SIGHTSEEING

R.C. Ozernaya is located not far from Lake Seliger in the land of the deepest Upper Volga lakes of Tver Oblast, where three great rivers, the Volga, the Western Dvina, and the Dnieper, take their source. The region has no industrial enterprises, which greatly contributes to its environmental wellbeing. It is no coincidence that Tver Oblast has been acknowledged by UNESCO as the most environmentally sound place in Europe.

The region’s most famous places of interest are Nilova Pustin, Shirkov pogost, the Source of the Volga, Okovetsky Saint Spring, the museum of gold sewing and embroidery and Golod’s pyramid. For tour details, read here.

NATURE

Lake Peno is one of Seliger Lakes stretching 100km from the South to the North and 60 km from the West to the East of Tver Oblast. Lake Peno is a glacial lake, which explains its unusual shape, a mixture of stretches and channels, solitary bays and gulfs, and picturesque capes.

RELIEF

The relief surrounding Lake Peno is hilly with rare plains. The Dnieper glaciation left here large boulders, Dnieper moraine sediment, and sands of the fluvio-glacial origin. The coasts of Lake Peno are natural beaches surrounded by pine forests.

CLIMATE

The Peno region features soft and humid climate with the mean annual temperature about +4°C and average annual precipitation about 600 mm. Summers are warm and sunny, especially in July. Rains are frequent but short. Usually, they are brought by the southwestern wind Mokrik, as the locals call it.

The lake stays frozen about 5 months with ice usually gone by the beginning of May. The water heats very fast. As a rule, the water temperature reaches +20°C in July and +25°C in the first half of August.

FLORA

Botanists consider Peno Lake and its surroundings as a unique place housing a widest variety of natural vegetation. This includes untouched forests of hardwood, evergreen and broadleaved trees such as fir, pine, birch, aspen, rowan, willow, bird cherry, oak, maple, ash, and elm. Larch, cedar and abies are also growing here. Where there is no forests, tall shrub communities are found. They include alder, hazel, buckthorn, and juniper. In springs and summers the land is covered with flowers and miscellaneous herbs. Water plants include water lilies, can-docks, irises, and calla lilies. The Peno region is rich in mushrooms. Unfortunately, the porcini are not widely distributed. However, here you will find a plenty of orange and brown cap boletuses, mossiness mushrooms, chanterelles, pholiota mutabilis, and russula. The forests also abound in berries such as cloudberries at the end of June, bilberries and bog whortleberries in the middle of the summer, and red bilberries and cranberries in autumn. There is a lot of raspberry-bushes in grovels, meadows and forest glades. It is also possible to find wild red, black and even white currant.

FAUNA

The Peno region has a diverse mammal world including moose, wild boars, bears, wolves, foxes, hares, squirrels, raccoons, and martens. It is also rich in birds. Peno's avifauna consists of hazel grouses, magpies, woodpeckers, thrushes, and chiff-chaffs in the forest and ducks, herons, cranes, and even swans on water. Aquatic wild-life includes more than 30 species of fish such as the bream, perch, pike, zander, roach, whitebait, crucian, burbot, and even eel. However, it is necessary to receive a fishing license from the local fishing and hunting society to angle in Peno Lake.

SUMMARY

Peno Distict is one of Russia’s most beautiful places. However, these will remain only beautiful words, until you come here to see the smooth surface of the lake lit by the colors of the sunset and inhale the sweet smell of herbs and flowers.