Vodlozersky National Park was established in 1991 in the river valley of the Ileksa to protect the taiga coniferous forests.

[13] The area was originally populated by speakers of Uralic languages and then colonized by the Novgorod Republic.

It was located on the trading route connecting central and northern Russia, from Moscow to the White Sea along the Onega River.

The descendants of the Novgorod population are the Pomors who inhabit the White Sea coast and traditionally are engaged in fishery.

Many localities in the district along the coast, such as Unezhma (now abandoned),[14] have historical significance as old Pomor villages.

In the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, the area was included into Archangelgorod Governorate.

In 1780, the governorate was abolished and transformed into Vologda Viceroyalty, and Onega was granted town rights.

On July 15, 1929, the uyezds were abolished, the governorates merged into Northern Krai, and Onezhsky District was established among others.

The district is divided into one urban-type settlement with jurisdictional territory (Maloshuyka) and thirteen selsoviets.

The following selsoviets have been established (the administrative centers are given in parentheses):[3] As a municipal division, the district is incorporated as Onezhsky Municipal District, with the town of oblast significance of Onega being incorporated within it as Onezhskoye Urban Settlement.

It was built during World War II to secure the transport of goods from the harbor of Murmansk to central Russia.

The district contains thirty-two objects classified as cultural and historical heritage by Russian Federal law, and additionally eighteen objects classified as cultural and historical heritage of local importance.

Nikon, the future patriarch of Moscow and reformer of the Russian Orthodox Church, was an abbot of the monastery from 1643 to 1646.

The monastery is located on a peninsula (formerly an island) on Lake Kozhozero and can only be accessed by hiking up the Kozha River for several days.