Oreshek Fortress: an ideal 1-day trip from St. Petersburg

Few structures have as rich a history as Oreshek fortress, located near St. Petersburg. And it's worth getting to know it better and seeing it with your own eyes.

Although this is not the only medieval fortress in the Northwest (after all, there are also Yam, Koporye, Korela, the kremlins of Staraya Ladoga, Ivangorod, Pskov and Novgorod), for centuries it was precisely Oreshek that was especially important for Russian rulers. What makes it so remarkable?

Nut Island, on which the fortress of the same name is located, sits at the source of the Neva River — where the river flows out of Lake Ladoga. It is precisely this location that makes Oreshek fortress unique. The fortress protects the passage from Lake Ladoga to the Baltic Sea — once an important trade route and "window to Europe."

Many will be surprised by the fact that Shlisselburg is not only the famous Oreshek fortress, but also a city on the shore of Lake Ladoga. Nevertheless, Oreshek fortress is only part of the city of Shlisselburg, which received this status back in 1780.

This settlement on the left bank of the Neva was once founded by order of Peter I, after the capture of Noteburg. Shlisselburg was primarily a military settlement. It was divided into two parts — the Upper Fishermen's and Lower Fishermen's settlements. The boundary between them was the Petrovsky (now Staroslavsky) Canal — the largest hydraulic engineering structure in Europe of the early 18th century. Its construction was supervised by Peter I himself, and its operation by the famous Abram Petrovich Hannibal, great-grandfather of A.S. Pushkin, who was a talented military engineer.

In the city of Shlisselburg itself there is also something to see — several churches are located there (one of which housed the relics of Alexander Nevsky) and the Museum of the History of the City of Shlisselburg (open year-round from 10:00 to 18:00, on weekdays).

In addition, Shlisselburg has the world's only bridge on granite columns.

However, the main attraction of Shlisselburg is, of course, Oreshek fortress itself. You can only visit it during the warm season, when navigation is open: from April 28 to October 31. Every half hour, a steamboat departs from the pier in Shlisselburg to the fortress.

Operating hours:

May-September
On weekdays: from 10:00 to 18:00 (final trip to the museum at 17:00)
On weekends and holidays: from 10:00 to 19:00 (final trip to the museum at 18:00)

October
On weekdays: from 10:00 to 17:00 (final trip to the museum at 16:00)
On weekends and holidays: from 10:00 to 18:00 (final trip to the museum at 17:00)

Alternatively, you can get there by boat or yacht with an enthusiastic guide who will tell fascinating stories and share captivating details about the fortress's rich history.

You should set aside several hours for the trip, as the fortress is quite large and there really is a lot to see. Today you can see both the fortress walls from the 12th century and the terrifying casemates of the tsarist prison... However, let's take everything in order.

Oreshek fortress was founded in 1323 by Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow and Novgorod, grandson of the legendary Alexander Nevsky. Although initially it was just a wooden fortification with an earthen rampart, the fortress immediately entered history: in 1323 the Treaty of Oreshek was concluded there — the first official peace treaty between Great Novgorod and Sweden, which is commemorated by a stone installed on the fortress territory (it can be seen today).

Later, a stone structure took the place of the wooden fortification, occupying only part of the island. Thanks to archaeologists, today you can see the walls of this first stone fortress.

After Novgorod lands became part of the Moscow Principality in the 15th century, Oreshek fortress was completely rebuilt. The new fortress was thought through in every detail — historians now consider it the pinnacle of engineering thought of its time. It is precisely this structure that has survived to our days.

The fortress occupies the entire island and has the shape of a polygon, elongated from east to west. Inside the massive stone walls 4.5 m thick and 12 m high there was once a citadel where ammunition and provisions were stored. The fortress had ten towers 14–16 m high: seven outer towers were located on the walls, and three inner ones protected the citadel. The only entrance to the fortress was in the Gate Tower, later renamed the Sovereign Tower. This is the only square tower — all the others are round. The entrance to the Gate Tower and the passage from it into the fortress are at right angles to each other, which complicated the use of battering rams during sieges. In addition, the entrance was protected by a deep moat and forged gates that lowered from different directions.

Today, of the ten towers erected in the 16th century, only six remain: one citadel tower (Svetlichnaya) and five that run along the perimeter of the fortress walls (Royal, Flag, Golovkin, Corner and Sovereign).

And again Oreshek fortress played a significant role in Russian history — during the Livonian War it withstood two serious sieges — in 1555 and 1582. After the Swedes failed to take the fortress, the Truce of Plussa was signed in 1583.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Moscow Tsardom was experiencing difficult times related to the Time of Troubles and Polish intervention. In 1612, after the most difficult siege lasting almost 10 months, the Swedes captured Oreshek fortress by starvation. For almost 90 years, access to the Baltic for the Moscow Tsardom was lost. Of 1,300 defenders, about 100 remained alive. According to legend, before leaving Oreshek, the defenders walled up an icon of the Kazan Mother of God in the wall so that it would help recapture the fortress (the icon, however, was never found).

The Swedes divided the former Novgorod lands into fiefs, and renamed Oreshek itself Noteburg — "nut city." During the Swedish rule, a significant number of Protestants moved to Oreshek — Finnish peasants, Swedish landowners and officials, German and Swedish burghers.

The fortress itself practically did not change. The only capital construction was the Royal Tower, from which there was an additional exit to the shore of Lake Ladoga. In the 18th century this entrance was walled up. (By the way, there could have been several passages. According to legend, from the basements of the Flag Tower an underground-underwater passage leads to a coastal linden grove. However, it has not yet been possible to discover it).

Oreshek returned to Russia in 1702 during the Great Northern War. Oreshek was very important to Peter I, so the operation was carefully planned. Peter first wanted to take the impregnable Noteborg in winter over the ice, but due to an early thaw and a number of other reasons, the plan had to be changed. For 10 days the Russian army shelled Noteborg with cannons, but failed to breach the walls. Having exhausted their shells, Peter's troops went on the assault, crossing to the island in boats. As a result, at the cost of great losses, Noteborg was taken.

For Peter, the capture of Oreshek became a landmark victory that opened the way to the Baltic Sea, so the city received a new name — Shlisselburg — "Key-city."

The fortress was again fortified and rebuilt, and barracks and officers' buildings appeared inside.

After the construction of St. Petersburg and Kronstadt, Oreshek found itself far from the Swedish border and lost its strategic importance. However, a new purpose was found for the fortress.

The swift current of the river and strong fortress walls, which made Oreshek an impregnable bastion, allowed it to be turned into the most terrible prison, nicknamed the "Russian Bastille." The prisoners of Oreshek included members of the royal family (Peter I's sister Maria Alekseyevna and his first wife Evdokia Lopukhina, the unfortunate Ivan VI), state and public figures (members of the Supreme Privy Council, the Dolgoruky princes and Prince Golitsyn, Duke Ernst-Johann Biron), Decembrists (for example, A.S. Pushkin's friends I. Pushchin and V. Küchelbecker). A.I. Ulyanov — brother of V.I. Lenin — was also imprisoned and subsequently executed in Shlisselburg. Prisoners were kept in the strictest secrecy, and instead of names were assigned numbers. No one ever managed to escape from Shlisselburg prison during its entire existence, although there were attempts. The prison ceased to exist only in 1917 during the February Revolution. All prisoners were released.

Today, of the 18th-century buildings inside the fortress, only the soldiers' barracks and the "Secret House" ("Old Prison") remain.

The next significant chapter in the history of Oreshek fortress was the Great Patriotic War. Shlisselburg once again became an impregnable fortress. In 1941–1943, for 498 days a small garrison of defenders held the fortress against German troops. Thanks to their heroic actions, the enemy could not cross to the right bank of the Neva and cut the Road of Life, closing the ring of the Leningrad blockade.

During the fighting, the fortress was severely damaged. After the war, to get rid of the German name, Shlisselburg was renamed Petrokrepost.

In 1990, Oreshek fortress became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in 1992 Petrokrepost regained its historical name.

Archaeological and restoration work that began in the 1970s continues today. So perhaps Oreshek fortress will yet reveal some of its secrets.