Shlisselburg is an old town 50 kilometers (31 miles) from St. Petersburg. Its name means “key town,” and it has stood here for more than 700 years. That's reason enough to visit and see with your own eyes the “Russian Bastille” of Peter the Great's era, centuries-old canals, and a stunning sunset over the Neva. The route was designed especially for the BelkaCar car-sharing service.
Ladoga Bridge
🌉 Bridge
Breakthrough Panorama Museum
🏛️ Museum
Museum of Shlisselburg History
🏛️ Museum
Cathedral Square
⛲ Square · 🕍 Place of worship
Annunciation Cathedral
🕍 Place of worship
Old Ladoga and New Ladoga Canals
⚙️ Industrial site
Four-Chamber Granite Lock
⚙️ Industrial site
Monument to Peter I
🗿 Monument
House of the Merchant Alexei Grigorievich Potashov
🏟️ Architectural landmark
“Echo of Great Battles” Open-Air Museum
🏛️ Museum · 🌿 Public garden or park
Oreshek Fortress
🏯 Fortress remains · 📜 Historic site
Memorial Complex
📜 Historic site · 🗿 Sculptures
Nevsky Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant
⚙️ Industrial site
Point 11
🏯 Fortress remains • 📜 Historic site
The fortress was founded in 1323 on the border with Sweden, and its name comes from Orekhovy (“Nut”) Island, on which it stands. The fortress is shaped like an irregular triangle, with five towers along its perimeter: one square and four round. A fragment of the first stone structure has survived inside.
In 1612 Oreshek was besieged and taken by the Swedes. The siege lasted nine months, and the fortress remained under Swedish rule for 90 years. In 1702, during the Great Northern War, the fortress was retaken in battle under the personal command of Peter I, who renamed Nöteborg as Shlisselburg. The fortress lost its military importance in the 18th century, when the forts of Kronstadt were built, and became a political prison; in the 20th century it became a central penal-servitude prison.
The first prisoner was Peter I's sister, Maria Alekseevna. Later the fortress held the emperor's wife Evdokia Lopukhina, the revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, Decembrists, and members of Narodnaya Volya (People's Will).
Today Oreshek Fortress is an architectural and historical monument of federal significance that occupies almost the entire island. Inside you can see the Old and New Prisons and learn how political prisoners were kept in the 18th–19th centuries. You can also stroll along the Ladoga Promenade, an open section of the wall between the towers.
Point on route “Shlisselburg: Venice of the North and Russia's Bastille”
Point 11
🏯 Fortress remains • 📜 Historic site
The fortress was founded in 1323 on the border with Sweden, and its name comes from Orekhovy (“Nut”) Island, on which it stands. The fortress is shaped like an irregular triangle, with five towers along its perimeter: one square and four round. A fragment of the first stone structure has survived inside.
In 1612 Oreshek was besieged and taken by the Swedes. The siege lasted nine months, and the fortress remained under Swedish rule for 90 years. In 1702, during the Great Northern War, the fortress was retaken in battle under the personal command of Peter I, who renamed Nöteborg as Shlisselburg. The fortress lost its military importance in the 18th century, when the forts of Kronstadt were built, and became a political prison; in the 20th century it became a central penal-servitude prison.
The first prisoner was Peter I's sister, Maria Alekseevna. Later the fortress held the emperor's wife Evdokia Lopukhina, the revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, Decembrists, and members of Narodnaya Volya (People's Will).
Today Oreshek Fortress is an architectural and historical monument of federal significance that occupies almost the entire island. Inside you can see the Old and New Prisons and learn how political prisoners were kept in the 18th–19th centuries. You can also stroll along the Ladoga Promenade, an open section of the wall between the towers.
13 points
12 km
4 hours
