Location: 35 km (22 mi) East of Sankt Petersburg Map
Shlisselburg is a city in the Kirovsky district of
the Leningrad Region, located at the source of the Neva River on its
left bank. The city also includes Orekhovy Island, on which the
fortress "Oreshek" is located. The city is known mainly for the
fortress on Orekhov Island. The fortress, called Oreshek at that
time, was founded in 1323 by the Novgorodians. Since 1612, it
belonged to the Swedes, was called Noteburg (more precisely,
Neteborg). During the Northern War, it was recaptured from the
Swedes, renamed Shlisselburg (key city). Since 1723, the fortress
has lost its military significance and was used as a prison. During
the Great Patriotic War, the fortress played a crucial role in the
defense of the Road of Life, and was seriously destroyed.
The
actual city of Shlisselburg arose from a settlement on the banks of
the Neva River (in the place where it flows out of Lake Ladoga) in
the middle of the XVIII century, was a county town. A characteristic
feature of the city is the abundance of canals and islands,
primarily due to the fact that the Old Ladoga and New Ladoga canals
end in the city. Both were built so that small vessels could bypass
Lake Ladoga. Currently, they have become shallow and are almost not
used for navigation, but they are quite noticeable within the city
limits. There is also a natural channel Malaya Nevka, separating
Fabrichny Island, and the Malonevsky Canal. The streets of the same
name run along all the channels, which somewhat unites the city with
St. Petersburg. Few old buildings have been preserved, including due
to the destruction of the war. Basically, these are several blocks
near the source of the Neva River, near the mouths of both Ladoga
canals. Factory Island is also relatively interesting.
Fortress
1 Fortress "Oreshek", on Orekhovy Island. ☎ +7 (812)
498-06-79, 498-05-11. From May 1 to October 31, Mon—Sun 11:00-18:00, on
weekends and holidays one hour longer. 250 rubles . The fortress is
located at the source of the Neva River and is the main attraction of
Shlisselburg. It was founded in 1323 by Alexander Nevsky's grandson
Prince Yuri Danilovich and got its name from the Walnut Island, where at
that time there were thickets of hazelnuts. In the middle of the XIV
century, the Novgorodians built stone walls with towers on the site of
the first wooden fortress. In 1613, the fortress passed into the hands
of the Swedes who besieged it more than once and received the name
Noteburg from them, but in 1702 it was conquered by Peter I and since
then the city, which arose on the left bank of the Neva at the same time
as the fortress, has acquired its current name. Since the beginning of
the XVIII century, the fortress began to be used as a political prison,
where many famous political prisoners were held and sometimes executed.
During the Great Patriotic War, thanks to the heroic defense of the
fortress, Leningrad was saved from a complete blockade. Now the fortress
is a branch of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.
2 The Sovereign's Tower (Gate Tower). One of the two towers restored
in the 1980s. The main entrance to the fortress, the only quadrangular
tower. There is a gate with a drawbridge, a right-angled passage through
the tower, the remains of the bastion walls from outside the tower.
3 Memorial in the destroyed church of John the Baptist. Memorial
complex in memory of the defenders of the fortress during the Great
Patriotic War among the ruins of the Church of the Nativity of John the
Baptist. The temple was built in 1826-1831 in the classical style,
architect A. E. Staubert. It was the garrison temple of the
Schlisselburg fortress. It was heavily destroyed during the Great
Patriotic War. A memorial was erected among the ruins in 1985: a
monument, an oath of the defenders of the fortress, plates with the
names of the dead, elements of decoration with weapons against the
background of twisted structures, a cannon 21-K sample of 1932.
Interestingly, the formally destroyed temple is active, there is an
abbot.
4 The Secret House (The Old Prison). The one-storey
building, rebuilt and restored many times, is now a museum dedicated to
the prisoners of the fortress. Historically, it was the first separate
prison building, built in 1798. It is located in the fortress citadel, a
separate fortification inside the fortress walls. The building housed
Decembrists, Polish nationalists, revolutionaries and many others. Death
sentences were carried out directly next to him. There are numerous
memorial plaques in the courtyard.
5 The new prison. The two-storey
building of the new prison, built in 1883. It contained, in particular,
the people's volunteers. It is open for inspection, including the
interiors of the cells, but there is practically no museum exposition,
unlike the old prison.
6 The Royal Tower (Naryshkin Tower). The
northern tower of the fortress. It was built in the late XV - early XIV
century. In 1686-1697 it was rebuilt according to the project of the
Swedish fortifier Eric Dahlberg. Interesting is the system of passages
in the basement, which can be accessed through the courtyard of the Old
prison. Fragments of the 18th-century bastion have been preserved
outside, on which a monument to the numerous revolutionaries who died in
the fortress was erected in the 20th century.
7 Wall of the Novgorod
fortress. Archaeological remains of the fortress wall of 1352 with a
gate. They were discovered in 1969. They are located deep inside the
existing walls. They are covered with a wooden canopy.
8 Grave
Russian soldiers who died in 1702. More than 500 soldiers who died
during the storming of the fortress during the Northern War in 1702 are
buried here. A small hill with a stone and a cross.
9 The first
prison building (the Menagerie Building). One of the most heavily ruined
buildings of the fortress. It represents the remains of the oldest
building, probably built according to the design of Domenico Trezzini in
1715. Originally, these were soldiers' barracks. Subsequently, a
two-storey prison building. Behind the floor-to-ceiling bars, the
prisoners nicknamed the "Menagerie". It was almost completely destroyed
in the war. The ruins are inaccessible for inspection in the vicinity,
fenced off by a fence. The preserved fragments of the grilles are
displayed separately at the fence.
10 The fourth prison building
(Large Prison). A four-storey building, dilapidated during the war. It
was the tallest and newest of the prison buildings, built in 1911. The
exterior walls are mostly preserved. The passage is blocked.
Although the fortress is the main point of attraction for travelers,
the city also deserves attention. It is remarkable for its network of
canals, along which there are ancient and modern buildings of the Nevsky
Shipyard, and in the center, on opposite sides of the Staroladozhsky
(Petrovsky) Canal, there are two main city squares — Sobornaya and
Krasnaya. There are several attractions on Cathedral Square:
11
Annunciation Cathedral (1764). The first wooden church on this site was
built in 1728 and got its name in honor of the dismantled temple in the
fortress of Oreshek. The stone Baroque church was built in 1764, and the
bell tower was added in 1778. In 1864, the church received the status of
a cathedral, and in 1877-1882 it was reconstructed according to the
project of architect Karpov. In 1935, the cathedral was closed, but,
oddly enough, it operated during the Great Patriotic War. The bell tower
was restored in the mid-2010s, restoration is ongoing.
12 St.
Nicholas Church (1770). It was restored in 1990.
13 Kazan Chapel.
It was built in 1845-1847 on the site of a former wooden chapel designed
by architect Ershov.
14 Chain bridge. It represents the remains of a
suspension bridge with chains instead of cables. It led to the harbor
dam. Only the supports and chains have been preserved, the pavement has
been lost.
15 Petrovsky Bridge. The bridge is located next to the
Annunciation Cathedral and was built in 1826-1832 through the now
overgrown Staroladozhsky Canal during the reconstruction of the gateway.
At the time of construction, the bridge had two drawbridges, each 8.5
meters long. The bridge offers a wonderful view of the locks of the
Staroladozhsky Canal, built back in 1730. On the shore of the canal
there is a huge admiralty anchor from the time of Peter, raised from the
bottom of the Neva River in the Shlisselburg area.
On the Red
Square there are:
16 The building of the former Gostiny Dvor. It was
built in the 1890s by engineer V.N. Bobrov.
17 Monument to Count
Savva Raguzinsky. The count was a well-known public figure and associate
of Peter the Great, but is best known for bringing Alexander Pushkin's
great-grandfather Abram Hannibal to Russia.
Several attractions
are located near the Shlisselburg Marina.
18 Monument to Peter
I. Erected in 1957, it became the first monument to the monarch in the
USSR. The model of M. M. Antokolsky was used, which became the basis for
very similar later monuments in Arkhangelsk (depicted on a 500-ruble
bill), in St. Petersburg on B. Sampsonievsky Avenue, in Peterhof.
19
Monument to the ships that died on Ladoga. A modest monument to the
ships of the Red Banner Ladoga Military Flotilla and the ships of the
Northwestern River Shipping Company, who died on Ladoga in 1941-1943. It
was installed in 1996.
20 Monument to the rivermen. The monument on
the pier separating the Novoladozhsky Canal from the Neva was opened in
2019. Apparently, it is intended for viewing from the water, it is
difficult to get to it.
To the south of the city center are:
21 A humpback bridge with a lock. A pedestrian bridge, the only one of
the bridges over the Malonevsky Canal with its own name. At the
beginning of the XX century it was a drawbridge.
22 Buildings of the
cotton factory, Fabrichny Island, 2. A complex of red brick factory
buildings. Originally it was a cotton fabric factory (Shlisselburg
Manufactory), now it is the buildings of the Nevsky Shipyard, the
city-forming enterprise of the city. On the island itself, only a small
area is accessible opposite the bridge, near the city museum building,
but most of the buildings are clearly visible from the other shore. In
addition, the manager's house has been preserved on the other side
(Krasny Prospekt, 50).
1 Museum of the History of Shlisselburg, Fabrichny Ostrov, 2A. ☎ +7
(81362) 7-93-91. Mon–Fri 10:00 – 17:30, Sat 10:00 – 16:30. 60 RUB. The
museum is located in a small two-storey building on Factory Island, next
to the bridge leading to it. On the ground floor there is an exhibition
on the history of the city, on the second floor there is a shipbuilding
plant.
2 Open-air Museum of Naval guns, intersection of Zhuka and
Chekalov streets. The open-air exposition of the Military Technical
Museum "Echo of the Great Battles" consists mainly of naval guns of the
war and post-war period. It was opened in 2005. There are 13 exhibits:
guns, shells, mines. Admission is free.
By train
The Petrokrepost railway station is located on the right
bank of the Neva River opposite the city. From St. Petersburg, it can be
reached by commuter train departing from Finlandsky railway station
(travel time is about an hour).
1 Petrokrepost station , village
named after Morozova. The station is suitable for getting to the
fortress. Getting to the city in this case is problematic: there is only
a ferry to the island, and tickets for motor ships to the fortress from
each of the shores are sold in both directions at once. The station has
a single island low platform, exit from the north side, there are no
turnstiles. The ticket office is closed and the waiting room is closed.
There is a museum "Victory Road" in the administrative building of the
station.
By car
From St. Petersburg to Shlisselburg, it is
most convenient to take the Murmansk highway P21 (E105), leaving the
highway immediately after the Ladoga Bridge over the Neva (turn right,
then under the bridge) and further north to Shlisselburg.
By bus
From St. Petersburg:
4 (Pravoberezhnaya) line Dybenko Street: buses
No. 575 and 575K, run from morning to evening with an interval of 20-30
minutes, travel time is 30-40 minutes (depends on highway congestion,
may get stuck in traffic on weekends), cost — 80 rubles (2020).
3
(Nevsko-Vasileostrovskaya) Rybatskoye line: bus No. 440. It runs at
30—minute intervals from early morning to late evening, travel time is
approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. Do not confuse it with route No.
440A, which follows only to the village of Otradnoye!
On the ship
You can get to the Oreshek fortress using the ship "Aigyun", plying the
route of the village named after Morozov—Oreshek—Shlisselburg. There are
also three steamboats with an indoor cabin and an open deck running from
the pier in Shlisselburg to the fortress. Departure is approximately
every 10 minutes (as passengers fill up). The duration of the trip is
about 15 minutes. The price of a ferry ticket (round trip) is 300
rubles., students, schoolchildren and pensioners — 200 rubles., children
under 7 years old — free of charge (2018). Navigation lasts from about
the beginning of May to the end of October, depending on weather
conditions. Tickets to the fortress itself are sold separately at the
entrance to it (on the island), the price includes an excursion service.
A number of cruise ships have a stop on Orekhov Island (not in the
city). There are cruises for 3-4 days from St. Petersburg St. Petersburg
- Shlisselburg - Valaam - St. Petersburg, sometimes they also call at
Konevets.
2 The marina on Walnut Island. A large new marina,
built in 2018.
3 Marina Petrokrepost Bay, village named after
Morozov, Skvortsov str., 69. Marina in the village named after Morozova.
There are cash registers. The waiting room has long been abandoned and
destroyed.
4 Shlisselburg Marina. There is a cash register. There
is a small cafe, parking, toilet at the pier, and they sell souvenirs.
There is no independent inner-city public transport, several stops in
the city have the bus routes 440 and 575 described above.
Water
transport is described in the section above.
There are taxi
services in the city:
24 +7 (905) 200-33-55
A breeze +7 (921)
559-78-59 +7 (81362) 7-44-79
Turn +7 (968) 185-42-42 +7 (965)
764-64-19
Oreshek Fortress +7 (905) 271-71-07
Ladoga +7 (968)
185-42-42
Neva +7 (81362) 7-65-75 +7 (911) 278-18-18 +7 (962)
685-13-13 +7 (812) 648-88-99
The nut +7 (911) 185-42-42 +7 (911)
180-85-85
Prestige +7 (812) 922-27-77
Retro +7 (905) 226-88-26 +7
(911) 250-74-17 +7 (911) 131-81-81
Ruslan +7 (921) 185-42-42
Shlisselburgskoe +7 (905) 225-45-45
Aquatoria shopping mall, 4 Zhuka Street. Mon–Sun 08:00 – 23:00. In fact, the only shopping center in the city. There is a supermarket "Lenta", "Dodo pizza" (see below) and a number of small shops.
Of course, you can eat in the center of Shlisselburg, but the
catering is constantly moving from room to room, opening and closing. so
you may suddenly not find the place that is indicated in the guidebook
or where you ate last time.
1 Cafe Petrovskaya Trapeza,
Pesochnaya str., 1 (at the entrance to the city). 11:00-00:45. Hot
dishes: 200-300 rubles. A nice cafe in a wooden house on the outskirts
of the city. In addition to the main hall, there is a small hall for 40
people, booths for 12 people, gazebos located on the street. The food is
cooked without frills, but for a city like Shlisselburg it is
unexpectedly good.
2 Cafes "Schlisselburg Provence" ,
Starosinyavinskaya road, 2B (at the entrance to the city, Fabrika Mir
bus stop). ☎ +7 (905) 207-80-86. 10:00 – 20:00. From 35-40₽. A large
selection of fresh pastries from the local bakery — pies, buns, cakes,
pastries, etc. Coffee, tea, drinks. There is a second such institution
in nearby Kirovsk.
3 Dodo pizza, 4 Zhuka Street. Mon-Sun 10:00 –
23:00. The only chain catering establishment in the city, in a small
shopping center. Convenient location in the very center of the city.
1 Petrovskaya Hotel, Staroladozhsky Canal, 1. ☎ +7 (81362) 76-238.
Single 1500 rub, double from 2300 rub.
2 Mini-hotel "Starhouse",
Chekalova str., 14. ✉ ☎ +7 (921) 964-33-11. Double room from 3000
rubles. Simple rooms without frills, but with everything you need (there
is also tea, snacks). Trouble-free parking.
3 Guest house
"Shlisselburg", Chekalova str., 4. Located in the historical house of
merchants Potashovs of the XIX century (built over). 12 rooms. The cost
of a double room is 2150-6150 rubles. It includes the Landskrona
restaurant.
The city was founded by Prince Yuri Danilovich of Novgorod in 1323, who laid a wooden fortress on Orekhovy Island (a lot of hazel grew here). It was named after Oreshek Island. In 1613, the fortress was captured by the Swedes and the Russian name Oreshek was transformed into Nöteborg (Swedish nöt - "nut", borg - "fortress"). In 1702, it was liberated by Russian troops and then renamed Shlisselburg, literally - “key-fortress” (German: Schlüssel - “key”, Burg - “fortress”); Shlyusselburg, which is closer to German, was also used, from where the folk Shlyushin comes from. Peter I also used the form Schlutelburch (from the Netherlands Sleutelburcht with the same meaning "key-fortress"). Located opposite the fortress on the left bank of the Neva, the village of Spas-Gorodenka or Spas-on-Neva (name after the church) was transformed into a county town in 1755 and named after the Shlisselburg fortress, forming a single entity with it administratively. In 1944, in order to eliminate the German name, the city was renamed Petrokrepost, in 1992 the historical name Shlisselburg was returned to it.
As part of the Novgorod Republic (1323-1478)
A stone installed in
the fortress in memory of the peace of Orekhovo
The Oreshek Fortress
got its name from the name of Orekhovy Island, on which it was founded
in 1323 by Prince Yuri Danilovich, the grandson of Alexander Nevsky. In
the same year, the first agreement between the Novgorodians and the
Swedes was concluded on the island - the Peace of Orekhovo. According to
the Orekhov peace treaty, concluded after 30 years of hostilities, the
western part of the Karelian Isthmus and the neighboring region of
Savolax went to the Kingdom of Sweden, the eastern part of the isthmus
with Korela (now Priozersk) remained part of the Novgorod land. For the
first time, the state border between the Kingdom of Sweden and the
Novgorod Republic was officially established, running from the Gulf of
Finland along the Sestra River, in the north to Lake Saimaa and then in
the northwest to the coast of the Kayan Sea.
The treaty was
concluded by the Novgorodians: the Prince of Novgorod Yuri Daniilovich,
the posadnik Alforomey and the tysyatsky Avram. The Novgorod Chronicle
says this:
“In the summer of 6831 (1323 AD), Novgorodtsy went
with Prince Yuri Danilovich to the Neva and put the city at the mouth of
the Neva on Orekhovy Island; the same great ambassadors arrived from the
Sveian king and ended the eternal peace with the prince and with the New
City according to the old fee ... "
Interior view of the
fortress. The destruction was caused mainly by fighting during the Great
Patriotic War.
In 1333, the city and the fortress were transferred to
the patrimony of the Polotsk prince Narimunt, who put his son Alexander
here (Orekhov prince Alexander Narimuntovich). At the same time, Oreshek
becomes the capital of the specific Orekhovets principality. Narimunt
lived more in Lithuania; in 1338 he did not come to the call of Novgorod
to defend it against the Swedes and recalled his son Alexander. In 1348
Oreshek was taken by the Swedes. The Novgorod boyar-diplomat Kozma
Tverdislavich was captured. In 1349, after the fortress was recaptured
from the Swedes, governor Jacob Khotov was planted here. Stone walls
were built in 1352. In 1384, the son of Narimunt, Patrikei Narimuntovich
(the ancestor of the princes of the Patrikeyevs), was invited to
Novgorod and was received with great honors and received the city of
Orekhov, the Korelsky town (Korelu), and also Luskoye (the village of
Luzhskoye).
As part of the Moscow principality (1478-1612)
In
the 15th century, after the submission of the Novgorod Republic to the
Moscow Principality, the fortress was completely rebuilt and became the
first multi-tower building in the north of Rus'. During the
Russian-Swedish wars, it was repeatedly attacked by Sweden. One of these
attacks was the assault on Oreshok in 1582, the failure of which led to
the conclusion of peace in the Livonian War. Later, until 1612, the
city-fortress Oreshek was the center of the Orekhovsky district in the
Vodskaya Pyatina of the Novgorod land.
As part of Sweden
(1612-1702)
In September 1611, the Swedish troops under the
leadership of Jacob Delagardie laid siege to the fortress, and after a
nine-month siege, in May 1612, the fortress was starved out. Of the 1300
defenders of the fortress, about 100 people remained alive, dying of
hunger, but never surrendered. The Swedes called the fortress Noteburg -
"Nut City". According to legend, the defenders of the fortress walled up
the icon of the Kazan Mother of God in the hope that it would help the
Russians return their land.
During the Northern War, the Russian army under the command of Boris
Sheremetev on September 27 (October 8), 1702 besieged the fortress.
On October 11 (22), 1702, after a long bombardment, the Russian
troops launched an assault that lasted 13 hours and won. Peter I
personally participated in the siege as a scorer-captain. “It is
true that this nut was very cruel, however, thank God, it was
happily gnawed ... Our artillery did its job very wonderfully,”
Peter I wrote then to the Duma clerk Andrei Vinius. In honor of this
event, a medal was cast with the inscription: "He was with the enemy
for 90 years." At the same time, the fortress was renamed
Shlisselburg - "key-city".
During the assault, all the wooden
buildings and the roofs of the towers on the walls burned down.
These destructions were restored, and earthen bastions were
additionally poured around the fortress.
With the
construction of Kronstadt in 1723, the fortress lost its military
significance and was transformed into a political prison.
Prison (since 1723)
From the beginning of the 18th century, the
fortress began to be used as a political prison. The first famous
prisoner of the fortress was the sister of Peter I, Maria Alekseevna
(1718-1721), and in 1725 Evdokia Lopukhina, his first wife, was
imprisoned here.
John VI Antonovich, Emperor of the Russian
Empire, deposed in infancy by Elizaveta Petrovna, was kept in the
Shlisselburg fortress from 1756 and was killed in 1764 during an
attempt to free him by Lieutenant V. Ya. Mirovich.
The
longest term in prison in Shlisselburg (37 years, died in 1868 at
the age of 81) was spent by the Pole Valerian Lukasinsky.
In
1798, according to the project of the architect P.Yu. Paton, the
“Secret House” was built, the prisoners of which in 1826 were many
Decembrists (Ivan Pushchin, Wilhelm Küchelbecker, the Bestuzhev
brothers, etc.).
In 1869, military prisoner companies were
placed in the fortress. In 1881, a disciplinary battalion and a
sailor's boat crew were stationed here. The total number of
prisoners of the lower ranks reached 411 people. The former secret
prison was at that time adapted for 14 punishment cells, in which
the guilty soldiers from the disciplinary battalion were imprisoned.
By 1883, the old prison was rebuilt with 10 solitary cells and a
new two-story building for 40 prisoners was erected. The
disciplinary battalion was withdrawn from the fortress, and only
political prisoners were kept in it.
In 1884, all the
prisoners from the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul
Fortress were transferred here.
Since 1907 Oreshek served as
a central hard labor prison (hard labor central). Reconstruction of
old and construction of new buildings began. By 1911, the 4th
building was completed - the largest building of the fortress, where
21 general and 27 single cells were arranged. Many famous political
prisoners (especially populists and socialist-revolutionaries) and
terrorists, as well as many Poles, were kept in the fortress. Some
of those sentenced to death were brought to the fortress for
execution. So, A. I. Ulyanov (Lenin's brother), who attempted on
Alexander III, was executed here.
In the 1910s in St.
Petersburg, there was a “Group of assistance to political prisoners
of Shlisselburg”, which included M. L. Likhtenstadt, A. A. Aristova,
A. Ya. Brushtein, E. V. Pozner and others.
In 1917, during
the February Revolution, the prisoners were released, and the prison
buildings were burned by the workers of the Shlisselburg gunpowder
factory.
Abel (Vasiliev)
Bakunin, Mikhail Alexandrovich
Batyrsha
Bestuzhev, Mikhail Alexandrovich
Bestuzhev, Nikolai Alexandrovich
Biron, Ernst Johann
Bogdanovich, Yuri Nikolaevich
Volkenstein,
Lyudmila Alexandrovna
Varynsky, Ludwig-Faddey Severinovich
Golitsyn, Dmitry Mikhailovich (1665)
Grachevsky, Mikhail Fedorovich,
Narodnaya Volya
Dolgorukov, Vasily Vladimirovich
Zhadanovsky,
Boris Petrovich
Zhuk, Iustin Petrovich
Emperor John Antonovich
Ishutin, Nikolai Andreevich (1866-1868), went mad in prison
Kalyaev,
Ivan Platonovich, terrorist, hanged on May 23, 1905
Karazin, Vasily
Nazarovich
Korbeletsky, Fedor Ivanovich
Kuchelbecker, Wilhelm
Karlovich
Lichtenstadt, Vladimir Osipovich
Lopukhina Evdokia
Fyodorovna
Lukasiński, Valerian, (1830-1868), the longest term in
prison history
Lukashevich, Joseph
Minakov, Egor Ivanovich
Morozov, Nikolai Alexandrovich (revolutionary)
Novikov, Nikolai I.
Ordzhonikidze, Sergo
Petrov, Fedor Nikolaevich
Piper, Carl
Pujak, Kazimierz
Pushchin, Ivan Ivanovich
Rokossovsky, Konstantin
Konstantinovich
Romanova, Maria Alekseevna, sister of Peter I, the
first prisoner of the fortress (1718-1721)
Rostov, Naum Moiseevich
Ulyanov, Alexander Ilyich
Figner, Vera Nikolaevna
Sheikh Mansour
Janavičius, Ludvikas
From 1918 to 1924 the fortress became the naval base
of the Baltic Fleet. In 1925, under the guidance of the architect V. V.
Danilov, the fortress was restored. In 1928, a museum was opened in the
fortress, which worked until the start of the Soviet-Finnish war.
The Great Patriotic War
The fortress was badly damaged during the
Great Patriotic War. In 1941-1943. for 500 days, a small garrison of
soldiers of the 1st division of the NKVD troops and sailors of the 409th
marine battery of the Baltic Fleet defended the fortress from German
troops who failed to cross to the right bank of the Neva, close the
blockade of Leningrad and cut the road of life. On the territory of the
fortress there is a mass grave in which 24 Soviet soldiers who died
during the defense are buried. The memorial complex, opened on May 9,
1985, is dedicated to the heroic defenders of the fortress.
Oath
of the Fortress Defenders
We, the fighters of the Oreshek fortress,
swear to defend it to the last.
None of us under any circumstances
will leave her.
Dismissed from the island: for a while - the sick and
wounded, forever - the dead.
We will stay here until the end.
The fortress, which occupies the entire territory of
the island, has the shape of an irregular triangle, elongated from east
to west. There are five towers along the perimeter of the fortress
walls. Of these, one - the Gate - is quadrangular, the rest are round.
Inside the fortress, in its northeastern corner, the citadel rises.
There were seven towers along the outer perimeter of the fortress.
Three more defended the inner citadel. Each traditionally had a name.
Perimeter towers:
Royal
Flag
Golovkin
Pogrebnaya (or
Podvalnaya; Nameless since the 18th century)
Naugolnaya (Golovina)
Menshikov
Gateway (since the 18th century Sovereign)
Citadel
towers:
Svetlichnaya
Bell or Clock
Mill
Of these ten towers,
only six have survived to this day.
On August 6, 2010, the wooden
tent of the Golovinskaya tower of the fortress completely burned down
from a fire that arose after a direct lightning strike.
By 2013,
the wooden tent and floors of the Golovina Tower were completely
restored.
Excavations in the Oreshek fortress were carried out by a detachment of the Leningrad archaeological expedition of the LOIA of the USSR Academy of Sciences under the leadership of A. N. Kirpichnikov in 1968-1970 and then continued in 1971-1975. Archaeologists explored about 2000 m² of the cultural layer, discovered the remains of the Novgorod stone fortress of 1352, discovered and partially examined the remains of the township wall of 1410, and also specified the date of construction of the fortress of the Moscow era - the beginning of the 16th century.