Shlisselburg Fortress, Shlisselburg, Leningrad Oblast, Russia

Shlisselburg Fortress, Shlisselburg, Leningrad Oblast, Russia 

The historic fortress of Shlisselburg – also known as Oreshek by Russians and Noteborg by Swedes – occupies an island in Lake Ladoga at the head of the River Neva. This was once a vital strategic location in territory and trade disputes between Sweden and the medieval principality of Novgorod Velikiy.

The island was first fortified in 1323 by Prince Yuri of Moscow, and changed hands several times over the next four centuries, before being definitively captured by Peter the Great at the beginning of the Northern Wars of 1700-21. By the end of the war, Shlisselburg was deep in Russian territory. No longer of strategic significance, the fortress was turned into a prison for those who threatened Tsarist rule. Among the most famous inmates were Peter the Great’s half-sister Maria, the boy-Tsar Ivan VI, and members of the Decembrist Uprising and the Narodnaya Volya – “People’s Will” – terrorist organization responsible for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II.

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