirely in Europe, and the 14th largest freshwater lake by area in the world. "Ladoga Lacus", a methane lake on Saturn's moon Titan,
Staraya Ladoga river"), was rendered as "Aldeigja" in Old Norse and later as "Ladoga" in Old East Slavic. "Staraya" is Russian for "Old". According to the Hypatian Codex that was created at the end of the 13th century, the legendary Varangian leader Rurik arrived at Ladoga in 862 and made it his capital. Rurik later moved to Novgorod and his successors then to Kiev where foundations for the powerful state of Kievan Rus' were laid. There are several huge kurgans, or royal funerary barrows, at the outskirts of Ladoga. One of them is said to be Rurik's grave, and another one—that of