VERKHNIYE MANDROGI, a village in Podporozhye District. Population: 403. The name’s origin is related to the Karelian words “mandere” = mainland, land, coast, or forest on a bedrock shore, and “jogi” = river. It is located on the right bank of the Svir River. It was reconstructed in 1996 by the initiative of St. Petersburg’s businessman S. E. Gutzeit in the place of a locality of the same name that disappeared in the 1940s as a commercial touring project. The main occupation of the village people is manufacturing and sale of souvenirs, and service of tourists, mainly from outside Russia. V. M. has an artisan quarter with art studios and souvenir shops. There are a Museum of Vodka, art gallery, exhibition of the matreshka doll history, and the so-called “Path of Pushkin’s Fairy Tales.” There is also a windmill built to 18th century drawings, a “promontory estate” in the Russian Classicism style; a hotel, and dwelling houses of country estate type for 125 guests. The village has an elk nursery, a stable, and small animal farms. Near the quay on the bank of the Svir there is a river terminal building.
See also: Museum of Vodka.