Near the sources of the Neva, on the shore of the picturesque Ladoga Lake, there is an architectural monument of the first half of the 14th century - the Shlisselburg Fortress Museum, named Oreshek due to its location on the territory of the Walnut Island. At present, the Oreshek fortress, which is a complex architectural ensemble, is open to all comers, as it belongs to the museum of the history of St. Petersburg . In the fortress-museum you can see the stages of the history of Russia, in which the defensive structure was somehow involved.
At present, the Oreshek fortress, built in Schlisselburg in 1323, is an irregular triangle according to plan, its angles stretched from east to west. The fortress walls along the perimeter of the ancient defensive structure are equipped with five powerful towers. Four of them have a round shape, and the fifth, Vorotnaya, is quadrangular. The north-eastern corner of the citadel was occupied by three towers in the past, but only one of them has survived to this day.
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The historical past of the citadel
The history of the Fortress of Oreshek began in 1323. This is evidenced by a record in the Novgorod Chronicle, where it is indicated that Prince Yuri Danilovich, the grandson of Alexander Nevsky, had ordered the construction of a wooden structure. Three decades later, in its place appeared a stone fortress, the area of which was increased to 9 thousand square meters. Fortress walls in thickness reached three meters, and above them were erected three towers of a rectangular shape. Initially near the defensive structure there was a posad, separated from the Nut by a three-meter canal, but later it was covered, and the posad itself was surrounded by stone walls.
During the following centuries, the fortress was repeatedly rebuilt, destroyed, rebuilt. The number of towers was constantly increasing, the thickness of the fortress walls was growing. Already in the XVI century the Shlisselburg fortress turned into an administrative center, where the governor lived, representatives of higher clergy and government officials. The population of the village lived on the banks of the Neva, and boats were used to get to the fortress.
From 1617 to 1702, the fortress of Shlisselburg, renamed the Noteburg, was under the rule of the Swedes. But Peter I managed to win back her, returning the former name. And again the grandiose construction began. There were several earthen bastions, towers and prison facilities. From 1826 to 1917, the Decembrists, Narodnaya Volya, were kept here, and then the "Old prison" was turned into a museum. During the war there was a military garrison, and in 1966 the fortress was returned to the status of a museum.
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Sights of the fortress-museum
Today, on the territory of an ancient defensive structure, you can see fragments of its former grandeur. Remains of the walls, Vorotnaya, Naugolnaya, Flazhnaya, Svetlichnaya, Golovkina and the Royal Tower, built "Old prison" and "New prison", where today museum exhibits are located. In 1985, there was opened a memorial complex in honor of the heroes of the Second World War.
It is most convenient to get to Shlisselburg from St. Petersburg by car, and get to the fortress of Oreshek by boat (alternatively - by boat from Petrokrepost station). Excursions to the fortress of Oreshek on convenient high-speed motor ships "Meteor" are regularly sent from St. Petersburg. Another option, how you can get to the fortress of Oreshek, is by bus №575 from the metro station "Ul. Dybenko "to Shlisselburg, and then by boat to the island. The regime of the Oreshek Fortress from May to the end of October is from 10 to 17 hours daily.
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