Korela Fortress, Green World Of Kexholm
Korela Fortress, Green World Of Kexholm

Video: Korela Fortress, Green World Of Kexholm

Video: Korela Fortress, Green World Of Kexholm
Video: Korela Fortress Walking Tour Priozersk Russia || Прогулка у крепости Корела 2024, March
Anonim

The summer season, unfortunately, has already ended, and the impressions from it are very lively and colorful. For those whose life is connected with plants, it is always interesting to see new places with unfamiliar flora or to look closely at the already familiar ones, discovering something unusual in them. It was the unusual shapes of the famous shrubs and trees that adorn the ancient fortress city of Kexholm (now Priozersk) that prompted me to tell about this to lovers of decorative gardening.

Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm
Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm

The history of these places is marked by many changes and battles, which is characteristic of any border fortress. And I also want to remember this. It must be said that in September 2006 the city celebrated the 712th year since the foundation of the Korela fortress, the first Karelian city. Rich fishing grounds in the lower reaches of the Vuoksa River contributed to the emergence of this settlement. The first written records of the city date back to the end of the 12th century, but historians continue to research and suggest that the city is much older. It is possible that it was here in 879 on a funeral pyre that the ashes of the Grand Duke Rurik, the founder of the dynasty of Russian princes and tsars, were burned, as evidenced by the found ancient chronicles: he died "in Korel in a warrior, it was laid there in the city of Korel."

Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm
Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm

Museum workers say that it is very difficult to prove this fact precisely because in ancient times, the dead Russian soldiers were not buried, but their remains were burned at the stake. The original Karelian name of Korela is Kyakisalmi, it has survived to this day in the Karelian and Finnish languages. Translated, this means "Kukushkin Strait" ("kyaki" - cuckoo, "salmi" - strait). According to legend, pagan Karelians began to build a fortress several times on different islands of the Vuoksa archipelago, but the buildings collapsed, stones rolled into the river, the builders quarreled. Finally, the leaders heard a voice from heaven that they had to follow the Vuoksa river until people heard the voice of the cuckoo and build a fortress there … And so it happened, and the fortress still stands, now as a museum. Powerful earthen ramparts are lined with wild stone,over the past centuries, they have plunged into the cultural layer by three meters, but even now they look very impressive.

Soon after the emergence of the Old Russian state, the Karelians became part of it. Through Korela, the Karelian lands traded with Novgorod, the main political, economic and cultural center of northwestern Russia. Fur was exported to Novgorod - the greatest wealth of the Karelian forests. Over time, Russian merchants began to settle here, and the city began to develop as a Karelian-Russian, later as a Russian-Karelian one. The history of the city was rich in events related to the intertwining of interests of Russia, Sweden, Finland, which left its mark on its appearance.

Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm
Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm

… In 1293 the Swedish knights captured the western half of the Karelian Isthmus with the city of Vyborg. The Swedes first saw the city and the first fortress with wooden towers and earthen ramparts on the banks of Ladoga in 1295. After bloody battles with the knights-crusaders, the first fortress fell, its surviving defenders were captured. Novgorod quickly gathered a strong army and, after a continuous six-day siege, managed to recapture the city. Now it was decided to build a new fortress two miles further from Ladoga, on the picturesque and at the same time inaccessible island of the Vuoksinsky delta. The island was surrounded by turbulent streams with whirlpools and impassable rapids. The first stone tower of the fortress, built by the Novgorod mayor Yakov in 1364, has not survived. It was destroyed by the Swedes during their repeated attempts to capture Korela. In 1348, the Swedish king Magnus, with a strong army of knights-crusaders, undertook a large campaign against Russia. The main blow was intended for the Oreshek fortress at the source of the Neva, but a rather large detachment of knights was sent to Korela. In turn, the Novgorodians gathered all military forces to repel the enemy invasion. About 1000 Russian soldiers from under Oreshok were sent to Korela and defeated the knights who were trying to capture the city. Later, the main forces of the Swedes on the Neva were defeated. But the Russians did not succeed in liberating the western part of the Karelian Isthmus, and according to the Orekhovets peace treaty, confirmed later in 1351, Russia had to recognize the transfer of its former possessions to Swedish rule.but a fairly large detachment of knights was sent to Korela. In turn, the Novgorodians gathered all military forces to repel the enemy invasion. About 1000 Russian soldiers from under Oreshok were sent to Korela and defeated the knights who were trying to capture the city. Later, the main forces of the Swedes on the Neva were defeated. But the Russians did not succeed in liberating the western part of the Karelian Isthmus, and according to the Orekhovets peace treaty, confirmed later in 1351, Russia had to recognize the transfer of its former possessions to Swedish rule.but a fairly large detachment of knights was sent to Korela. In turn, the Novgorodians gathered all military forces to repel the enemy invasion. About 1000 Russian soldiers from under Oreshok were sent to Korela and defeated the knights who were trying to capture the city. Later, the main forces of the Swedes on the Neva were defeated. But the Russians did not succeed in liberating the western part of the Karelian Isthmus, and according to the Orekhovets peace treaty, confirmed later in 1351, Russia had to recognize the transfer of its former possessions to Swedish rule. But the Russians did not succeed in liberating the western part of the Karelian Isthmus, and according to the Orekhovets peace treaty, confirmed later in 1351, Russia had to recognize the transfer of its former possessions to Swedish rule. But the Russians did not succeed in liberating the western part of the Karelian Isthmus, and according to the Orekhovets peace treaty, confirmed later in 1351, Russia had to recognize the transfer of its former possessions to Swedish rule.

The Russian-Swedish border ran from the mouth of the Sestra River from south to north and divided the Karelian Isthmus into two parts - Russian and Swedish. Since that time, Korela, previously lying in the depths of the Novgorod possessions, from the end of the XIII - the beginning of the XIV centuries, for a long time became a border town.

Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm
Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm

In the middle of the 16th century, a long war began between three large states near the Baltic Sea - Russia, Poland and Sweden - for the possession of the strategically and commercially important Baltic region Livonia (modern Estonia and Latvia). It was important for Russia to get a wide access to the Baltic. The war dragged on for a long twenty-five years, demanding an enormous strain on all the forces of the Russian state. The Swedes began military operations against Russia in the 70s, and the first victim was Korela, who was closest to the border. Almost all city buildings were burned, many residents died, and those who survived went to the Russian domain. In 1583, under the terms of a peace agreement, many Russian possessions, including the Korelsky district with the city of Korela, were ruled by Sweden for 17 years (1570-1597). The Swedish name of the Russian fortress Korela - Kexholm (Kexholm, originally - Kekesholm) is consonant with the Karelian and literally means "the island of Kekes" ("holm" in Swedish - an island).

The fortress was badly destroyed, including the fortress quadrangular stone tower (the remains of the foundation of which were discovered during excavations in 1972-1973 by the archaeologist A. N. Kirpichnikov). In 1585, the Swedes erected a new, more powerful tower on the same site. Its height is 25 meters, the thickness of the walls is up to 4.5 meters. At the same time, the Swedes built an artillery arsenal with a peaked tiled roof, a powder magazine - and all this was built of sacred stones. It is known that for their buildings, the Swedes destroyed all the surrounding Orthodox churches and monasteries, and brought the quarried stone to strengthen the Kexholm fortress. At the same time, the main Orthodox cathedral of the Korelsky land was dismantled, erected on the territory of the Old Fortress at the end of the XIII century in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, which is why the island was called Spassky. These Swedish buildings still exist today.

Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm
Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm

In 1590, Russia, having regained strength after the exhausting Livonian War, again opposed Sweden. According to the Tyavzin Peace Treaty of 1595, the Swedes were forced to give up all the lands captured during the Livonian War, including Korela and the county.

To ensure the speedy restoration of the city, Tsar Boris Godunov issued a special document on November 1, 1598 - a "letter of gratitude" to the residents of Korela. According to the tsarist decree, the returned residents received free of charge houses built by the Swedes; they could trade without paying trade duties in their city, as well as in Novgorod, Pskov, Ivan-city and Moscow; received the right to transport goods without paying trade duties along the Volkhov River. Korela and the peasants of the district were exempted for 10 years from payments to the state treasury of all taxes and quitrent taxes "from their yards and from shops and from any land." The rich fishing grounds along the Vuoksa River passed into the possession of the Korel townspeople, and the townspeople were freed from the rent in the treasury for the exploitation of these lands.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Poland and Sweden, taking advantage of the aggravation of the class struggle and the imminent peasant war in Russia, organized an armed intervention. In 1604, the Poles invaded Russia.

Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm
Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm

The Korela fortress has withstood more than one siege in its history. It was especially difficult to endure the Time of Troubles. The fortress in 1610-1611 was under a six-month siege of the Swedes. At the same time, Korela's defenders staged bold sorties, engaging in bloody skirmishes with the Swedes. The defense was led by the voivode Ivan Mikhailovich Pushkin (the ancestor of the great Russian poet) and Bishop Sylvester, who headed the Korel diocese. The Russians could not agree to the shameful terms of surrender offered by the Swedes. They announced to the enemies that they would hold out to the last and perish along with the fortress. Gunpowder was indeed laid under the walls of the towers, as the Swedes later became convinced of. The city was surrendered only when, out of two or three thousand inhabitants, no more than a hundred defenders survived, of which several dozen were soldiers. This amount was not enough even to defend the walls of the Detinets. On March 2, 1611, the fortress gates opened, and the Swedes saw the remaining defenders of the fortress, whose courage they were delighted with. Led by voivode I. Pushkin, they were freely released into Russian possessions - none of the defeated wanted to remain under the rule of enemies. The Swedish soldiers got an empty city … The Russian historian NM Karamzin rightly compared the unparalleled siege of Korela with the feat of the defenders of Smolensk in 1609-1611. against the Polish gentry troops. The Swedish soldiers got an empty city … The Russian historian NM Karamzin rightly compared the unparalleled siege of Korela with the feat of the defenders of Smolensk in 1609-1611. against the Polish gentry troops. The Swedish soldiers got an empty city … The Russian historian NM Karamzin rightly compared the unparalleled siege of Korela with the feat of the defenders of Smolensk in 1609-1611. against the Polish gentry troops.

A century later, Peter I and his troops conquered Korela with the help of one artillery, "without great loss of life." He ordered local blacksmiths to flatten numerous trophy armor - Swedish cuirasses, and with the received plates to upholstery the Round Gate of the New Fortress. This symbol of the Russian victory over the Swedes is located on the first tier of the Pugachev Tower. Cathedral Square was considered the center of the city in Peter's era - according to the Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary located on its western side. In 1910, at the altar wall of the cathedral, inside the church fence, officers and soldiers of the heroic Life Guards of the Kesksgolm regiment put a monument to Peter I - a bust on a granite pedestal by the sculptor Verbel as a gift to the city, a native of the regiment. The monument was damaged in 1918, when the so-called "Red Finns"overthrew the bust from the pedestal and solemnly drowned it in Vuoks. Their logic was simple: since Peter was emperor, it means that he is an enemy of the working people. For half a century, only a granite stele stood on the square. And in 1972, a new bronze bust of Peter the Great was created by sculptor Vladimir Gorev with public money, and now it adorns the main - Cathedral Square of the city - "from the Kexholm Regiment".

Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm
Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm

The ancient stones of the fortress walls under the red tile roof remember a lot and many. As often happened in Russia, the old fortress served as a political prison, where in different years people known and unknown in the history of the country were imprisoned. It was here that the members of the Emelyan Pugachev family, sentenced to life imprisonment, lived their lives. Since 1775, two wives of Pugachev and three children from their first marriage languished here "guilty without guilt" (the youngest daughter of Agrafena died in 1823). Museum documents say that over time, the Pugachevs spent only night hours in the walls of the tower, and during the day they worked on the farm in the fortress yard. Emperor Alexander I released the prisoners to settle in the city, but after a while they returned to the fortress - these people could no longer imagine and accept any other life.

The Swedish historian Arnold Johann Messenius was also prisoners of the fortress; the unfortunate "banned emperor" John VI Antonovich; the mysterious prisoner Nameless, whom historians call the "Iron Mask of the North". The Korela fortress contained participants in the 1825 uprising, nine Decembrist officers: A. P. Baryatinsky, F. F. Vadkovsky, I. I. Gorbachevsky, P. F. Gromnitsky, M. F. Mitkov, I. V. Kireev, A. V. Poggio, M. M. Spiridov, as well as "Kühlya" - Wilhelm Küchelbecker, a former lyceum student and classmate of Alexander Pushkin. Rafail Chernosvitov, the inventor of the first airship in the history of aeronautics with a steam engine, and many other prisoners were also kept in prison.

Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm
Korela fortress, green world of Kexholm

Since the Petrine era, various military units have been stationed on the territory of the New Fortress. Until the middle of the 19th century, fortifications were maintained in proper order. By 1910, a large two-storey building for 50 patients was built. The roof of this stylish building was crowned with two turrets, shaped like the watchtower of the Pugachev Tower. At the end of 1917, Finland became independent, and the orphanage (already for 198 patients) was closed. The building housed the elite III Jaeger battalion of the Savo regiment, and later - the Savo Jaeger regiment. Some of the patients were sent to other shelters for the mentally ill, while the rest were sent home.

It is said that the Finnish regimental commander was a great esthete. He ordered to plant a lot of roses and asters on the territory of the part entrusted to him; he built bridges with graceful railings across the river channels, while not preventing the townspeople from walking among all this beauty. Apparently, at the same time, many trees were planted along the river and paths, which still adorn the island.

Elena Kuzmina

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