Attractions: Shlisselburg. The Fortress Of Shlisselburg

The Town of Shlisselburg, a photo that make you want to visit it, and administrative center on the left Bank of the Neva directly from lake Ladoga, twenty-four kilometers East of St. Petersburg.

History

This ancient city has a rich history and many attractions. Shlisselburg was founded in 1323 by Prince Yuri Danilovich. It was at this time on the island of Oreshek, where were thickets of hazel, was laid the wooden fortress of the same name. By some accounts the original name of the place was due to the fact that on top of this small piece of land is very similar to the shape of the nut.

The Swedes tried several times to conquer the fortress, to push the Novgorodians from landlocked inland, but their attempts until the beginning of the seventeenth century were not successful. But in 1613 the castle was seized. The conquerors renamed Noteborg. A little less than a century has passed until such time as the army of Peter I in 1702 was able to reconquer the fortress.

After several decades in the area were formed numerous settlements. And in 1780, this settlement was granted city status. Today tourists come here to see its attractions.

The town today

Currently, the city – a full complex, combining historical and architectural monuments belonging to different milestones, Dating from the fourteenth century until the great Patriotic war. Nevertheless, the most unique building in it is a fortress. Shlisselburg – a small town. It is home to around fifteen thousand people.

In this small rural village there is a thriving industrial enterprises or major centres, including shopping. Built in the early last century the shipyard today stands in ruins. However, the history of the city and its picturesque scenery - are in themselves attractions. Shlisselburg in the years of the great Patriotic war was a defensive point on the outskirts of the besieged city on the Neva. Through the fortress evacuated, hence the Leningrad supplied products. And decades later it has become a Museum of those difficult years.

Sights

Apart from the fortress, in the city you can see such architectural monuments as the Church of St. Nicholas, Cathedral of St John the Baptist and the Annunciation of the blessed virgin Mary, a small chapel of the Kazan icon of the mother of God. Many in Shlisselburg and museums dedicated to the ship's guns, the history of the city. It also preserved a truly unique engineering networks of the old Ladoga canal. It is a granite gateway built in the mid-nineteenth century, the bridge is erected on the columns. Preserved such monuments as Gostiny Dvor, monument to Peter I, etc.

Generally, map of Shlisselburg attractions is simply amazing in its richness. Tourists enjoy coming here to look at the amazing structure.

Fortress Oreshek

The town has always been international, on the Swedish border. It is because there was built an ancient fortress. Since the establishment of this fortification was surrounded by a deep earthworks. But the wooden buildings after a fire we had to change to stone. The fortress has undergone some changes: increased its area, and the walls rose to a fifteen-meter height.

But soon it lost its defensive significance and became one of the worst prisons in the country. Prisoners here were kept in dirty and damp dungeons in solitary confinement. Painful conclusion was tantamount to death. The chances of escaping from here did not have any.

Here First was imprisoned members of the Imperial family: the first wife of Peter Lopukhin, his sister Maria Alekseevna and others. Here he served his sentence and disgraced courtiers. And at the end of the eighteenth century, this fate is not passed and educators. Novikov, Krechetov, Karamzin, and from the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the Decembrists Bestujeva, Kuchelbecker, Pushchin - all of them were placed in the Nut.

After the February revolution, the prisoners of the fortress, the rebels released the workers of the Shlisselburg. The prison buildings were burned.

In the twenties and thirties worked here a branch of the Museum of the October revolution.

During the break of the siege of Leningrad in January of fortythe third was destroyed many landmarks. The town, which in those years was called Petrokrepost', suffered from severe destruction. Liberated the city in January 1943, the soldiers of the Leningrad front, with the support of the Baltic fleet, and was restored in postwar years. In the early nineties of the last century, it was returned its historic name - the fortress of Shlisselburg.

Cathedral of the Nativity of John the Baptist

When in the early seventeenth century, the Swedes, taking advantage of the Turmoil, began an offensive in the North-Western border of Russia, the first fortress fell. And when the Russians recaptured the citadel, the first thing they started to look for an icon of the Kazan Mother of God, venerated in the reign of Tsar Ivan the terrible. The amazing story of the way today to tell during the tour in Shlisselburg guides. It turns out that before the fall of the fortress was one of the spiritual centers of the Neva. The icon was kept here in a small chapel. Before the surrender of the citadel's defenders had walled up the image in the wall, which was converted by the Swedes in the Church. So the icon had been kept for a century.

Staroladogsky canal

This waterway along the Neva connects lake Ladoga with Volkhov river. Today, Shlisselburg, there are two parallel channels: built in the early eighteenth century Staraya Ladoga, which had completely dried up and overgrown, and Novoladozhsky – relatively new. He still operates.

Staraya Ladoga was known as the channel of Emperor Peter the Great. It was built by the Tsar-reformer and has a length of about one hundred and twenty miles.

According to the original project, it was built without locks. The channel depth-210 cm below the level of lake Ladoga. At the initial stage of its construction was somewhat delayed due to the negligent conduct of business by the contractors. In 1723 Peter began to personally inspect the construction, ordered the arrest of sluice masters, the Germans. The construction of the channel state is assumed.

In 1726 the area between the Volkhov and Black village was completed, began the movement of ships, which greatly accelerated the work. The twenty-second of October 1730 the construction of the canal was completed. At that time it was the largest hydraulic structures in Europe.

Annunciation Cathedral

Originally in 1726 in its place was erected a wooden Church. However, four decades later, it was replaced by stone.

During the struggle with the Church the Soviet authorities in 1935 the Cathedral was closed, however, during the great Patriotic forces of the congregation he opened and operated throughout the war. After the victory he was again handed over to the diocese.

The Cathedral square holds and other magnificent buildings. In the eighteenth century there was attached the bell tower. Since 1990, began the restoration of St. Nicholas Church, and a year later - the Annunciation Cathedral. The wooden old chapel was built of Kazan, built by the architect Yershov.

Petrovsky bridge

Located next to the Annunciation Cathedral, the chain bridge is the remnants of a former suspended – Petrovsky aqueduct that was used from 1826 to 1832 He was equipped with an adjustable spans, each of which had a length of eight and a half meters. The bridge offers a simply breathtaking panorama. On the one hand is the floodgates of Staroladozhsky channel, and on the other the Admiralty anchor still from the time of Peter, which is lifted from the bottom of the Neva near Shlisselburg.

Museums of the city Shlisselburg

The biggest of them – the Museum of city history. It was created in 1990. Here you can get acquainted with the history of Shlisselburg, to learn about the construction of the Ladoga bypass channels and a textile factory, as well as the history of Nevsky shipyard.

Another Museum that is called “the Breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad” dedicated to the operation "Iskra", which broke through the blockade and restored the overland communication of Leningrad. The diorama is arranged in the left Bank ramp of the Ladoga bridge. Its memorial hall was opened on the seventh of may, 1985. Here you can see a painting with a length of forty and a width of eight meters.

There are the museums of the town under the open sky. For example, Radiorama area is an open exposition with military equipment. Here are the real tanks that took part in the battle for Leningrad. Many of them were raised from the bottom of the Neva or of its surrounding wetlands and restored. The number of exhibits and unique tree that has been preserved from the siege of Leningrad.

The Museum of naval guns Shlisselburg is also an exhibition and exposition under the open sky. Collected here are anti-aircraft guns both military and post-war era. They were dismantledfrom the ships and stored in the warehouse of the Ministry of defense. The guns were restored and installed to the sixtieth anniversary of the Victory.

Charm city

Today the town is a provincial town that it is possible to override in less than three hours. But it has its own special charm. It is the old square, in a quiet and slightly dilapidated streets, a few careless berths. And most importantly — it's indescribable scenic scenery of the majestic Ladoga lake, its unique channels connecting the port town with other cities and to protect it from troubled waters.

Beckons and the old fortress, impregnable before the trends of the time and is still affecting his much-traveled high towers and walls. This unusual scenic area, the origin of Neva.