Forteresse de Schlusselbourg

Title

Forteresse de Schlusselbourg

Description

View showing Schlüsselburg Fortress with the harbour of the town of Schlüsselburg in the foreground.

ca. 1840

Artist

Bry (1805-1880)

Auguste Bry was an engraver and lithographer in Paris.

Historical Description

Schlüsselburg is a town on the left bank of the Neva River east of Saint Petersburg. Before the actual settlement, a wooden fortress was built in the same place on the offshore island in the Neva River in the 14th century. According to the Swedish version, the island was first fortified in 1299 by the Swede Torgils Knutsson. In 1323 negotiations about the Russian-Swedish border in Karelia were held in the fortress. In 1612, after nine months of siege, the fortress fell to Sweden in the Ingermanic War. During the Great Northern War, Peter I was able to finally recapture the fortress for Russia in 1702 after a ten-day shelling. He then gave the fortress the German name "Schlüsselburg". The settlement of Schlüsselburg also developed on the left bank of the Neva River from 1702. It received city status in 1780. Its layout was shaped by the canal and lock facilities of the Ladoga Canal, which had been built since 1719 and was important for Neva shipping.