Oreshek Fortress

Medieval island fortress on the Neva: Shlisselburg was a border stronghold, tsarist prize and notorious political prison — today a museum.

Shlisselburg Fortress stands on a small island at the point where the Neva flows out of Lake Ladoga, 35 kilometres east of Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1323 by the Novgorodian prince Yuri Danilovich as a border fortress against Sweden, it was recaptured by Peter the Great in 1702 after a long Swedish occupation — a decisive blow in the Great Northern War. The name "Schlüsselburg" (Key City) points to its strategic role as the key to the Neva. In the 18th and 19th centuries the fortress served as a notorious political prison: Decembrists, anarchists and finally Lenin's brother Alexander Ulyanov were held here; he was executed in 1887 after a failed assassination attempt on the Tsar. Today the fortress complex is a museum reachable by ferry.