One of the ancient evidence of the formation of the Russian state is the Ivangorod Fortress Museum. It is located on the bank of the river Narva, in the Leningrad region. This ancient outpost was built back in 1492 by the order of Tsar Ivan the Third (Vasilievich), in honor of which he was named Ivangorod.
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Ivangorod fortress was designed to defend the western borders of Russian lands, which were regularly raided by conquerors. And as soon as the tsar became aware of the military alliance of Livonia with Sweden , directed against Russia, it was immediately decided to strengthen the Western positions. Moreover, this area was just designed to build such a fortification. There was a fortress on a hill, which was called the Maiden's Mountain and was washed on three sides by the waters of the Narva River, which was very convenient for defending positions.
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But only the architects made a miscalculation in the choice of the shape of the fortress and made it a standard quadrangular shape that did not repeat the shape of the river's turns, as it was done earlier when building such defensive positions. This allowed to leave unprotected the walls of the fortress, and the enemy - to unhindered to land on the river bank and have excellent positions for the attack of the Ivangorod fortress. At first the fortress had a slightly different appearance, not the same as today, and was smaller in size.
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The dimensions of the fortress were compensated by its internal filling - namely, by a large number of weapons. But, unfortunately, a small area of the fortress itself could not accommodate a sufficient number of soldiers for its defense.
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The construction workers were not forced to wait for their confirmation for a long time, and four years later the Ivangorod fortress was captured by the Swedes. It took them only a few hours to storm. But they did not manage to stay in Ivangorod for a long time. As soon as the Russian army sent reinforcements, the Swedes withdrew. After this event, within three months a new fortress was built, already taking into account the previous miss, which already repeated the terrain and had a much larger capacity. The new fortress was called the Big Boyar City.
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During the century after the construction began, the fortress was completed and improved. And would have preserved its original appearance to this day, had it not suffered so badly during the Great Patriotic War, when by air strikes the fascists destroyed most of it. Now the fortress is actively restored, and on its territory there are two churches.
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How to get to Ivangorod Fortress?
Excursion to the Ivangorod fortress is very popular when visiting the Leningrad region, because here you can feel the breath of the centuries and there is an opportunity to touch the past. Before you get to Ivangorod Fortress, you need to know the mode of its operation, especially if you want to get there yourself, without a guide. But if you are not very strong in history, it is better to use the services of a guide. Here visitors will be shown all the famous places of the fortress and will tell about the history of the name of each of the towers.
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Before you get to Ivangorod Fortress, you need to take care of tickets and passes in advance, because there is a fortress in the border area, and the documents are strictly checked. For foreigners, a Schengen visa is required. It is easy to get here from St. Petersburg by regular shuttle bus, which you can take to the bus station on the Obvodny Canal or at the Baltic Station. The fortress is open for visitors from 10 am to 6 pm. The cost of payment to the guide is about 750 Russian rubles, and the ticket - about 50 rubles.