Priozersk (pronounced “PriozErsk”) is located in
the Leningrad Region, 145 km from St. Petersburg, on
Lake Ladoga.
According to legends,
on the site of the current Priozersk in 879, Prince Rurik (founder
of the Russian state) died. The Russian town of Korela originated at
the end of the 13th century on the site of a small Karelian
settlement. From the XIII to the end of the XVI century Korela
became a city-fortress, a powerful outpost of
Novgorod on the
Karelian Isthmus, restraining the Swedes' aggression.
Fortress Korela:
The Old Fortress was repeatedly stormed and
rebuilt. Buildings of the 14th-20th centuries have been preserved.
New Fortress on the territory of the former Spassky Island (XVII-XX
centuries), now - on the territory of the Priozersky military
sanatorium.
Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin - built
in 1847 by the French architect Louis Visconti.
Käkisalmi
Lutheran Church - built in 1930, architect Armas Lindgren.
The
railway station building was built in 1916. Miraculously survived
the fires.
Monument to Peter I - erected at the expense of the
soldiers and officers of the Keksholm regiment in 1910. The bust of
Peter I was drowned in Vuoksa by the Red Finns in 1918. Sculptor
Boris Karagod initially restored (in 1969) a plaster bust, in 1972
it was replaced by a new, metal one, made by Vladimir Gorev.
The
monument to Mowgli is the only monument in Russia to this literary
character, created by a young sculptor Boris Karagod, who arrived in
practice in 1967. Nearby is another similar monument - the giant
Toad from Thumbelina, the very same heroine of the fairy tale, whose
figurine stood nearby in a stone flower, was destroyed by hooligans
in 2001. In 2014, a new one was installed in place of the broken
figurine.
The Church of All Saints in the Valaam
Savior-Transfiguration Monastery was built in 1890-1892. Architect
Johan Jakob Arenberg.
By plane
The nearest airport is located in St. Petersburg.
By train
1 Priozersk railway station, Privokzalnaya str., 1. One of
the few wooden buildings in Priozersk that survived World War II. It was
built in 1916 by architect Bruno Granholm, who designed, it seems, all
Finnish railway stations. Repaired, kept in order.
Six trains a
day depart from the Finlandsky railway station in St. Petersburg
(including the St. Petersburg—Kuznechnoye express) and the St.
Petersburg—Kostomuksha railway station. All of them also make stops at
Devyatkino station, which is combined with the metro station of the same
name. The travel time is about 2 hours and 45 minutes, from Devyatkino
it is half an hour less. The express arrives in 2 hours (from Devyatkino
— 20 minutes faster). The cost is 364 rubles from the Finlyandsky
railway station and 330 rubles from Devyatkino (2019).
By car
From St. Petersburg on the A129 highway.
By bus
Bus 859 runs
from St. Petersburg from 1 (Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya) Devyatkino line
(Northern Bus Station) almost every hour. The cost (2019) is 400-450
rubles.
On the ship
2 The port of Priozersk.
A motor ship
departs from the local pier 2-3 times a week for Valaam, the first
landing on it is for pilgrimage groups.
Historical and Local History Museum "Korela Fortress" Wikidata
Element, Leningradskoe shosse, 3. from 10:00 to 17:00 (in summer - from
9:00 to 18:00) except Mondays.
Jousting tournaments are held in the
Old Fortress every year in late June and early July.
There is an
amateur ski track in the city (at the old shooting range), a playground
for skateboarders. Rock concerts are held in the summer, where local
bands perform.
In Priozersk, you can practice sports: judo, tennis,
small towns, hockey, orienteering, horse riding, etc.
1 Cafe "Aldoga", Krasnoarmeyskaya str., 1.
2 Cafe "Genatsvale",
Kalinina str., 11. 12:00 – 23:00, Fri and Sat: until 24:00. Hot: 300-400
rubles. Georgian cuisine, mostly good reviews.
3 Korelochka cafe,
Sovetskaya St. 8. 9:00 – 20:00. Not a very cheap dining room.
4
Cafe-bar "Captain Morgan", Lenin St., 16. 11:00 – 23:00.
5 Gasthouse
restaurant, Leningradskoe shosse, 4. Around the clock. Bad reviews.
Coffee
6 Coffee shop "Point and line on the plane", Kalinina
St., 9. 10:00 – 20:00.
1 Hotel "Uyut", Gagarin Street, 18. ☎ +7 (911) 233 08 05, +7 (81379)
36125. Double 1800 - 2400 rubles. There is an opportunity to cook, wash
clothes, read books, play board games. The bathroom is one for two
rooms. Wi-Fi. There is a cafe on the ground floor.
2 Hotel "Granat"
(former "Zavodskaya"), Engineering street, 1. ☎ +7 (81379) 3-59-95, +7
(931) 206-44-30. Double, triple and quadruple rooms, from 700 rubles per
person. A small hotel in a three-storey Finnish-built house 2 km from
the city center. Very simple rooms, old furniture. The bathroom is on
the floor.
Average cost
3 Korela Hotel, Kalinina str., 11
(Lenin Square). ☎ +7 (81379) 33958, +7 (81379) 37154. Single 1600 rub,
double 2600 rub. A three-storey hotel in the city center with 26 rooms,
each equipped with a refrigerator, TV, private bathroom. Some rooms
overlook the main square of the city.
4 Keksholm Hotel, Sovetskaya
str., 18a. ☎ +7 (952) 222-51-57, +7 (81379) 37-378,
kexholm.hotel. Double room from 2,800 rubles. 500 meters from the train
station, next (behind the railway tracks at the end of the street) —
Lake Vuoksa. There are 17 rooms, they have a TV, a safe, a kettle, a
hairdryer, and some have a balcony. There is a restaurant and a bar on
site. Very high ratings on the Internet, however, complain about the
unremarkable view from the window and weak Wi-Fi signal.
5 Point° on
the 'Map' , Zaozernaya str., plot 12 (5 km from Korela fortress). ✉ ☎ +7
(931) 279-88-11. 3750 rub . A design hotel on the banks of the Vuoksa
River surrounded by a pine forest. It offers accommodation in 34 modular
apartments, all residential modules have a separate entrance and
full-length panoramic windows, which offer a picturesque view of the
river.
Outside the city
6 Recreation center "Most Ladoga",
village The watchtower. ☎ +7 (921) 900-58-51. Double room from 2000
rubles, cottages from 3000 rubles.
The first mention of a fortified settlement on the site of the
current city dates back to 1294. In the Russian chronicle it was called
Korela, in the Swedish - Kexholm.
From the 14th century to 1611
the city was known as Korela. From 1580 to 1595 and from 1611 to 1918
the city was called Kexholm. After the introduction of the Finnish
language into the official records management of the Grand Duchy of
Finland in the 1860s, the Finnish version of Käkisalmi also spread, as
evidenced by postage stamps. Since 1918, the Finnish Käkisalmi, along
with the Swedish Kexholm, has become the main variant of the name of the
city, which was part of Finland that gained independence.
In
1940, after the Soviet-Finnish war, the city went to the Soviet Union,
the name Kexholm was returned. In 1941-1944, during the Soviet-Finnish
war, the city was occupied by Finnish troops and was called Käkisalmi.
In 1944, after the Moscow armistice, the city was ceded to the Soviet
Union for the second time. In 1948 it was renamed Priozersk.
Written evidence of the exact
time of foundation of the Karelian settlement on the river Uzerva
(Vuoksa) has not been preserved, but, according to the results of
numerous excavations carried out by A.N. Kirpichnikov, and later A.I. in
the 12th century. The first verbal mention in the epic of Ilya Muromets:
"the hero Ilya Muromets in Karely was gone". According to the annals and
chronicles, it is known that in 1295 a fortified point at the mouth of
the Vuoksa was plundered by a detachment of Swedish knights led by
Sigurd Lokke from the garrison of the newly founded Vyborg fortress, in
the Swedish chronicle this point is called Kexholm, and in Russian -
Korela. This settlement was probably one of the commercial and political
centers of the Korela tribe. In the same year, the Novgorodians
recaptured it, and in 1310 they built a capital fortress on
Uzerva-Vuoksa, destroying the old one.
The city-fortress, which
became a powerful outpost of Novgorod on the Karelian Isthmus, held back
the aggression of the Swedes.
Through Korela passed the
"alternate" route of the great water trade route "from the Varangians to
the Greeks." Through Vuoksa it was possible to get to the Gulf of
Finland and to central Finland. Sweden sought to establish control over
this strategically important route; from the end of the 13th century,
Korela was repeatedly attacked by the Swedes.
By
the end of the 15th century, Korela was the administrative center of the
northern part (Korelskaya half) of the Vodskaya Pyatina of the Novgorod
Republic, later Korelsky Uyezd. The county included 7 administrative
units (pogosts), in which there were over 300 settlements. The city
itself and the lands closest to it (together with the "suburb" - the
trading settlement of Svansky Volochek) were part of the Gorodensky
churchyard.
The inclusion of the Korelsky land, among other
Novgorod possessions, into the Grand Duchy of Moscow contributed to the
further development and strengthening of Korela. According to the data
of 1568, there were 406 yards of townspeople, yards of the governor,
lord (head of the church district), boyars and nobles in the city. There
were four monasteries and one church.
In the autumn of 1580, Korela was taken by the Swedish
troops under the command of Pontus Delagardie. Thanks to the advantage
of the Swedes in artillery, the fate of the city was decided very soon:
a fire that engulfed the wooden walls and buildings of the fortress
forced the garrison to surrender. The entire Korelsky district was under
the rule of Sweden. However, already in 1595, after the Russian-Swedish
war, he was returned to the Russian state under the Tyavzin Treaty.
The transfer of Sweden in the Time of Troubles and the resistance of
the inhabitants of Korela (1609-1611)
From August 1610 to February
1611, Korela was under siege by the Swedish troops under the command of
Jacob Delagardie due to non-compliance with the terms of the
Russian-Swedish treaty of 1609. Tsar Vasily IV Shuisky handed over
Korela to the Swedes in exchange for military assistance during the Time
of Troubles and Polish intervention under an agreement concluded in
Vyborg in February 1609. The help of the Swedes and other mercenaries
(Finns and French) during the Delagardie campaign was really important
and decisive for the victories of the Russian army. Under the agreement,
the Swedes provided more than 5,000 soldiers who contributed to the
victories of 1609 near Torzhok, Tver and Kalyazin, in the battle on the
Karinsky field. Despite delays in paying mercenaries and their mass
desertion, the combined Russian-Swedish detachment under the command of
Delagardi and Skopin-Shuisky, among other things, took part in lifting
the siege from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. By December 1609, on
instructions from the Swedish king, Delagardie demanded that
Skopin-Shuisky also transfer Oreshek, Ivangorod and Kola to the Swedes
in exchange for additional Swedish troops (4,000 soldiers) needed for
joint operations in the Moscow region. A new agreement was concluded on
December 17, 1609 (SGGD. Ch. P. No. 192, 193), and on January 17, 1610,
the agreement was confirmed by Tsar Vasily IV Shuisky.
However,
the patriotic local population of Korela refused to accept the terms of
the 1609 treaty and wanted to remain in the Russian state. To protect
Korela, a militia was assembled from the local population. Against the
will of the tsar, 2,000 militiamen and 500 archers under the command of
governor I. M. Pushkin, A. Bezobrazov, V. Abramov and Bishop Sylvester
stood up to defend the fortress against the will of the tsar. The Swedes
had to storm the fortress on paper, already transferred to them by the
king according to the treaty of 1609. From September 1610 to March 1611,
the siege of the fortress by Delagardi's troops continued, culminating
in the complete exhaustion of the defenders' forces and the surrender of
Korela to the Swedes.
After the
Peace of Stolbovsky concluded in 1617, Korela with the county was ceded
to Sweden. Since 1634, the city has been the administrative center of
the Kexholm county within Sweden.
On September 8, 1710, during
the Northern War, the Kexholm Fortress (the Swedish name for Korela) was
taken by Russian troops. In honor of the capture of the Keksholm
fortress, a commemorative medal was knocked out.
At the end of
the Northern War in 1721, in accordance with the terms of the Nystadt
Peace Treaty, Sweden recognized the accession to Russia of the Kexholm
fief and part of Karelia with the Vyborg fief district.
Kexholm began to play the role of a military
outpost on the outskirts of the Russian capital - St. Petersburg. The
city of Kexholm became the center of the Kexholm province until in 1743
it was included in the newly formed Vyborg province, divided into
counties, including Kexholm.
From the 18th century, the fortress
changed its purpose and began to serve as a prison. Her Nameless
Prisoner became famous.
On
December 23, 1811, Emperor Alexander I issued a decree on the annexation
of the Finnish province (the so-called Old Finland), which included the
Keksholm district, to the Grand Duchy of Finland (“New Finland”). This
happened thanks to the personal initiative of Gustav Moritz Armfelt.
Kexholm passed into Finnish administration. The name of the Vyborg
province was returned to the Finnish province.
In the middle of
the 19th century, when the Vuoksa changed its main course, fishing in
the Kexholm region declined sharply, and the city's population decreased
from 1743 people in 1840 to 1499 people in 1855 and to 1181 people in
1873. Then, in the middle of the 19th century, the first industrial
enterprises began to appear in the city.
After the February Revolution of 1917, Emperor Nicholas
II, who also bore the title of Grand Duke of Finland, abdicated on March
2 (15), 1917. And after the October Revolution, the parliament of the
Grand Duchy proclaimed the independence of Finland. On December 31,
1917, the Council of People's Commissars, chaired by V. I. Lenin,
recognized the independence of Finland.
In October 1920, peace
was concluded between the RSFSR and Finland, which ended the first war
between the two young states. The new Soviet-Finnish border turned out
to be a little south of Kexholm.
In 1930, the new Käkisalmi
Lutheran Church was built to replace the old church. It was designed by
architect Armas Lindgren.
In 1931, the Waldhof, a large sulphite
pulp mill, was launched and became the city's most prominent industrial
enterprise.
By 1938-1939, the population of Käkisalmi had grown
to over 5,000 inhabitants.
After the
Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, as a result of the peace treaty of
March 12, 1940, the city was transferred to the Soviet Union.
During the Great Patriotic War from August 21, 1941 to September 24,
1944, the city was occupied by Finnish troops and almost completely
destroyed.
In September 1944, Finland and the USSR signed the
Moscow Armistice, which ended the Soviet-Finnish War. On September 24,
1944, Kexholm was returned to the USSR. The former Soviet-Finnish border
of 1940 was restored.
In November 1944, the northern
regions of the Karelian Isthmus - Vyborgsky, Keksgolmsky and Yaskinsky,
defined in 1940 as the Karelian-Finnish SSR - were ceded to the
Leningrad Region.
By the middle of 1947, the Waldhof Ab plant,
nationalized after the war, was restored and was called the Priozersk
Pulp Plant. The plant closed in 1986 as an environmentally hazardous
one. On the territory of the former PZZ, OAO Lesplitinvest is now
located.
In October 1948, the city of Kexholm was renamed
Priozersk, and in February of the following year, 1949, all other
toponyms of the Priozersky district were renamed.
An unsuccessful
attempt to hijack an aircraft, undertaken in 1970, is associated with
Priozersk.
In 2004, a memorial stone was erected in Priozersk with the inscription: "In 879, Rurik died in Korel."
The city is located in the northern part of the region on the
Karelian Isthmus, along the banks of the northern branch of the Vuoksa
River, between Lake Ladoga and Lake Vuoksa.
Railway station on
the St. Petersburg - Hiytola line.
The distance to St. Petersburg
is 145 km.
Priozersk is the center of the Priozersk urban settlement. The
settlements of Brigadnoye, Burnevo, Storozhevoe are also subordinate to
the administration of the settlement.
The structure of the local
self-government bodies of the settlement, according to the charter
adopted in the spring of 2009, is:
council of deputies - elected
for 5 years and consists of 18 deputies. The chairman of the council of
deputies is the head of the settlement.
the head of the settlement is
elected by the deputies of the Council of Deputies from among its
members for a term of 5 years. Since September 2014, the position of
head has been occupied by Vladimir Yuryevich Mylnikov
the
administration of the settlement, which is headed by the head of the
administration (city manager). The head of the administration is
appointed under a contract concluded based on the results of a
competition for a period of 5 years.
Since 2009, residents of an
urban settlement have not directly elected either the head of the
settlement or the head of the administration.
Industry
Highways and railways pass through the city, connecting
it with the cities of the region. The city has developed industry. The
largest enterprises were the Priozersky woodworking plant and OAO
Lesplitinvest.
Trade and services
Supermarket chain
"Pyaterochka"
Chain of supermarkets "Magnet"
Brand store
"Velikoluksky Meat Processing Plant"
Salon of communication "Evroset"
Megafon customer service office
MTS subscriber service office
Beeline customer service office
Tele2 subscriber service office
Network of pharmacies "Nevis"
Furniture center "Kalina"
Chain of
stores "Magnit Cosmetic Market"
Branches of Sberbank of the Russian
Federation
Branch of Rosselkhozbank
StroyMag
Vimos (household
and construction goods)
Mobile operators provide their communication services for the
population:
"Megaphone"
"Beeline"
"MTS"
"Tele2"
Iota
Internet provider: Rostelecom, Megafon, X-trim.
A television
On the territory of Priozersk, the channels Channel
One, Russia-1, NTV and Life78 are rebroadcast. There is a cable TV
company "Priozersk House Networks" and a local TV channel Priozersk TV.
Radio
101.7 FM - Radio Vanya
102.9 FM - Love Radio
103.6 FM
- Russian radio
106.2 FM - Rodny Dorog Radio
107.2 FM - Priozersk
FM
107.6 FM - Road radio
At the Priozersk station, commuter trains St. Petersburg-Finlyandsky
- Kuznechnoye make stops, as well as the Lastochka express St.
Petersburg - Kuznechnoye and the long-distance train St. Petersburg -
Kostomuksha.
Daily buses run from the bus station to St.
Petersburg: No. 859 to the Devyatkino bus station and No. 960 to the
metro station Spb metro line2.svg Parnas.
There are also internal
buses running inside Priozersk or between Priozersk and neighboring
villages.