Old Ladoga Museum-Reserve. Fortress

About museum

The historic center of Ladoga is a stone fortress erected on a promontory bounded by the Volkhov and Ladozhka rivers. Presumably the first fortifications were built already at the end of the 9th century. In 1114–1116 a new stone fortress was erected on the old site by posadnik Pavel.

At the turn of the 15th–16th centuries, with the spread of firearms, the Ladoga stronghold was rebuilt. The thickness of the walls was increased to 6–7 m and even up to 8.5 m; loopholes and pechury (small firing apertures) appeared. Five towers were erected: Gate, Strelka (Arrow), Tainichnaya, Raskatnaya, and Klimentovskaya. Their height in stone reached 12–15 m. The towers were evenly distributed around the perimeter, allowing the fortress defenders to organize a circular defense. To the south of the stone fortress, on the territory of the ancient settlement that gave rise to Ladoga, another line of fortifications was created in the 16th century, the so‑called Wooden or Earthen Town. Together with the stone fortress it formed a single defensive system. At the beginning of the Great Northern War troops were concentrated in Ladoga. In 1702 regiments under the command of B. P. Sheremetev set out from the town to assault the Swedish Noteburg — the ancient Rus' Oreshek. In 1714 the troops permanently abandoned the fortress. It then began to fall into active ruin.