Lake Ladoga 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, is named after the lake. In one of Nestor's chronicles from the 12th century he mentions a lake called "the Great Nevo", a clear link to the Neva River and, possibly furthermore, to Finnish "nevo" "sea" or
Novaya Ladoga rights were granted to it in 1704. The newly founded town grew in importance in connection with construction of the Ladoga Canal and Volga-Baltic Waterway in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1719, Novaya Ladoga was included to St. Petersburg Governorate. In 1727, separate Novgorod Governorate was split off, and in 1773 Novoladozhsky Uyezd, with its seat in Novaya Ladoga, was established. In 1776, the area was transferred to Novgorod Viceroyalty and in 1781, it was moved back into St. Petersburg Governorate. On December 9, 1922, the administrative center of the uyezd was moved to the "selo" of Gostinopolye, which