Administrative division

273 settlements

Geographical location

Area - comparative: the oblast's second biggest district in terms of total area

Border regions: the districts of Chagoda, Ustyuzhna, Kadui, Belozersk, Vytegra within the Vologda Oblast, the Leningrad Oblast to the west

Distance from Vologda: 292 km

Inland waters: over 200 lakes, the Suda, the Kolp and Shogda rivers, no navigable rivers

Attractions and places of interest: five natural reserves

Transport

Railway station: the town of Babaevo is located on the railway route connecting Vologda and St.Petersburg

Economy

Gryazovets - Vyborg gas pipeline goes through the district. It is a branch pipeline of the Northern Lights pipeline from Gryazovets in central part of Russian Federation through Vologda and Leningrad oblasts to Saint Petersburg, Vyborg, and Finland.

Babaevo is one of the principal railway junctions. Freight and passenger trains going from St.Petersburg to Vologda passed through it.

In the branch structure of industry, production and distribution of electricity, gas and water takes a dominating position. Timber and food industries are also developed.

Attractions and tourism

Tourist itineraries of the District of Babaevo are connected with Russian fairy tales and their characters.

Every summer the District of Babaevo hosts a festival of Vepsian culture as Veps, a nationality from the northernmost Finno-Ugric ethnicities are part of its population. It keeps the Veps language and culture, developing traditional trades and handicrafts.

Several natural monuments are also a magnet for tourists and visitors of the district.

History

The District of Babaevo was first mentioned in the records of Moscow Prince Dmitry Donskoy dated back to the year 1389.

The history of the District is closely connected with Babaevo, its administrative centre. It is situated in the west of the Vologda Oblast, at the intersection of the river Kolp' and the railway route connecting Vologda and St.Petersburg. The name of the town goes back to the time when a runaway peasant known under the name Babai founded a village in 1460. The emergence of the town coincided with the construction of the railway line that linked St. Petersburg and Vologda in 1902.

At the beginning of the 19th century an ironworks sprouted up near the settlement. The output of the plant was rather considerable. As soon as the railway construction began, the employees of the ironworks switched to rail production. But the source of raw materials along the Kolodenka River soon ran out. Cast iron mined from marsh ore was very expensive. The ironworks was no longer able to compete and the plant was closed down.

The first steam locomotive arrived at the station of Babaevo in 1904. In September of 1905 the station of Babaevo became one of the principal railway junctions. Freight and passenger trains going from St. Petersburg to Vologda passed through it.

In June 1925 Babaevo was given the status of a town under the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and became a district centre of the Leningrad Oblast.

Owing to the changes in the administrative division the town of Babaevo became affiliated with the Vologda Oblast in 1937.

During the Great Patriotic war (1941-1945) Babaevo was a main strong point in the rear in the north-west of Russia.

Now Babaevo is a district centre. The leading branches of industry are timber and woodworking. The town has a food industry enterprise, a dairy and a depot.